Condemned

[Roggs]

Just finished playing Bloodshot (Condemned 2).

Anyone else played Condemned 1 or 2? I think it's a pretty great series and has one of the best developing plots in gaming. If I had one gripe about the series, it's that I wish there was more of the crime scene investigation stuff, because that's what really sets it apart from other survival horror/ shooter games.

[OxBlood]

Condemned 2 is a nice game, agreed, but inferior to part 1 in terms of story and suspense I think. It´s nowhere near as scary as part 1.

The new battlesystem is quite enjoyable though, but sadly takes away a lot of the threat I felt in the first one. Ethan is a killing machine this time...oh and FPS-Mode is just ridiculously easy.


Another thing is the dramatic increase in available firearms this time...almost 3 whole levels consist of mostly firefights, which is a bit strange for a game like that I think.
The unlockables are a mixed bag...most are great, one is crap and the last one is...well just for the last level, since you cannot play through, say, level 2 with the unlockable from level 6. I really don´t like that and I´d say it´s a design-mistake.


All in all I would say it´s a decent game, plays better than the first one, but lacks in the Athmosphere-department. Oh and the ending sucked.

[Dr. Boogie]

I disagree on the plot. It feels more like they handed the series off to a different set of developers with different story ideas.

If you take the first game by itself, the story is really ambiguous. They make it seem like the craziness in the city is being caused partly by some kind of old pesticide poisoning people and birds and such, but by the end of the game, you're fighting monsters with escrima sticks.

Then in the second game, they basically explain everything to you. They've left it open for another sequel, but the storytelling is a little uneven. It almost reminds of the way the narrative works in Bioshock, only they stretched it over two games.

[darkvare]

i really liked number on mostly for how brutal it was i loved the story but in the end something escapes me
didn't the detective became the demon he was hunting?

[Dr. Boogie]

No, he was just suffering from paranoid delusions. They talk more about it in the second game.

[Zomboid]

So, better or worse than the first game? I didn't think it was an incredible game by any means, but I really enjoyed the first condemned. It was a relatively smooth paced game with a pretty creepy atmosphere.

[darkvare]

No, he was just suffering from paranoid delusions. They talk more about it in the second game.
guess i'm gonna have to play number 2

[Roggs]

I disagree on the plot. It feels more like they handed the series off to a different set of developers with different story ideas.

If you take the first game by itself, the story is really ambiguous. They make it seem like the craziness in the city is being caused partly by some kind of old pesticide poisoning people and birds and such, but by the end of the game, you're fighting monsters with escrima sticks.

Then in the second game, they basically explain everything to you. They've left it open for another sequel, but the storytelling is a little uneven. It almost reminds of the way the narrative works in Bioshock, only they stretched it over two games.

My guess is that Condemned (or at least Ethan Thomas's tale) will be a trilogy. In that sense, I think it's a good thing that they started giving us some of the answers (lest it become the video game equivalent of Lost). I think a lot of it is still ambiguous, though.

For example, the Oro. We now know that they're the ones behind so much of the chaos in the city, but their deepest motives are still obscured. How deep does their corruption truly run, and are they even the real bad guys in this picture?

Then there's Serial Killer X, who remains a key figure in this plot, a yin to Ethan's... slightly different shade of yin. Whose side is he on? What does he want?

I see it as pieces of a puzzle, each adding up to something new. Investigating a serial killer in the first game led to the uncovering of a sinister, inhuman underbelly of the city; in the second game, investigating that led to the uncovering of a conspiracy that spans at LEAST the entire city, and quite possibly the whole world and much of humankind's history. Whatever's next will probably be even more momentous and insane.

I also think that Condemned's narrative structure is better than Bioshock; this game has characters and story in addition to a creepy environment.

Besides, even if the development styles from a 2005 game to a 2008 is a little uneven, it's still pretty compelling.

[Roggs]

So, better or worse than the first game? I didn't think it was an incredible game by any means, but I really enjoyed the first condemned. It was a relatively smooth paced game with a pretty creepy atmosphere.

Tough to say either way. I think I liked the second one more for the combat and CSI upgrades, but you could really make strong cases for both.

The important thing is that they're both good. If you liked the first one, then definitely play the second.

[Dr. Boogie]

I do think the sequel is better than the original. They expanded melee combat a lot with the combo and chain attacks, there's a much better mechanic for gunfights, and they at least tried something different with the ranked investigations, for better or worse.