Review: Condemned 2 (360)

At the launch of the Xbox 360 the original Condemned was certainly a highlight. It was (and probably still is) one of the most moody and atmospheric games Gamestyle has ever played. Walking through an old abandoned building with just a pipe and a torch for company was terrifying. While you heard things falling off shelves, floorboards creaking, all before being attacked out of nowhere by a raging druggie. Naturally when a sequel was announced we were over the moon, surely Monolith cant mess up the winning formula they had with the original? Well, they have. In fact, they havent just dropped the ball with this one, theyve dropped it off a cliff.

There were worries before the game even was released. Ethan Thomas may still be the lead character, but they’ve certainly changed him enough that he may as well be someone completely different. It’s all gone a bit ‘Warrior Within’ with our protagonist a raging alcoholic, no longer a member of the crime force he was in the first game. He is now doing nothing with his life other than sitting in a bar, beating up people and swearing a lot. The whole characterisation and even plot is completely screwed up in this game. There’s not a single likeable character here apart from your female sidekick, and the storyline is such a mess that despite completing the first game we still had no idea what was going on here. This time around the plot seems to have taken a more supernatural twist. Whereas in the first game it was very reminiscent of a movie like Se7en where it had a more series murder mystery tone (until the laughable final act), it's sequel has you fighting giant robots, alcohol induced sludge demons and a magician. And we haven’t mentioned your new ability of being able to make peoples heads explode Scanners style.

Unfortunately the woes don’t end there, as the effective tool of darkness to convey tension and fear has been ruined by insisting that everything is so dark that it’s impossible to see. Your torch only has the ability to see about two centimetres in front of your face, so you’re constantly wandering around the same areas trying to find that one door you may have overlooked. When you actually reach an area with a light bulb you become overjoyed, and then the joy quickly fades when a raging druggie comes and smashes it for you. The side effect is that any planned fear you’re supposed to be feeling turns into frustration. It doesn’t help that not only are Monolith just repeating the same scares they did in the first Condemned, but have also decided to steal a few from their other horror game F.E.A.R. It’s like playing a game of horror clichés. Mannequins may have been scary In the first game, but repeating them a second time lacks the impact.

It’s not all bad with Condemned 2 though. A few gameplay areas have been improved. The much loved investigation sections have been fleshed out considerably. Coming across dead bodies you can investigate them by using your detective skills. Often you’ll be given multi-option questions that will ask you how you believe the person died, then once they’ve been answered you’ll see how correct you are when you speak to your partner. You also have a camera which can be used to identify key areas of the murder scene. It’s mostly during these sections that you realise just how much of a gruesome game Condemned 2 is. Bodies will have chunks missing, blood splattered everywhere, it’s amazing that this has managed to remain somewhat anonymous during the whole Byron report issue, although the Manhunt 2 saga did influence the final shipped product.

The other area which has seen an improvement is the melee combat. Already fantastic in the original, the ability to grab pipes and toilet seats from the environments and use them to whack around someone’s head was a nice touch and made the environment feel alive. It’s been improved here by adding a combo system. Perform a combo and you can hit back with an explosive swing which will knock enemies back. The only problem is the combo is displayed at the top of the screen like some kind of arcade game making it all a little intrusive. It works best when one-on-one, as when confronted by several charging opponents it does soon degenerate into mad swinging of pipes hoping to hit someone.

Condemned 2 really is a menagerie of bad design choices. Level design in particular is enough to make a sane person crack up. Why for instance won’t it let you climb over a box knee height yet by walking up to a seven foot locker you can climb on top before jumping through a hole in the roof? There’s no visual signposting to say you can do this, you just have to guess at what the designer had in their head. We haven’t even mentioned the woeful multiplayer. If you really want a good first person horror title then pick up the original, this sequel is a complete mess.

Rating: 5 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver