Entertaining at best, not bad, not great.
I started playing this game last Wednesday night, waited for it to get dark so the mood was right, the darkness would also help me be able to see the game visually, I knew the game was going to be very dark, based on the very first intro screen that asks you to adjust the brightness on your TV. After adjusting, I dove into the single player campaign…….
Ethan Thomas is back, and looking pretty much like how I felt, like hell! At the beginning of the game, fans of the first Condemned game will feel right at home with the controls, and environment. The typical FPS controls apply here, RS & LS to move around, left and right triggers to attack, so even if you never played the fist game, you will have no problem adapting to the easy, yet clunky controls.
Graphics & Environments :
Ok, here we go…… The level detail, as in the first game, is awesome, they really give you the feeling of "being there", but, I feel they tried to make this game too dark, there are areas within some levels where not even the flashlight helped very much. Also, there seems to be some frame rate issues every once and a while. They did not really affect the game play much, just more of an annoyance. One of the other small things that I found annoying was the over exaggerated head bobbing motion of Ethan when we walks or runs, it just seem a little to much.
Controls:
As mentioned, the controls are very easy to use, and nobody will have an issue with them, until you try to pull of some of the new combo attacks that have been added. I am not sure if it is a direct result of the frame rate issues, or just bad timing on my part, but I missed many an opportunity to get combo points because I was already into my next attack move by the time the combo icon would show up on the screen. I found myself having to slow down on attacks in order to keep pace with combos and finishing moves. How ever, those finishing moves ARE worth the small displeasure with the timing.
Speaking of finishing moves, they are not new to Condemned, but Environmental Kills are. What are they you may be asking? Well, if you are trying to finish off a baddy, there will come a point where they get into a "stunned" position, thus giving you a chance to finish them off. At this point, the area you are in will suddenly have little white circles/targets spread around. Those targets may be the edge of a desk, a window, a door, or even a press, you can drag your victim over to any of the targets and use what ever object it is to finish them off. I personally got great pleasure when I used the press machine on the psycho cheerleader chick, it was a beautifully horrific scene when I put her head into it!
One thing I did find different in the combat was just the difficulty, this game seems harder, I seemed to die a lot more then I did in the first game.
Story:
This is where I really thought this game was going to shine. After playing the first game, I was very much sucked into the story, and wanted to find out where it was going next. The only thing I can say here is, now, the story feels discombobulated. Not confusing, just sort of like they did not really know what do next, as if they were caught of guard by the first games success and didn't really have a plan for the sequel. Again, it was not BAD, just not what I was looking forward to. It also seemed to lose it's creepiness that was soooo dominating in the first game, this one just did not have the scare factor I was looking for.
Forensic Investigation:
This area of the game has probably seen the most improvement. They still give you more guidance then probably what is needed, but the open-ended questions, almost RPG like, are a new twist to the game. You will need to ask questions, and figure out clues in order to get graded at the end of each mission. Having only played the game once, I am not sure if it takes a different path if you ask/answer questions differently each time. Along the exploration part of the game, this time through, instead of dead birds and metal chunks, you will be looking for TV's and radios that transmit news stories which are relevant to the games main story. You will also be looking for transmitters, I will let you figure that out as you play the game, don't want to ruin anything here for ya.
Online Multiplayer:
Of course, what would a game of any kind be today without it's online feature, even if the game type does not warrant it? Well, Condemned 2 is the game that did not need online play. Sure it's fun to run around and bash people in the face with a toilet seat, but after about the first 15 minutes, or first match you will soon be saying "seen it, done it" There really was not much to offer here.
Over all, this was "entertaining", just not the awesome experience I thought we were in for. The satisfying head thumping you get to dish out is still there, and even though they included more weapons, and different finishing kills, the game just falls short. Add to that the boring story line and odd visuals at some point, this games gets a 7.5. Worth playing, just don't expect to much.