Condemned 2 [PS3&X360]

[kyleb]

Huh, I just assumed the demo would be good as Monolith's demos have always impressed me, but I downloaded it to see what the complaints are about and this one is rather weak. Instead of blending together multiple levels to create the demo like Monolith normally does, they just start you out half way into the first one, and cut you off before the last section of it, all with not even a hint that the tar covering the city and the tar enemies are just in your imagination, part of a dream sequence. All the tar also makes for the most bland looking section of the game, while other environments are far more impressively detailed.

Even worse, they totally botch demonstrating the gameplay, only give you five normal enemies to fight which is far to few to get the swing of the combo system, and by failing to demonstrate the far more engaging crime scene analysis portions of the game. I am at a loss as to how Monolith could mess this demo up that bad, as it is hardly representative of the full game. It was bad enough that there is no demo of multiplayer, as the Crime Scene mode is my new addiction, and I'm sure that a multiplayer demo with that along with DM and TDM in the Farm House map from the first game would sell many copies on it's own.

So, yeah, if you are a fan of the original or like the concept of the game, I highly recommend the sequel despite the poor demo. I consider it well worth the purchase price, and certainly worth at least a rent.

 

[Oboro Shogun]

Overall this is a cool game but is anyone else disappointed by the "combo" system? It's not really combos. More like a series of interruptable individual hits. I'm playing on hard so you die really fast too. I find I just parry and get the counter combo most of the time. Even then, you parry and counter and before you can swing again, they are swinging already and you must parry again, disrupting the "combo". I don't like how they just hit through your swings either.

 

[D3v0ur3r]

I have the sound cutting out rapidly in certain area's. Right now I am in a burning warehouse. Seems not one person is playing MP either or at least every time I've looked. Starting to wish I had got HotShots Golf in sted.

 

[Jimmers]

I had a good time with this one. It's the first title of this genre I've ever played, so I didn't really have any expectations going into it. I bought the PS3 version, and I think I'll get good enough use out of it to justify the $60.

There's a sound popping issue that comes and goes, which is annoying but doesn't really break immersion for me. There are also a few instances of obvious low-poly models, namely when your in chain attack mode vs. some of the more heinous-looking enemies near the end. Neither of these are gamebreakers though. They're about as annoying as the texture pop-in in Uncharted.

Spoiler

The choice of environments is a mixed bag. The Doll Factory level seems contrived, and lacks many of the "psychological" effects that are present in better levels, such as the hallucinated SCU level (by far and away the best level in the game). The best, most pants-wetting levels are the hallucinated or dreamed levels, and I was disappointed that as the game went on they were fewer and fewer.

As far as the story goes, I was sort of expecting a more personal angle to Thomas' hallucinations, and having that somehow be tied to the murders. Instead, we find out that it's an ancient cult behind everything and Thomas' connection with them is ambiguous.

Thomas gets a superpower near the end. It's bullshit, and breaks the whole "normal-guy-fighting-for-his-life" paradigm.

I really liked the way Monolith did the melee combat. It's probably the biggest selling point for the game. One of the above posters was complaining about combos, but I can tell you that there's so much more to the combat than that. You can throw melee weapons, trip, kick, alternate between jabs and punches, charge, disarm enemies, grab them into holds and more. Finding different ways to defeat the same enemy was very rewarding, and even though you can go through the whole game doing nothing but left-right punching you'd feel sorry if you did.

All that said, I had fun playing Condemned 2. The early levels are legimately scary and contain enough to psychological aspects to differentiate Condemned 2 from an FPS or first-person brawler. The story is good enough to support the gameplay. The levels are varied and well thought out (there was only one level that I got lost in). The combat doesn't get old. I'd recommend it.

You should take care when adjusting the game's brightness via the options menu. In different lighting situations (at night, in the dark, durring the day, etc.) the brightless level really becomes an issue. If you don't adjust the brightness before playing during the day, the levels are so dark that you can hardley see anything. If you don't adjust the brightness at night some of the environments look unnaturally lit up.

EDIT: If there is going to be a Condemned 3 (and judging from the ending, that's more than likely), I'd wait for a good review before buying, or rent first.