[TRUE4U]

This is the first review I've ever done for anything so bear with me. I finally found something worth reviewing and wanted to share it with the rest of you.

The 360 has a lot of great games so sometimes it's hard to play them all. This means that sometimes a classic game can slip through the cracks. Condemned: Criminal Origins (CCO) is one of these games. This is one of the best games on the 360 and one of the finest in the survival horror genre yet very few on my friend list have played it. So I'm going to do the best I can to promote this game here.

CCO was a launch title on the 360 and along with COD2 and Fight Night 3 is one of the few to stand the test of time.
CCO is a single player survival horror game. It is played in the the first person perspective.

You play as FBI agent Ethan Thomas. Thomas seems to have "a gift" for catching sickos. As an agent whose job is to catch serial killers, you are one of the best in the bureau but lately all of your cases have gone cold. Add to that the fact that crime in the city is far higher and more violent than ever.

The game starts as you are called in by local P.D. to a crime scene that seems to be the work of one of the suspects whose case you are working on named The Matchmaker. This psycho likes to kill young women and then pose them in "scenes" with department store mannequins. While investigating the scene, you discover that the killer is still in the building. So the search begins. I won't go further into the plot so I don't ruin it for anybody who wants to play this game.

The game play takes place in two aspects - investigation and fighting. Investigation comes in two forms. The first is simply finding things in the game (birds, metal pieces, Xbox 360s) that uncover more of the plot at the end of the game. The second is using your forensic tools. There are places in the game where you can use these tools to gather evidence that you relay to your trusty sidekick, Rosa, electronically. I can't explain how that works exactly so don't ask. Anyway, Rosa gets the info and gets the results almost instantly. These can be things such as DNA or fingerprints, etc.

The fighting is the other aspect of the game. This game is a first person melee game. Yes, there are guns to be found. They come with a catch. No extra ammo. However many bullets are in the clips is how many shots you get. As much as I have played this game, I have yet to actually use a gun. I still need that achievement though so maybe next time. lol. The reason I don't use the guns is because of the melee. Anything you can grab, you can hit somebody with. This includes shovels, locker doors, signs, gas pipes, 2x4s with nails sticking out, rebar, etc. You also have a kick move and a taser. The taser is a lifesaver! You can stun an enemy and take his weapon to hit / shoot him with while he is still stunned. The taser recharges after each use so you just can't go with a rapid fire technique. My personal favorite weapons are the fire axe, fireplace poker and the classic paper cutter handle. It's also fun to grab a shotgun and smack somebody with the butt of it until it shatters and splinters across their head. Gaming at it's finest! Finally, you are armed with finishing moves. If you hurt an enemy bad enough, you are given the option to really F somebody up. These include snapping their neck or head butting them among other things. Good times indeed.

On to the levels. There are ten levels in this game, each taking about an hour. I guess they could take less but this is no run and gun game play. My advice is to proceed with caution. The levels are designed to be linear, dark and claustrophobic. This was achieved with perfection. This game doesn't need multiple paths. It just wouldn't work here. The thrill is knowing you need to move forward even though enemies lurk around every corner. Speaking of enemies, they are well-designed and freaky looking. They all are bloodthirsty and aggressive. If you knock a weapon out of one of their hands, they will frantically try to find something else to hurt you with. They will also retreat around a corner and try to ambush you. If all else fails, they will lunge at you and try to grab you. Much of this game is very memorable. The department store level is eerie. The burned down library is chilling. Then there is the school. The pool followed by the locker room area is just downright disturbing. The scripted moments are equally unforgettable. The end of the first level. This is where the demo ended and made me buy the game. The locker. Wow. The school kitchen with the meat cleaver. Classic. The numerous flashbacks. Frightening.

Let me just say that I'm a big horror fanatic (if you couldn't tell). I love horror movies and survival horror games. They don't really scare much. CCO is scarier than any movie. The only thing this scary was the game The Thing on the original Xbox. The best way to play this game is alone, in the dark, with the surround sound cranked up and a pair of depends on. Let me give you an example. On my third play through, I was playing the department store level. It felt good outside so I had my windows open. The wind was blowing pretty good causing the chord on my blinds to tap against the window. This was literally freaking me out. I had to turn the game off and watch Family Guy and other funny stuff for almost 2 hours to even feel right again. Not to mention, closing my windows. lol. And that was on my THIRD play through! 'Nuff said.

I'm long-winded so I'll try to wrap this up. This game has the best atmosphere of any game on the 360. Period. IMO, it's the most overlooked and underrated game on the system along with The Club. It's probably one of the ten best games on the 360. It is a classic in the survival horror genre along with games like The Thing, Silent Hill 2, Eternal Darkness and the Resident Evil franchise. This game is kind of old now so you can buy it cheap. So go buy it. The next game I'm buying will be Condemned 2: Bloodshot (how'd you know?).

GRAPHICS: 8/10 - The animation is smooth. The levels are dark and dirty. The enemies are disgusting and evil-looking. The one negative is that everything seems to have a shiny coating on it.

SOUND: 10/10 - A surround sound masterpiece. Very scary sound effects that will creep you out in certain levels. The sounds the the melee objects make on contact are brutal and bone-jarring. The voice acting is not spectacular but it is solid.

STORY / ATMOSPHERE 10/10 - The best atmosphere in a 360 game period. The story is not on a level with Mass Effect or Bioshock but it is on the next level. Some good plot twists to be found.

