Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Added March 18th, 2008 by Kenneth Rathburn
Excessive violence and brutality aren’t exactly common in videogames nowadays, especially with games receiving flak for being too extreme in their content. It’s even rarer when these games have a dark and moody atmosphere. 2005’s Condemned: Criminal Origins was released with the launch of the Xbox 360 to stellar reviews across the board. The game had a gloomy mood with a simple but interesting way to play thanks to mostly melee combat and forensics investigations comprising most of the game. Now, more than two years after its predecessor’s release, Condemned 2: Bloodshot has finally been released, complete with all the hostility and horror you’d expect from such a sequel.
Bloodshot picks up about a year after the end of Criminal Origins, and things have all gone downhill for protagonist Ethan Thomas. He’s gone from a typical officer of the SCU (Serial Crimes Unit) to a drunken bum whose typical night is laying about the cold, dark streets in the city. But things are about to take an abrupt turn back to familiar territory for our unlucky hero as he’s tracked down by members of the SCU to find Van Horn, an old partner of Ethan’s from the first game. But as with any real horror story, things become quite hairy for Ethan as he winds up battling thugs and baddies on the streets and demons in both his head and reality. It’s a nasty but very intriguing set-up for a game, giving the story a nice bit of interest from the beginning.
The storytelling in Bloodshot is pretty similar to its predecessor, with some of the story unfolding in cutscenes and the bulk of it being told during in-game conversations. Usually the story feels like it’s just rolling along to give a reason for taking you to a number of various locales. Fortunately there are enough plot twists to keep things interesting and give the game a little more meaning. Newcomers to Condemned don’t have to worry too much about getting lost in Bloodshot, since several occurrences from the first are mentioned in this game. Ultimately the whole story manages to be decent enough to carry the game but, like its predecessor, players will likely be left with lingering questions.
Fortunately, the story is far away from the best that Bloodshot offers. For starters, the gameplay in Bloodshot is a decent improvement over Criminal Origins, all things told. With the combat, more weapons have been added and combos have also been introduced. While there are a decent amount of combos you can unleash on those who get in your way you’ll usually find yourself falling back on the punch-block-punch-punch parry combos. This time you can hold your block stance for a period of time but this ultimately proves worthless unless you activate your block right when your foes strike. The combat system itself is pretty good, but when you’re facing multiple enemies it really begins to show how flawed it is. There’s nothing really wrong with the system, it’s just that it wasn’t made with the thought of several enemies at once in mind.
Making a return are the firearms, which were found every so often in the first Condemned and encouraged the conservation of ammo. This time around, however, firearms play a far bigger role, with some levels centering around them almost entirely. While guns still alleviate some pressure off the player, using them can be a chore, especially when the levels they’re most plentiful in are when the enemies also wield guns. And even though using a gun is always preferred over the game’s melee weapons, they do make the game lose a bit of what made its predecessor so different by putting less emphasis on the melee combat and weapons. Speaking of melee weapons, there are a decent number of additions to the roster available for use. You’ll find several items, ranging from golf clubs to locker doors, bowling balls and even toilet seats available for use. While the amount of useable items isn’t on the level of say Dead Rising and no longer includes the deadly sledgehammer, there’s still much to toy around with.
Finally making a return are the forensics investigations, with a convenient prompt saying “Study Evidence” popping up near an examination location. Whereas the first game’s forensics sessions were simplistic and shallow, Bloodshot adds a bit of depth to the system. You’ll find yourself examining several samples while searching for a good bit of specific details when given certain requests and asked questions. Added is a rating system, ranging from Poor to Perfect based on a scale of five circles, making how well you investigate matter more. At first the details to these examinations are obvious but some of them will become a little tougher, with a few depending more on lucky guesses. All told though, these investigations are superior to those found in Criminal Origins and are arguably a bigger, better improvement over the combat system.
Adding more to the mix of Bloodshot’s gameplay are the enemies, and there are plenty of them to find here. The foes you encounter start as mostly typical thugs but quickly shift to mix of demonic and freaky creatures which could be best summarized as more sinister versions of certain enemies from Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Your foes in this game tend to be quite tough, and death will likely become typical for most people as they push through the game. However, this is more an association to the numbers your enemies come in rather than their actual intelligence. In fact, just about the only thing about the enemies that doesn’t prove challenging is their astuteness. Their hits are strong, speed is sometimes eye-blinking quick and they tend to appear in far bigger numbers than before. It’s easy to feel cheated when killed, but for those who like a challenge, their thirst will be quenched here.
