Condemned puts players in the shoes of Ethan Thomas, an SCU agent falsely accused of murder. He must attempt to clear his own name while searching for evidence and hunting the real killer in the condemned sections of a fictional American city.
GenreFirst-Person Shooters
Platforms pc
DEVELOPER Monolith Productions | PUBLISHER Codemasters | RELEASE DATE
Condemned: Criminal Origins Reviews pc
atomicgamer.com review
This is not true with Condemned. The scary things in this game can and most certainly will kill you if you give them a chance, and they will do so by tearing conduit piping out of the wall and beating you to death with it. And hey, if the electricity to that room happens to run through that pipe, too bad – the lights can and will go out in some cases if you don’t deal with enemies quickly! Luckily, your uniform-mounted flashlight works at all times during the game with few exceptions.
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cheatcc.com review
Each weapon is rated in terms of the following four categories – Damage, Speed, Block, Reach – and you’ll have to decide if it’s going to cut the mustard for the challenges that lie ahead. Some weapons deliver great damage to your foes, but provide little protection in the way of blocking. Some are fast and weak, some are slow and strong and some are just right. Certain weapons such as the fire axe, sledgehammer, crowbar and shovel are required for busting or prying open doors or locked cabinets that you’ll need to pass to continue on your merry way, but you can still use them upside the head of someone crazy enough to get into your face. And let me remind you that they will do that…. I don’t know if it’s just me but I can’t help but think "Here’s Johnny" ala Jack Nicholson in The Shining when I’m smashing down a door with an axe. Is that wrong?
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computergames.ro review
No Synopsis Available
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ign.com review
Condemned: Criminal Origins isn’t a long game and it only has one game mode, but it’s an unforgettable experience while it lasts. At no point in the game will you be calm or feel comfortable, and that’s the best part about it. Even if you’re squeamish, be sure to play this at least once at night with all the lights off and by yourself and you’ll understand just how frightening it really is. The graphics, animations, enemy behavior, and utterly unnerving sound make this easily one of the most immersive and atmospheric games I’ve ever played. I honestly yelled out loud at certain points and was getting goosebumps on a regular basis. Though the forensic investigation sequences and level designs are almost painfully straightforward, the game manages to excel despite them. If you’re looking for a game that you can spend many hours on in single and multiplayer, this isn’t for you but if you’re looking for a terrifically creepy single-player game with brutal action thrown right in your face, Condemned is the goods.
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worthplaying.com review
Some weapons, like the fire axe, double up as keys to get past locks, and you’ll have great fun reenacting the "Here’s Johnny!" scene from The Shining as you hack your way through wooden doors. Combat is somewhat limited to one strike, without variety or the possibility of combo attacks. However, you do have a tazer gun, which allows you to electrically stun the psychos long enough to disarm them. At this point, they’ll either run off to find the next heavy object, or go berserk and attempt to head-butt you into the ground. It’s a terrifying attack that leaves your vision blurred and bloody and does tremendous amounts of damage. Avoid at all costs.
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gamechronicles.com review
Like the graphics, the sound is pretty dang good, and matches the harsh details nicely. Sound effects like the smack of combat and the grunts of foes really reverberate in the enclosed areas. You will often have auditory clues that may in fact save your skin as well. It made me wish I had 5.1 surround speakers, so I could really get my heart racing.
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gamespot.com review
Condemned’s success in delivering the best-looking first-person melee combat of any game to date is truly admirable, along with its unusual premise. It’s just that the longer you play, the more you’ll wish that there were more substance to the experience. Fortunately, the game’s main area of focus is executed on incomparably well.
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videogamer.com review
It’s certainly not going to win any awards for its depth of gameplay, but when this basic concept is so entertaining, it’s easy to see why Monolith (the studio behind last year’s F.E.A.R.) didn’t try to add any more complexity. One button swings your weapon or fires your gun, another raises your weapon to block an enemy attack, and you have access to a taser (momentarily halting an enemy) that comes in very handy, particularly against enemies carrying guns. If you’re brave enough you can kick enemies, knocking them to the ground and enabling you to brutally kill them with one of four finishing moves. These aren’t essential to your progression, but they do add some variety to proceedings.
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actiontrip.com review
These nifty tech gadgets look nice and all, but, sadly, they don’t really add much to the gameplay. Condemned is not big on puzzles, so the inspection tools will be mostly reduced to a cameo role of "just another novelty that looked really good on paper."
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gamezone.com review
The story of the game unfolds during the investigation mode since you’re sending data back to your contact at the FBI. Once you’ve collected forensic samples your contact at the FBI relays to you the results via your cellphone. Ethan will sometimes experience visions that allow him to see what the serial killer had been doing before Ethan started investigating the area. The cellphone calls and visions are where you start to learn the crazy and disturbing story of the game.
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1up.com review
So what does happen at the end of the game? Who knows… and really, who cares? In the case of Condemned, it’s the hellish journey that counts when it’s all said and done. And that journey simply wouldn’t be the same without Condemned’s superlative graphics which render the nightmare with a first-of-its-kind visual clarity for survival horror fiction. The game serves as an excellent showcase of next-generation gaming, simply because you couldn’t evoke the same pack of deep down trauma hounds from within the player if it weren’t for Condemned’s stunningly vile environments and high-resolution textures. Ultimately, what really makes Condemned worthy of your sleepless nights is its relentless pursuit of total ambience, a design quality that’s intrinsically tied to the power of the Xbox 360. Survival horror has simply never looked this good.
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gamerstemple.com review
It’s not too surprising that the story is dark and bleak; you’re on the trail of a serial killer after all. What makes it even more interesting is that it eats at Thomas’ psyche and as it unfolds it has him questioning his own sanity. It all sounds very intriguing, but it never fully hits its stride. It’s one of those cases where you have some good ideas for story elements, but the cohesion of these elements and their ultimate resolution don’t quite come together.
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gameshark.com review
Condemned is effectively summarized as an action / horror mix. Much like F.E.A.R. (the two games are actually based on the same engine I believe) there is a primary focus on the act of killing in a creative and brutal manner. To this end, the combat in the game has been tweaked to the point that this is by no means a generic first person shooter, and features a very well refined mix of melee and ranged combat action. In fact, the game’s environment is littered with objects that can be used as weapons – and hostile NPCs are aware of this too. During combat, it’s not unusual to find either yourself or an enemy running around wildly in search of a suitable implement of bludgeoning, such as ripping a pipe or conduit from a wall, or pulling out a desk drawer to beat some doped-up hobo over the head with before he breaks your knees with a sledgehammer.
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gamepro.com review
On the other hand, if you’re interested in a cheap thrill, you could do much, much worse than Condemned. Let’s just hope Monolith can expand the game’s narrow palette for the inevitable sequel. Condemned is good, grisly fun…while it lasts.
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gamecritics.com review
Condemned provides players with some of the creepiest imagery ever to appear in a video game, along with some truly tedious combat and enough concentrated human misery to darken even the most radiant heart. While by no means a terrible game, and not even a bad one, this is a game designed to increase the overall amount of sadness in the world, and for that reason alone, and despite its many high points, I can’t recommend that anyone play it. Ever.
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eurogamer.net review
Thomas really must be the worst agent of all time. Not only did he fail to point out his exonerating constant radio communication with his superiors during the murders he’s accused of, but at the time he was working on about twelve unsolved cases. No wonder they so madly blamed him for the cop killings – they were probably looking for any excuse to get rid of him. Fortunately, not all have turned their backs. Rosa, the lady at the other end of his super-forensic equipment is still helping him (and hence you) to continue chasing the killer down. This means he can continue tracking the real killer, and clear his name.
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