As many of this site's frequent flyers know, I am a HUGE survival-horror fan. I must admit though, I have never played the original Condemned for the 360. So you may consider this review less influenced by that game.. and thus I will not be comparing the two.

First Impressions:

Graphically this game REALLY stands out. It makes very VERY good use of lighting and the textures come through and give it a very dirty, gritty atmosphere. As many know, lighting in a game where almost everything is dark can be tricky. This game gave me the option to adjust the games lighting beforehand... some may know this as a "gamma" setting. I found the game to really reflect the setting you chose. The animation of NPCs is fantastic, punching people actually feels like the awkwardness of actually punching someone and takes the cheapness away that is usually part of a first-person experience. Flickering lights, great shadows, and a very well done flashlight keep you on edge.

Gameplay-wise I felt as though this game made serious efforts to make evey fight a challenge. You never get to use a gun in the demo and thus you are constantly looking around your environment to find a better melee option. In the demo these range from fists, to pipes, to prosthetic arms. You can also throw any of your melee items as well. There was always a feeling that I may not survive the next attack (and to be honest I didn't survive my first play through) which really separates this from an FPS and a survival horror. Walking and sprinting also feel authentic as you dont get that steady "escalator" feel when doing either.. you can actually almost feel the steps you take.

To sum things up... it was as if Silent Hill, Resident evil 4, and F.E.A.R. spliced up thier DNA and made a hybrid using the best elements of each. I truly enjoyed this demo and recommend the game based on it!

Tags : Bloodshot : Condemned 2 : Demo : PlayStation 3 : Review

Comments

By: Dragonfly On: 09:00 Mar 26th, 2008 Online	Condemned 2 is a game that has continuously underwhelmed me every time I have seen it. And it sense of how doesn't even close to the level of genuine fear and originality of the Silent Hill series; it's a B-movie in comparision. But who knows, maybe it's not so bad after all.

By: ManicGamer On: 09:20 Mar 26th, 2008 Offline	That is EXACTLY what I thought before I checked it out. But its plagirism paid off for me (at least in the demo). It is very story driven too...which I like. I found it to be more immersive and less of a "haunted house" style game.

By: Evren On: 08:50 Mar 27th, 2008 Offline	I want to play the first one before I play the second. As with most games. It does look like Silent Hill gone a bit...more normal. Lol, I'll pick the first one up and see how I feel about it.

By: boa On: 09:33 Mar 27th, 2008 Offline	You make the game sound stunning, may have to grab a copy if I like the first or I see it for a good price.