Title: Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 (review platform)
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Monolith Productions
ESRB Rating: M for Mature
You really can't call Sega's Condemned 2: Bloodshot a first-person shooter - not at first anyway. While it certainly throws gamers into its gritty, manic world in a first-person perspective, the term "shooter" doesn't really come into play until the second half of the game. Condemned 2's main selling point is its hand-to-hand combat, requiring players to use fists like some kind of first-person Street Fighter match instead of relying on heavy artillery.
If you're not used to this kind of gameplay, then the bare-fisted strategy may seem rather awkward and hard to get used to at first. The game also allows players to pick up certain objects from the environment such as a board with nails, bricks, prosthetic arms, metal pipes, toilet seats and exploding dolls, which can be used as melee weapons against the opponent. While the incentive is rather cool and useful, not everything can become a weapon, and most opponents require a massive beating - even with sharp objects - before they hit the dirt.
It's funny, really. If you take an axe or a cleaver to an opponent, it requires many blows to take them out - yet there isn't any gore or visual damage left on the blades. But on the other hand, the game's protagonist, Ethan Thomas, visits some really bizarre, grizzly scenes chock full of human innards and buckets of blood.
Condemned 2: Bloodshot features the same kind of intense, haunting atmosphere as its predecessor and provides plenty of scares.
Monolith cranks up the shock value to say the least, more than likely digging back into the days of its sinisterly clever PC game, Blood, released back in 1997. But unlike Blood or its flagship FPS F.E.A.R., Monolith spends its gore points on scenery rather than weapon carnage. Even the powerful guns used later on are capable of blowing off heads but they never make much of a mess. Needless to say, it is surprising (and somewhat disappointing) that the sharp melee weapons don't do more gratuitous damage, especially after some punk has just about beaten me senseless and I want something worthwhile (and deliciously sharp) to retaliate with.
But as just mentioned, Condemned 2's main gameplay factor is in the Street Fighter hand-to-hand combat. Not only can you use both fists and a foot, gamers can perform combo moves such as the One-Two Combo consisting of a left punch and then a right punch, with a resulting 3x damage total. The Triple Cross combo dishes out 6x damage, for example, when you perform three different hook shots. The Nut-Cracker Combo only dishes out 1.5x damage, consisting of the stomp kick and then the groin kick. Even after unlocking the FPS mode (this happens after completing the single-player campaign), the game still doesn't play like it was designed for guns; it's up close and in your face, and most of the time you'll end up dead if Ethan goes into automatic reload.
And to be honest, Ethan Thomas really isn't a protagonist to whom you can relate. In fact, he looks downright half-dead in the cut scenes, even though his character works brilliantly within the story. He's a troubled guy living on the streets; a tired, pissed-off drunkard washing away the pain of the past (see Condemned: Criminal Origins) with whatever booze he can find. Half out of his mind and half aware of whatever is currently plaguing the city, he is the perfect fit to track down whatever is causing the mass psychosis and outbreak of brutal violence.
Although some of his more delusional scenes are difficult to understand, there's no question that Condemned 2 could be turned into a full-blown Hollywood movie. It has everything you could want in a horror action flick: extreme violence, gore and plenty of shocks to keep you pinned to the seat's edge. And the game's protagonist - carrying the weight of Condemned on his shoulders like a veteran's medal - brings the virtual horror to life in such an interesting way it makes everything somewhat believable.
Condemned 2 takes place just 11 months after the first game. Having resigned from the FBI's Serial Crime Unit, Ethan lives among the homeless, sinking deeper and deeper into insanity, unable to control his anger and envisioning his alcohol addiction as an evil, alter ego of himself. Director Farrell orders that he be found, brought in and recruited to investigate the murder of Ethan's one-time mentor, Malcolm Vanhorn. Ethan soon discovers that his old enemy, Serial Killer X, is still alive, brought back from the brink of death by his uncle, the late Malcolm Vanhorn. Former colleague Angel Rosa and SCU's tactical commander Agent Dorland aid Ethan in his investigation.
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