Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real contender for Resident Evil's throne., 11 Feb 2006
I got 3 games at the time i purchased my 360,and condemned was one of those 3.
At first,when all the preview videos were being released for the 360 i was a little sceptical about this title,i am a huge Resident Evil fan and obviously saw Condemned as yet another pretender....man,was i wrong!!!For me,this is the best of the launch titles along with Call Of Duty 2 & Kameo.
The first thing that will hit you when you load this beauty for the first time are the incredible graphics and the intense atmosphere that sucks you in.
The gameplay,although is more like an FPS,borrows alot of its 'scares' and 'pant-filling' jumps from Resident Evil series mixed with a few of the developers favourite movies...so the best way to describe Condemned is to say it is a FPS Resident Evil game,mixed with story elements and atmostphere from 'Seven' and enemies from '28 Days Later',and it all works brilliantly.
The enemy AI is nothing short of genius,if they see you coming they'll either charge at you in full force,hide or run away.
A group of enemies will also talk to each other and prepare for an ambush. The best thing however,is that they will actually run off to find a more powerful weapon,ie: if you have a crowbar and they have a stick,they will search for a large pipe or even a fire-arm. So overall,this game is well worth a look and i'm confident you will not be dissapointed!!
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't play this one in the dark!, 12 Jul 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Condemned: Criminal Intent is an intense horror game released by Sega. Taking full advantage of the improved graphics of the next generation systems (it's coming out for the PC and the Playstation 3 as well), it's a beautiful game, though in a very creepy way. Everything's harshly lit with a lot of shadows. Don't play this one with the lights out, that's for sure. Only the length and a couple of other problems mar what otherwise is a wonderful game.
The story is definitely gripping, with fairly good voice acting. You play FBI agent Ethan Thomas, a hunter of serial killers who becomes hunted himself. The cut-scenes are effective, moving you from one chapter to another with effortless ease and advancing the narrative. These cut-scenes aren't important for the gameplay (the game tells you what you need to do at the start of every chapter), but it definitely adds to the immersion. It's quite easy to lose yourself in the story. Every time I meant to turn the machine off and do something else, something kept me going to find out what would happen next. Yes, it's fun to bash the bad guys and the action is intense, but often it was moving the story forward that kept me going.
My one major problem with this game is the length. On Normal difficulty, with me not being an expert on these types of games, I still finished this in about 10-15 hours, maybe 20, of playing. I bought it on a Saturday, played a *lot* of it over the next couple of days, and finished it on Monday. I think the game is fun enough and I'm definitely glad I played it, but I did feel a little ripped off paying this much money for that short of an experience. A major strike against an otherwise awesome game.
Condemned: Criminal Origins is a first-person game, though "shooter" isn't really appropriate. Yes, there are firearms in the game, but you're limited to the number of bullets that are found in each one. You'll never be able to re-load. You'll have to find another gun before you can shoot again. Most of the action is hand to hand, so you have to find weapons somewhere. Don't worry: weapons are scattered around everywhere, from a length of pipe to a locker door.
Pressing the left bumper implements one of the coolest aspects of the game: your taser. The taser will stun your opponents, allowing you to run up to them, take their weapon (by pressing "A") and beating them with it (or shooting them if it's a firearm). It's especially effective when they're shooting at you and you don't have a gun. There's no way to get into range while they're firing without getting blown away yourself, so just use the taser. I found all of the controls quite intuitive and it quickly became second nature to do all of this. I'm not the best person at action games, so the ease of this was really appreciated.
You're also linked, through most of the game anyway, to the FBI crime lab and your friend, Rosa. When you enter a room where there is evidence to be collected, your intuition tells you to press the "X" button to get out an evidence-finding tool. Once you find the evidence, it's immediately sent to Rosa over the phone (handy!) and she'll tell you what it is. This is important to move the story forward, though occasionally the gas spectrometer will lead you to a bird for an Xbox Live achievement instead of evidence for Rosa. I believe you can turn this "intuition" off as well, though I can't imagine playing the game without it until you know the story.
Overall, I'd rate the gameplay as excellent. The AI of the enemies is pretty good, though sometimes they'll stand there and look at you until you get fully in their line of site. However, they'll use cover at times, they'll try to sneak up on you or gang up if there is more than one of them. If they're weapon breaks, they'll run until they've picked up a new one. They have the same abilities to pick up weapons as you do (sometimes they come on to the screen with no weapon and will pick them up on their way toward you), so if you drop something in the room, it might just be used against you. One thing, especially near the end, is that they are intelligent enough to fake you out. The big guys will sometimes fake an attack to make you raise your weapon to block, and then attack you when your weapon is lowered again. While frustrating at times, I found this extremely well-done.
The graphics in Condemned: Criminal Origins are simply wonderful and really add to the mood. Some of the cut-scenes are a little fuzzy, but I think that's supposed to be part of the atmosphere rather than a bug in the game. The shadows are creepy and wandering around the abandoned buildings and tunnels can be disturbing at times. Blood flies liberally, and the results of your actions will linger in the environment. The sound also adds deftly to the mood. Eerie sounds and bangs permeate the game, making you jump occasionally. When you're not sure which shadow the next attack is coming from, any sound can be unnerving.
I really loved Condemned: Criminal Origins, and it may just indicate the new wave of horror games. It's an extremely visceral experience, but it is also quite violent. It definitely earns its "M for Mature" rating, with a few swear words but mostly with the graphic violence. If you've just used your pipe to beat somebody over the head repeatedly, the blood stays on your pipe. The game will definitely keep you on your toes, making you jump at each sound. I just wish that it had been longer.
David Roy
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From a non-gamer and a bird, 17 Feb 2006
By A Customer
Up until this game I was anti-computer games. I was content to sit back and let my other half sit in his man lair playing games to his hearts content. But WOW!!! This game is like a film. Really exciting and very hard in places. I loved it. Really loved it. Played in 3 days flat. The only bad thing that I have to say about it, is that it has really hightlighted a gap in the games market. If only there were more games that develop characters, follow a narrative approach it from an complete entertainment experience. If more games were like this, I would be seriously addicted to Xbox 360. Cannot see how anyone wouldnt find this game a thrill.
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