Condemned: Criminal Origins

Home » Reviews » Condemned: Criminal Origins

	Condemned: Criminal Origins	CG rating 88 /100
	Developer: SEGA Europe, Producer: Monolith Productions System requirements: CPU 2GHz, 512MB RAM, Video Card with 128MB Game: Condemned: Criminal Origins Genre: Action

Pluses

- Furious melee fights
- The AI
- Excellent graphics
- Cinematic feel
- Terrifying atmosphere

Minuses

- Very slow start
- Some design limitations are annoying
- Underused forensic tools
- The levels are excessively linear

Posted by Bossman on 15-May-2006 14:19

You need to login to be able to vote

Page 1 of 4

›

An interesting paradox that I’ve noticed in the last two or three years is that gamers tend to more easily identify the little quirks and flaws in videogames the more “real” and immersive that respective game wants to be. The simplest example are the human characters: the more the producers try to create more lifelike models, the more evident their flaws will become, like unnatural skin texturing or low poly count. On the other hand, more stylized or cartoonish / anime characters are more easily accepted (one recent good example of this is Advent Rising).

Condemned: Criminal Origins is the first title launched by Monolith Studios after F.E.A.R, with a more refined version of the engine being used in Condemned. The game was also first launched on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, so basically we’re dealing with a console port, which is enough in itself to shatter the enthusiasm of most PC players. Fortunately, Condemned follows in the footsteps of 2004’s surprise hit The Chronicles of Riddick, being an excellent console port and one of the best games released so far this year.

Although at first glance you may be tempted to put it in the same generic first person shooter category alongside F.E.A.R, Condemned is not a first person shooter in the classical sense of the term. The best way to describe it would be an interactive first person movie with heavy survival-horror influences. Yes, you will find guns in the game as well, but in 90% of the cases you’ll fight for your survival with whatever you can get your hands on.

The first chapters are kind of slow; in that nothing spectacular happens and there isn’t much too keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering what’s up ahead. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t help much either. The general idea is that you’ll take on the role of Ethan Thomas, an FBI agent and member of the Serial Crimes Unit, who is hunting an elusive serial killer known only by his nickname: The Matchmaker. But this will be the least of your concerns, since the whole city you’re in is basically under siege, with violence and crime rates going through the roof in a very short time.