CONTROLS: 7/10 - This is a double-edge sword. The game controls nicely. Sometimes though, it doesn't seem responsive enough. This is done on purpose though to add to the atmosphere. If I'm surrounded by enemies and I swing a sledgehammer, Thomas has to regain his balance to swing at next enemy. This leads to a lot of moments of me yelling "swing, swing SWING!" at my tv. It's realistic though. It's not like you can rapid fire a sledgehammer. lol.

FUN: 10/10 - Fun melee, investigation scenes, the best atmosphere, good story pacing.

OVERALL: 9.5/10 - What more can I say? Go play this game!

[Metallicorphan is an Ass]

funnily enough i have just completed this game about a month ago..after buying it at launch,i played it a few times but with the million and one games that came out after this one,i strayed,and only just got back to it last month,pretty much everything you said is right

the good thing about the A.I. for the enemies is that instead of always just jumping out at you,they will follow you through some of the level,and try and jump out at you when you are most vulnarable

i downloaded the C2 demo from LIVE last night,but have yet to play it..i did however download the demo from playstation store a few weeks ago,but i hate the controller so didnt really get into it,so i will give it a proper go on the 360


below is a spoiler in concerns the department store





***********************************************************************

dont look if you havent completed the department store levelClick for read!

 have you got to that part where there are a load of mannequins just looking normal..then you turn away for a second and then you look back and they are all facing you,everytime you look away and look back they keep getting closer,until they are terrifyingly right in your face!!!

[Close]

[Sir Mobeye the Vaporblasted]

I loved it so much I bought the sequel. This game used to scare the pooh out of me at times. When you used to be examining something and turn around and an AI would be stood behind you all quiet just staring at you.....

[TRUE4U]

metallicorphan, on Apr 22 2008, 01:02 PM, said:

funnily enough i have just completed this game about a month ago..after buying it at launch,i played it a few times but with the million and one games that came out after this one,i strayed,and only just got back to it last month,pretty much everything you said is right

the good thing about the A.I. for the enemies is that instead of always just jumping out at you,they will follow you through some of the level,and try and jump out at you when you are most vulnarable

i downloaded the C2 demo from LIVE last night,but have yet to play it..i did however download the demo from playstation store a few weeks ago,but i hate the controller so didnt really get into it,so i will give it a proper go on the 360
below is a spoiler in concerns the department store
***********************************************************************

dont look if you havent completed the department store levelClick for read!

 have you got to that part where there are a load of mannequins just looking normal..then you turn away for a second and then you look back and they are all facing you,everytime you look away and look back they keep getting closer,until they are terrifyingly right in your face!!!

[Close]

I know right. That's one of the reasons that level stood out. That and the music. The store player was broken and was playing Christmas music that was distorted. The further you got in the level, the creepier the music felt. I think the school level was the only level that was scarier though. The basketball goal, the pool, the lockers and the children's laughter. that level was crazy.

I was the same way though. When I got my 360, I played all the demos. CCO was the best demo I played esp. because of the end of that level. I went and bought it right away but didn't play it untill recently. Then I played it three times in a row.

[Metallicorphan is an Ass]

i see you have been revisiting other classic games,True

i tried COD2 on veteran,and i got quite far,hopwever it got to a part where you have to kill the missile launchers while you are on top of a silo,and it did a checkpoint milliseconds before i died,therfor everytime i reloaded the checkpoint i would die....it took me 4 and a half hrs on that level to get to that point...so i quit(that was about the same time as playing condemned a few months ago)..i also completed it on PC before i got the 360 version

Online was quite good though,i have all 3 map packs i think,shame they are still charging for them

[TRUE4U]

I don't own too many games so I've been trying to get all the achievements on all of them. What's up with CCO only having 970 points? Anyway, COD2 on veteran is tough. The level you are talking about is infamous. I've talked to several people and the level you are stuck on is the same level they are stuck on which happens to be the same level I am stuck on. I'm determined to beat those levels though. Damn that silo level! Every checkpoint is brutal.

[GiGi709]

I just finished this game about a month ago and loved it. The only problem was I wasn't awarded some of my achievements some of the achievements.

The sequel is supposed to be pretty good so I'm looking forward to playing it.

[Metallicorphan is an Ass]

i played the demo of the sequel,and although the graphics were nice enough i didnt feel the atmosphere from the first one(is it because now i know what to expect?)...may wait awhile until i get that

and IS there any explaination on why the main guy and the woman(ROSE)are totally different from the first game?

[SkinToxicated76]

i have downloaded both the demos, havent had the guts to play them yet, i put Condemned on my priority list on my game rentals but for some reason they are sending me Test Drive Unlimited (which was on the list but i prioritised Condenmed higher). oh well give me a chance to get all my underwear clean b4hand!

[PatrickH 1993]

SkinToxicated76, on Apr 27 2008, 09:15 AM, said:

i have downloaded both the demos, havent had the guts to play them yet, i put Condemned on my priority list on my game rentals but for some reason they are sending me Test Drive Unlimited (which was on the list but i prioritised Condenmed higher). oh well give me a chance to get all my underwear clean b4hand!

Yeah I kinda wanna get it after the review, which waas great, but i dunno.

[TRUE4U]

PatrickH 1993, on Apr 27 2008, 01:59 PM, said:

Yeah I kinda wanna get it after the review, which waas great, but i dunno.

I'll take that as a compliment!

[FantasyBarb130]

I was playing this gane for a while.. maybe got a third of the way though it. The major problem I had was it was so dark... My eye would start to hurt and I would have to put it down after about an hour. I keep meaning to get back to it but haven't yet.

Since all the new games I want are not coming out til the fall ( November) I plan on spending the summer catching up on all the games I haven't played or havn;t finished