Condemned: Criminal Origins

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on April 03, 2006

Final Glimpse: Your PC should be afraid Е very afraidЕ

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Dry cleaners across the continent should be getting on their knees and thanking Monolith Productions for a huge spike in business. After scaring the crap out of PC gamers with the chilling F.E.A.R., the veteran development house greeted Xbox 360 owners by making them pee their pants in sheer fright with the terrifying Condemned: Criminal Origins. In fact, Gaming Target's own Nick Doukas Ц who gave the game high marks for its creepy gameplay Ц is still trying to clean the stains out of his undies.

So it is with great excitement (and a little trepidation) that Condemned is making its way to the PC. The game appears to be a straight port, and those with top quality gaming rigs should be able to match or exceed the stunning graphics of the Xbox 360 version.

You will play as FBI Agent Ethan Thomas, a serial killer investigator from the aptly named Serial Crimes Unit. The story will start with you investigating a horrible murder by the Match Maker, a particularly nasty serial killer. Once at the crime scene, the weirdness starts and bizarre things begin to happen, including being attacked by crazed street people and framed for murdering two fellow agents. Your goal is to solve the mystery of the weirdness, find the Match Maker and clear your name. Fortunately, you will have some help in the form of your trusted friend Rosa back at the FBI, who will analyze any forensics evidence you find and piece together the clues.

As Nick wrote in his review, УRight off the bat the atmosphere of the game is through the roof creepy.Ф (Oddly, he didn't mention how he played quivering under the covers while clutching his teddy bear Pooky, but we just know that happened, right? Right!) The environments are very dark and claustrophobic, and your puny flashlight will do little to push the blackness away. But what will really send chills down your spine are the extremely creepy sound effects: the tinkle of breaking glass, the crunch of footsteps in the dark, the heavy breathing of someone unseen in the shadows ahead of you Ц or worse, behind you.

The chilling realism of the game will suck you into the experience. Everything is seen from a first person perspective, even when you go tumbling down an escalator. Everyone you encounter is trying to kill you in the worst way possible, and the fact that they all look like something out of a psychotic nightmare doesn't help matters much either. Enemies will also behave with disturbing realism; they will jump you from the shadows, attempt to block your attacks, scream and cringe in pain when you hit them, panic when you knock a weapon out of their hands, and will even run away if you gain the upper hand. Since combat will consist primarily of melee attacks, you will have to get uncomfortably close and personal with these crazed psychos as they try to bash your head into a bloody porridge. You can block their attacks but will need to time it perfectly, just like in real life; in other words, simply holding the block button won't work. And when you do get hit, your vision will temporarily blur and blood will splatter across the screen. Ouch.

You will be able to use practically anything as a weapon: sticks, pokers, knives, cleavers, sledge hammers, crowbars, axes, paper cutter blades, and even a locker door. Ripping a pipe from a wall will have realistic effects on the environment by releasing steam, for example Ц very cool. You will also have a trusty taser that can be used to temporarily stun enemies, allowing you to whack them over the head unopposed or give you a fighting chance against multiple attackers. You will also find a variety of guns but ammo is very limited and spare ammo is extremely rare. After all, since when do you normally find magazines full of bullets conveniently lying around on the ground?

Weapons will have realistic effects on both you and your enemy. Lighter weapons like pipes can be swung faster while heavier items like sledge hammers can dish out devastating damage; the downside is that the heavier it is, the longer it will take to swing or block, leaving you open for an attack.

When you damage an enemy enough, you will be able to perform a finishing move like breaking their neck, pounding their head into the ground, or give them a good old fashioned headbutt. The finishing moves, along with the standard attacks, will all be accompanied by sickly wet thuds and crunches as heavy blunt objects destroy flesh and bone. Who said they don't make good clean family games anymore?

The game will span the same 10 gritty levels of the Xbox 360 version, which include pitch black subway tunnels, an abandoned department store, a decaying school and the psycho's favorite, an abandoned farmhouse. The environments look stunning in a morbidly creepy way, as do the increasingly disturbing enemies. The lighting effects are especially impressive, with realistic dynamic shadows that swing wildly when you knock a hanging lamp, for example.

When you are not fighting psychos, you will use various forensics tools to collect evidence to help you solve the mystery of what the heck is going on. You will also suffer from psychotic breaks and hallucinations that may or may not be real. Needless to say, this game will not be for the kiddies, the faint of heart, or those with teddy bears named Pooky.