Despite great atmosphere, sound and visuals, bad controls, bugs and stupid weapon system make this game a lackluster.
I had a great anticipation to play this game - after all, i am a big FEAR fan and Condemned: Criminal Origins was released around the same time, using the same engine, by the same developer. What intrigued me more is the fact, how often the game was noted as one of the top 10 PC horror games..
It looked from the beginning that you were not allowed to utilize all your movement tricks, those are clearly displayed in the controls menu. I thought that after some time, the game will follow a formula of introducing every control option little by little, as i progress - and although i always hated this approach, i thought that i should be patient.. But honestly, this is total BS - in FEAR you immediately can do all the things those are displayed in the controls and i expected nothing less here... And even though later on the game started to "unlock" my controls options, i found those to be simply ridiculous:
1) there is no jump option
2) running feels unnatural and the stamina level decreases too fast
3) it is very hard to bypass small objects lying on the floor
4) there is no difference between walking and running up/down stairs
5) walking and running up/down stairs feels so unnatural that a zombie would move much more realistic and precise than your character
6) amazingly you can have only one weapon at the time - for instance you can not grab a pistol if you have a melee weapon in your hand, only exchange; you can not even put that pistol in your backpack if you hold another weapon - how fucin ridiculous is that?
Does that answer why i gave this game a poor rating? Do you still feel like you want to play this game? If so, let me continue..
Now the bugs: the worst bug i have encountered happens when a criminal walks right through a wall as if there was nothing there. Were are not talking about ghosts... This bug alone should make this game closed for distribution.
Also there are bugs with objects sometimes "floating" or "bumping" between other objects - i remember this happened in FEAR too.
Lackluster details: the least important flaw, but still noticeable; this mostly addresses the game physics and objects - for instance you can not do some things which would seem so simple. Also the level design is quite monotonic and lacks innovation...
Listen, it does not matter how beautiful the game graphics are, or how great the sound feels and what a great atmosphere this game has - all that exists, but all this does not matter when you have the most stupid controls and bugs are present in the game..
Condemned: Criminal Origins needs a patch BIG TIME. The way it is now - unplayable in my opinion. But i can understand, how other people like it - some just don't care about controls and tend to favor other things, but not me. And am i really amazed that people do ignore the screwed controls or are dumb enough not to realize it.
A game like this must feel realistic not only in atmosphere, but in all aspects - this is why it is a failure in my eyes.
What a shame, it could have been a great game.