Condemned 2: Bloodshot

Rather than tread over ground that Phil has already covered in his review of Condemned 2 on the Xbox 360, we thought we would provide a ‘second opinion’ of the game while covering the differences between the PS3 and 360 versions.

I’ve got to admit that when I heard that Condemned 2 was coming to the PS3, I was more than a little concerned. Not with whether Jack Thompson might resurface and throw vitriolic comments around with wanton abandon about how violent videogames are again, but more how bad it was going to be. Let’s be honest, the PS3 has a less than stellar record when it comes to games converted from the 360 or ones that have been ‘dual-developed’ (which usually means ‘we led on the 360 and then did a last minute rushed conversion for the PS3’). So when Condemned 2 is a sequel of an XBOX 360 exclusive title, you can excuse me for being a little concerned.

Credit then to Monolith who managed to pull off a decent conversion/dual-developed game that runs with very few incidents of slowdown and only has very minor differences separating the two versions. Other than some slight audio glitches (slight popping noise on some levels that we didn’t detect in the 360 version) and the few times we clipped through a piece of scenery, there is very little else that stands out as being inferior with the PS3 version. Of course there is an argument that it shouldn’t be inferior at all, but in the current climate I’m prepared to give them credit where it’s due.

Let’s get one thing straight; Condemned 2 didn’t leave me a gibbering wreck like it did Phil during his time spent with the 360 version, but then I don’t have an irrational fear of Mannequins or Clowns. Condemned 2 did however make me take every turn with a cursory glance over my shoulder, detect every noise and instantly think that something was just about to jump out on me. I constantly kept my back firmly pressed against a wall just to ensure that I couldn’t be flanked.

Whereas Project Zero 2, with its supernatural horror, scared the living shi…crap out of me (so much so that I was unable to finish the game, despite finding it one of the best games on the last generation of consoles), Condemned 2 had me concerned but never really scared. Hairs still stuck up on my arms and neck from time to time, but those occasions were quite rare. I even had occasions where what should have been psychologically terrifying (the dolls in the disused doll factory for instance) had me laughing out loud instead. Perhaps I’m a little bit twisted but I find exploding dolls hilarious and nothing more than a little creepy.

It’s clear though that the developers thought Condemned 2 would be much more psychologically terrifying that it is. And perhaps it would have been, if they’d kept the enemies restricted to psychopathic tramps rather than populate the levels (and story) with needless, almost supernatural, oil-like monsters. Arguably the parts of the game that work the best in terms of psychological horror are when you, as Ethan (the main character), are suddenly attacked by a crazed person after spending ages slowly traversing an apartment complex knowing that any minute now somebody was going to jump out on you, or when he loses grip on reality and starts seeing things (the Mannequins, as per Phil’s example in his 360 review). When oily sacks hanging from the ceiling started exploding and released enemies at my face, I didn’t jump and nor did I think it was scary. I just stared on unimpressed and wondered why Monolith had stooped to such an unnecessary level.

The story and psychological terror would have been much better if these moments had been kept to a bare minimum, where Ethan had lost grip after killing yet another person. Instead the constant barrage of oily or strange monsters just ruined the atmosphere for me and had me wanting more crazed humans. . In fact the story is a bit schizophrenic. Telling a paranormal tale one minute, then concentrating on Ethan’s inner demons the next, then a special ability, then something else entirely. The level structure also causes confusion, as many of them appear to be included purely because the developers came up with a good idea for a level, rather than one that would progress the story. Obviously I don’t want to give away any major spoilers but despite being an enjoyable level, what exactly was the point of the disused doll factory again? The story really could have been the selling point for Condemned 2, especially with such a strong character in Ethan and superb voice-over work that really delivers the script well. Instead it ends up a bit of a mess and lacking in direction. The original Condemned was great because it wasn’t concerned with delivering grandiose horror, whereas at times Condemned 2 appears to be hung up on doing just that.

What Condemned 2 doesn’t lack in though is unapologetically violent combat. We’re talking ripping pipes off of the wall and smashing enemies in the face; grabbing a prosthetic arm and using it to bludgeon a crazed and helpless tramp to death. Accompanied with suitably meaty (and squishy) sound effects, the combat is much more visceral than any game I have played before. Playing in first-person helps immensely with this, as you really feel as though it’s you connecting with those punches and ramming tramps heads through toilets. Despite being incredibly violent and lifelike, it isn’t as gratuitous as the combat found in Manhunt and always feels totally warranted in terms of the character Ethan. Here is a man hooked on alcohol and who has lost interest in life and is someone you can genuinely feel for, whereas Manhunt played like a game that just wanted to court with controversy.

It isn’t all crazed violence though as Condemned 2 also has a generous helping of crime scene investigations. Ranging from investigating a scene of a murder to finding clues about your current location, the investigations are handled really well and feature puzzles that are incredibly lifelike. While some of the solutions might appear to be difficult at first, every puzzle can be completed by imagining that you’re in the same situation in real-life and thinking about what you would do then. I didn’t encounter one puzzle throughout the whole game that didn’t have a logical solution. Even one puzzle involving containers, that appeared to be impossible at first and required nothing more than guesswork, turned out to have a very satisfyingly logical solution.

The whole experience for me, despite my reservations on the supernatural overtones of the story, was an oddly enjoyable one. I say oddly as generally I’m not one for wanton violence. There are films that many people would consider classics that I have found irritating due to an unnecessary amount of violence. Equally games like Manhunt left me completely unimpressed. Even the Grand Theft Auto series has irritated me in the past with their constant ‘run around and throw Molotov cocktails at Hispanic gangs’ type of objectives. In the case of Condemned 2 however, all of the violence felt warranted.

Ethan is the type of person that just doesn’t care about life anymore and the situation he finds himself in is one that requires violence in order to survive. Alcohol and violence are his two vices, the two things that keep him alive, even though ultimately one of them will no doubt eventually lead him to his death. He’s also the type of person that would find violence arousing, a source of sick pleasure. If he didn’t have alcohol or violence in his life, you can just imagine him sitting in a dark corner behind a Chinese restaurant on a soiled mattress, rocking slightly and waiting for the coldness to envelope him and finally end his miserable life. Therefore the violence that you participate in is warranted; it’s not there purely to provide cheap thrills or to court controversy. On the contrary, it’s absolutely necessary in order to understand the dark mind of Ethan.

It’s such a shame then that the unnecessary inclusion of supernatural enemies and storyline ruin some of that atmosphere and gritty realism. It didn’t need it; Ethan is a strong enough character to stand on his own without the need of supernatural story arcs. It also didn’t need online modes that feel very tacked on and offer absolutely no entertainment whatsoever. As a result, Condemned 2 ends up being a game that I can highly recommend but not a game that I can really say, hand on heart, is essential. If the story hadn’t gone off the beaten track into unnecessary territory and if the areas hadn’t been quite so claustrophobic (Condemned 2 does an awful job of convincing the player they’re in an open environment; knee high boxes really shouldn’t be used as makeshift walls to channel a player through a level) Condemned 2 really would be in contention for a 9/10. As it stands it’s an uncomfortable 8/10, with a cursory glance over its shoulder at the 7/10 that was so close to catching it up and beating it into submission.

Our rating

8/10