Spooktober 2023
2. Condemned: Criminal Origins

Within seconds I was on-board with basically everything about this game: The dimly-lit, grimy environments, the minimal hud, necessity of the flashlight, heaps of diegesis, and a focus on melee combat with low-ammo single-time-use firearms…

Condemned is a stew of other Conmancore certified favorites, such as Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, various Resident Evils but especially 7 (mc’s name is Ethan?!), Metro: Exodus, Kane & Lynch 2 (I wanted to mention it but please just move past that one) and Far Cry 2.

Diegesis is, I think, of particular note as a staple of many Conmancore games. I turned the aiming reticle off, which was one of the game’s few options, and even Condemned’s relatively weaker aspects like the narrative and the Arkham-style detective stuff try to keep you entrenched in the experience by mostly keeping everything on-screen and in-gameplay. That isn’t to say that gamified design is bad at all, just that videogames can provide more than one type of experience and this is one type I tend to like.

I’ve had Condemned Backloggd™ for forever, so it was satisfying to finally cross it off the list. Also, I don’t even need to look at the scores of people I’m following to know what they’d give this game, and I have a sneaking suspicion y’all could have seen my positive reaction coming from a mile away. But I didn’t know much about this game and was surprised to find it was an instant favorite. I’m totally trying out the sequel as soon as I can.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧
#𝟖 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐝: 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬

Kinda crazy that Monolith was able to release two banger games in 1 year alone.

I feel conflicted with this game, not in the sense where I’m conflicted with the game’s overall quality. That's not the case at all; it’s a pretty solid game with great look investments and a surprisingly good first person melee system, but what I’m more confused about is what this game what to be.
What I mean is the game is obviously influenced by movies like Seven and Saw. Everything from the game going out of it’s way to have the player hunt down serial killers with a heavy emphasis on the detective side of the game, where you use almost science fiction level tools to uncover the string of on going serial killers and the murder of said serial killers; while also having the setting and gameplay rely heavily on that grungy grotesque hyper violent look and feel that was everywhere in post 9/11 horror movies like Saw or Hostel, and when the game tries going for those influences it succeed with flying colors. Everything from the dilapidated buildings you explore to the cracked out violent denizens that live in these forgotten places really add to a sense of “you don’t belong here, and if you wanna get out alive your going to need to fight for your life”, the melee combat for as simple as it is it does a tremendous job reincorporated the visual themes of the game into the gameplay. It’s not a pretty or stylish system, it's very simple and animalistic; all you do is hit the enemy and block his attacks until he dies and depending on the weapon you grabbed around the environment that might take awhile; resulting in you sometimes beating someone to a point where it’ll feel overkill. Yeah sure you can use guns to shoot your enemies but once a gun runs out of ammo that’s it for it; so what are you just gonna throw it away, fuck that your gonna take the butt of the gun and then beat the shit out of your enemies with the gun itself. The combat is loud, it’s violent, it’s gratuitous, and it perfectly captures the sense of this city going to hell and everything around it decaying in the process.

Now all of that is great and I love it when my video games have intertwined themes that work for both the narrative and gameplay; but once I got to the halfway point of the game stuff starts happening that honestly really bothered me.
So around the point where I hunting the mysterious Serial Killer X I started noticing these weird anorexic pseudo-cenobites looking creatures that scuttle on all fours, at first they seemed really out of place in this somewhat grounded setting but I just kind of assumed it was the game’s addition of a new enemy type of violent crackheads and after that I didn’t really question them. Then the main character started having these strange visions of future events or visions of possible events which I also stupidly didn’t give much thought to. Then the visions of this weird metal jawed ghost…thing started showing up and an underlying supernatural side of the game started showing its ugly head and after that the game just kinda lost me. It’s not that I don’t have a problem with a crime horror game taking a paranormal route but the thing that bothers me so much is that the game never really builds to it. The game is so forced on delivering this gritty setting with this violent combat system and then out of nowhere the game drops this in with no subtle hints that something other than an uprise in crime is going on in this city, that maybe something supernatural is causing this disturbance in people; and honestly I’d like to know that info too because the game never fucking tell you anything about it. I don’t know if I missed an autolog explain it or theres a 100% ending that explains more that I didn’t get but the game just drops all this supernatural ghost crap really half heartedly and expects me to just go along with it even thought it fits into the game’s pre-existing motifs about as well as round peg in a square hole. Nothing about these supernatural visions or the metal chin ghost that follows the main character around really hit into the game’s thematic elements and they fit into the story of the game even less. I don’t think I’d be as harsh towards the supernatural elements of the game if the game didn’t already do a tremendous job locking in this grounded gritty setting and tone all for this supernatural to bum rush in to ruin the suspense, tone, and especially the ending, which after finishing the game and sitting on my overall thoughts I still don’t understand the ending???? Was the finale boss the spirit that was causing the whole city to go crazy? Why did the ending suggest that a cult was behind this demotic entity even though no cults were referenced in the game’s story? How is Ethan connected to this cult and why does he have all these visions and high strength? They bring up his highly classified medical records during the game’s story but they never elaborate on it and it’s just kinda dropped from the story as soon as it’s brought up so what was the point of it’s inclusion?
All of the supernatural story elements the game throws in not only does not fit within the game’s thematic elements it's worked in but it also doesn't work for the sake of the game’s overall plot. You learn through one sentence of dialogue during the last 10 minutes of the game that this metal jaw ghost guy is the cause of the city’s meteoric rise of violence and serial killers and after that it’s straight to the final boss and then it’s never brought up ever again. There is no build up to it’s supernatural elements and there's no clear answer to why it’s even happening, it turns what could’ve been a fun and suspenseful crime horror game, into a disjointed mess of a story held together by great gameplay and a solid execution of the developer’s inspirations.

