Editor's Say - "Good" "Scary as hell" Find out what i thought...
Condemned review by Simon a.k.a. [TheDevilDweller]
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*****Introduction*****
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The Good:
Good Story – Great Sound-Effects – Scary – Great Visuals – Great Controls – Brutal
Condemned is a Horror game that tests your mental fear. Instead of you having big weapons and monsters and zombies chasing you. You have to rely on melee attack weapons against deranged psychopathic killers. If you liked F.E.A.R., you'll love Condemned.
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*****Review*****
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You play Agent Ethan Thomas who is assigned to the Serial Crimes Unit to find an answer to the question… What twists the mind of an ordinary human into a serial killer?
Thomas is the best in the bureau… perhaps too good.
While investigating the growing list of serial killers, Agent Thomas concludes that something is twisting the bodies and souls of those that society has left behind. The homeless, addicted and deranged are rising from the city's underbelly and committing mindless acts of violence. Could there be an unseen connection between the increasing brutality of the latest serial killings and the increasing crime rate?
The story starts of with you as Agent Ethan Thomas on his way to a crime scene. From the very start you will notice how dark the game is, and I'm not talking about the story. From start to finish, everywhere you go is basically pitch black, which boosts up the fear scale to 100%. What make Condemned and great game is not just how scary the game is, or how brutal the game is… but how well the story progresses. Condemned will keep you playing because it makes you want to find out what's going on, and finding out who this Serial Killer X is. The only question is, is the story worth the play-through? Well, yes it is.
The game-play is pretty standard with other First Person Shooter games except, you rely more on melee attack weapons such as pipes, crowbars, an axe, sledgehammer, shovel and anything else you can find. There are firearm in the game such as a handgun, shotgun submachine gun and so on, but ammunition is something very rare in Condemned. Your enemies are deranged psychopathic drug dealers and killers that want hesitate in attacking you and surrounding you.
The game-play is brutal and what makes it even more brutal is that it's close combat so you see and hear everything up close. Beat up your enemies to death with a pipe. Perform brutal finishing moves and more.
In and out of all the fighting and beating people up, you have to investigate a crime scene, which is basically solving a puzzle. You have your forensic tools to help you. UV Light, Laser Light, Gas Spectrometer, Sampler, 3D Scanner, Digital Camera, everything you need for investigating a crime scene, which is really great.
Some of the level designs are pretty linear with more than a few blocked doors and hallways.
The sound-effect are great, and with surround sound, it's even better. You'll be walking along a hallway and suddenly you'll hear someone breathing, which you may speculate the breathing is from Ethan himself. You hear strange and creepy noises and the sound of you smacking a pipe of someone head is just insane.
Overall Condemned is a good psychological horror game that will keep you playing for hours. The game will take you about 10 hours or so to finish, which is a good length. The re-play value is slim next to none unless your collecting achievement. Great story, great sound-effect and great overall atmosphere. The game is great and scary for a first playthrough and if you know nothing about the game. Once finished however the scariness may die along with it, which is expected.
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*****FINAL OVERALL SCORE*****
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Story - 7.5/10
Life Value - 6/10
Presentation - 7/10
Graphics - 7.5/10
Atmosphere - 7/10
Game-Play - 8/10
Controls - 7.5/10
Sound Effects - 9/10
Concept - 7.5/10
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***** EDITOR'S OVERALL THOUGHT SCROE: 7.5/10 *****
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Condemned review by Simon a.k.a. [TheDevilDweller]
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