As far as entertainment goes in-general, Condemned 2 is a tricky title to put a definite opinion on. Sometimes the game will be horror gaming at its finest and at others it’ll be merely a chore of frustration. The parts in the game that reflect both of these instances are about equal in their occurrences and overall impact; the high and low points equally stick out. There are a good amount of scripted moments implemented into the game itself which will demand you have quicker than normal reflexes. If you can get past these parts without dying, they’ll definitely be a fond moment but if not, then it’s easy to look at that moment as cheap and disappointing. A few of these scripted parts will be harmless, but many of these moments feel better suited as either a cutscene or even in a feature film. Ultimately, how much the player will enjoy Bloodshot comes down to how familiar they are with the first game and how quick their reflexes are in a relatively slow-paced game.
Those that played the first Condemned likely remember it having some pretty remarkable visuals for its time, so it’s only expected for its sequel to look a good bit better. While Bloodshot does improve the overall technicality of the graphics, it’s not anywhere near as big of an overhaul as you might expect. The biggest visual improvement is the character models, particularly Ethan, as they no longer look as muddy and actually have facial details. Unfortunately the rest of the game really doesn’t show much of a technical improvement over its predecessor. Environments look about as good as they did in Criminal Origins, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s easy to notice with a more than two year difference. The time that Condemned 2’s visuals shine the most is in regards to its art design. Like the first game, there are plenty of wicked, sinister and very interesting designs realized in the game and will likely be what makes players really open their eyes during the game’s high points.
While the visuals really aren’t anything to freak out over, the game’s overall sound is. Criminal Origins had some of the best audio around, mixing eerie noises and appropriate dialogue with its ambient atmosphere to really make the experience memorable. This is the same case with Bloodshot and is arguably the game’s strongest point. The dialogue, while sometimes cheesy is usually fitting with the current situation and the voice-acting, while not great, never becomes annoying, unlike other games with chatty characters. But it’s the game’s low volume music, creepy sound effects and other noises emitted by enemies and the environment that make this game’s audio front so impressive. Few games ever manage to have audio or sounds that bring you into the experience, but Bloodshot is one of those rare few that shows audio is sometimes all you need to get the player engrossed. Horror fans will be in for a real treat when the game’s audio begins to shine, and don’t worry, there are plenty of those to be found.
While there are several aspects to Condemned 2 that make it similar to its predecessor which are for the most part fortunate, one that isn’t is the game’s lasting value. There are eleven levels total in Bloodshot. Some might take a good bit of time to beat; others will take just a few short minutes. All told Condemned 2 will take about six to ten hours at most to beat on the Normal difficulty setting. Upon beating the game you’ll unlock FPS mode which gives you infinite ammo in each level and usually starts you with some sort of firearm. It’s a decent reward, but as stated earlier, use of guns isn’t always the best way to experience the game.
This time around Condemned has an online multiplayer mode, which might sound like an interesting mix but it couldn’t be any more lackluster. Some might think that’s it’s better to have multiplayer than not having it at all, but here it doesn’t really matter. There are about half a dozen modes to participate in with support for up to eight players online. These aren’t exactly impressive numbers, but the maps are small enough to keep the action going. Unfortunately, just like using guns, fighting with several other players online isn’t the best way to experience the game. Again, the game’s control scheme just isn’t meant for multiple-person battles, and this translates into an ultimately unrewarding online experience. Most of the game’s replay value will come out of the rewards and achievements you can gain from doing really well in each level, but this likely won’t keep most players coming back for long.
All things told Condemned 2 is a good sequel that does manage to do the first game justice on most counts. The game isn’t always the most entertaining or satisfying but those who thoroughly enjoyed Criminal Origins will probably find a lot to like in Bloodshot. Online the game is about as fulfilling as a hangover but the single-player does more than enough to justify a good rental. Fans of the first will find what they’re looking for here, but take heed, for this isn’t a generous game.