I know that whole rant seemed like I don’t like the game because it’s story was a fucking mess but I still enjoyed what I played in retrospect. I don’t think I’ve seen a game before that has such an effortlessly simple yet fun first person melee system, and the environments are still amazingly haunting since it’s on the same engine FEAR was made on and my god it’s lighting is almost as good as Id tech 4’s lighting. Again the whole story might just be me not fully understanding what the game was going for or maybe there was something I missed but at the end of the day I still wanna recommend the game because I still don’t think you’ll find any other game like Condemned out there.

I found a lot of horror to love in Condemned. The combat is weighty enough, but we have since seen far better first-person combat systems. For one this old, however, it holds up well enough.

I've an issue with some of this games bland feeling level design, and a bigger issue with the games final two chapters. Chapters one through eight all feel completely standard for this era in gaming; ruined city blocks, subways, sewers, abandoned school, library - it's all here. The last two chapters, however, made me want to drop the game. I didn't, I stuck it out, but it was close.

The supernatural elements that get revealed right at the end after only being hinted at through visions fell flat in my opinion. This game at it's best is about clubbing vagrants with blunt objects you pull off the wall in a scary setting; at it's worst it throws boring encounter after boring encounter at you while you trudge through a dark field.

Such a cool-ass game with nice, little details that give it a survival horror feel. I love how you have to check your ammo manually, rather than it just being on the HUD. I love how it can be really creepy and daunting, even without any enemies present. Doing actual crime-scene work that was (probably) realistic was a neat mechanic too, using all the gadgets was so cool.

Going through this horribly run-down part of town and exploring these abandoned buildings riddled with hobos trying to kill you was so enthralling, I couldn't get enough back in the day!

Even with all the jank of getting it to boot and how stiff it moves, condemned starts off on a strong foot.... then fumbles it all away.

It plays the same during its whole tenure you wield one weapon, either a gun or whatever sharp or blunt object you can get your grubby hands on. You swing your makeshift weapon or block, guns can't be reloaded even with similar guns which is stupid considering Ethan is an FBI agent, it doesn't even gel well mechanically since you'll be leaving behind a weapon of choice for a sluggish weapon since you need specific hammers or axes to proceed.
The combat loop doesn't change at all, enemies slightly change but not nearly enough to carry the combat. Plus the investigation aspect is a mindless point and click.

The reason I decided on it is because of its well regarded atmosphere, which it IS there but the devs apparently didn't recognize it as a strong suit to utilize it further. I've had moments of tension where the room layout, lighting, and music were on point only to pay it off with a crackhead or two running at me. It was a big sore fault not to lean into its unnerving atmosphere. I wished so hard for at least one level to be horror oriented, and some were so close to that but I am disappointed.

The story is a piece of shit except for a few good beats. Weaponized crackheads make up most of the goons you'll be fighting, who get ramped up in their depravity as the plot progresses. The general synopsis is you've been framed for killing 2 cops by an anonymous fugitive and have to conduct rouge investigations to clear your name, anything after that was unceremoniously horrible. Almost a half or more of plot points don't get solved or even recognized later in the game. You've got mass bird deaths, rampant crime and a lot of dehumanized drug fiends, like really a lot... A LOT. It doesn't explain what's happening to the birds or the addicts, or what's happening to your MC, both physical and supernatural elements are at play and the game ends with one of the blandest anticlimactic and confusing wrap ups I've ever played. The story is nonsensical without the sequel's knowledge, and even after skimming through its plot it's embarrassingly disappointing.

you ever just need to explore decrepit buildings filled to the brim with psychotic vagrants? plunge into urban decay and feel the dried blood and grime beneath your fingernails as you fight for your life. condemned is ashamedly nigh forgotten, understandably so when its sister game is fucking F.E.A.R. revisiting this game, though, was greater on a second playthrough, in both highs and lows. the atmosphere is disgusting. festering paranoia, rotting buildings, filthy footsteps, and ghastly whispers, condemned is one of the few games where i still got startled while knowing what was coming. the utter dilapidation of metro city is tangible in its industrial despair and collapsing floors, but the sickly enemies add to it alongside being able to rip off a weapon from the wall. incredibly simple, brutally visceral. the combat is rudimentary. it's a man killing another man with a rock and huffing with each swing. dodging is only a coincidence or a misstep. you either take a hit or adapt and block hits. yea the last chapter is a bit of a fumble, taking the horror into the background by throwing more and more enemies and guns. yea, the game is janky with audio bugs and a shoddy pc port. yea, maybe there were a few too many guns to overshadow the melee combat. but holy hell, there are not many games this cathartically terrifying. raw, cruel combat and dreadfully dense atmosphere, condemned may not be better than F.E.A.R. (and it's really hard to top F.E.A.R.), but it scratches a specific itch in my brain that not many other games can.

An underrated Horror Classic

Condemned is truly a classic game in my eyes that doesn’t get nearly enough praise. Having played this game around its release I was a lot younger and had pretty much no patience when it came to gaming so I never finished it. However, getting the urge recently I decided to boot up the game and finally play through it all. In the end I have to say this game was very good which really makes me wonder why it doesn’t get talked about enough.

What made this so good?

Monolith are simply masterminds when it comes to environments and knowing how to make a game creepy. To elaborate, the levels are very dark, grotesque and claustrophobic, sometimes really making for a creepy experience through and through. Each level is eerily silent making you feel on edge throughout it as you never know when an enemy will pop out to attack you. It really made for a very high on edge experience as you are constantly looking everywhere as you traverse each level. The game wears its creepiness on its sleeves and it's amazing how it's more creepy then so many modern horror games today. Furthermore, the game has a solid cast of characters, story and okay enough combat to really make for an overall pleasant experience.


Story

Honestly I won’t really get too deep into it as I thought it was interesting but best played for yourself. You play as Ethan who is a detective investigating a crime scene which quickly turns south putting you in a very tricky situation. I will leave it at that as it does have some interesting twists, good moments and an overall Se7en vibe that I enjoyed. However, there are a few things that occur that really don’t get elaborate on more which is a bummer and quite honestly confusing as some of the enemies really made me scratch my head in terms of “how” they exist lol. All in all the story gets the job done and will keep you entertained until the end.

Gameplay

As a first person melee focused horror game condemned was insanely cool for its time. The AI will block , counter attack , run away , hide and sneak attack you and it's honestly really cool even in today's standard even though the AI can act weird at times. The combat is very simple, having you pick up Melee weapons to swing and block with and sometimes giving you guns to use WHICH you can as well use as a Melee weapon when you run out of ammo. Combat overall got the job done and can be pretty engaging as taking hits on medium difficulty or higher can be deadly but some portions of the game were very annoying. Nothing special in the end but it's fun enough and for its time honestly really cool.

some issues I had

While I overall enjoyed the game a lot I did have a few issues with the game which was a bummer. To elaborate, there are quite a few glitches ranging from meh to literally game breaking. To explain, sometimes the enemies will literally do nothing and run in circles trying to hide from you which makes certain sections frustrating. Furthermore, there were times where hits would simply just not connect making for very weird interactions during combat as you would clearly be smack face to face with the enemy and still somehow miss a hit with certain weapons. There were times where the game would checkpoint right before a death, literally putting you in an infinite kill loop forcing you to lose a little bit of progress. To top it off bug wise, there were a couple times where I would load into a segment completely losing my weapon and not being able to pick up anything once again soft locking the game. The investigation scenes were cool but really don’t add much to me in the overall gameplay loop but I could just be overthinking this point. Lastly, the story as mentioned has some twists and turns that simply do not get elaborated on further really making certain parts hard to take seriously which I won’t get into for spoiler sakes.

In the end

This was an awesome horror game that more of you should play and enjoy its creepiness in its full glory. While there is a steam version that from what I understand is pretty buggy and even when modded still isn’t good to play. If you have an xbox series s,x or 360 I highly recommend just seeking this game on those consoles as it will overall not give you any issues past the ones I just named. Overall, I have no doubts if this game got remastered or even better remade that it has high potential to be a masterpiece in my eyes if they flushed out the issues I had with the game. Condemned is an underrated gem and we should really change that !

The lowest form of horror in my opinion is one that relies on the sense of self-preservation, startlement and shock value. And that's precisely the type of horror presented in Condemned. Some of it was true for F.E.A.R. too, but due to the outstanding gameplay you kinda wanted to forgive that. At first I thought Condemned has a F.E.A.R. complex of "great combat, bad horror", but within 70 minutes I realized that this wasn't the case.

The combat starts off very impressive. It's difficult to pull-off a good melee combat in first-person, and Condemned is probably one of the better examples of it. And the enemy AI seems very advanced at first, almost like it's playing mind-games with you. But soon you realize that the combat doesn't really have any more tricks up its sleeve, and gets boring very quickly. Plus some issues with it become apparent. For example, it's clear that head-shots deal more damage, but it's almost impossible to have any precision in a fight. You aim at the head and end up hitting air above it. It's almost a happy coincidence when they do happen.

As for the AI, it becomes obvious that the perceived "mind-games" are all scripted, while the real AI is extremely dumb. They like hiding behind corners, and that's basically their only tactic. Which is very annoying because sometimes you KNOW the enemy is hiding there, but there's pretty much no way to avoid being hit. One time an enemy ambushed me, and after I took a couple of steps back, he decided to hide behind that same corner again like I didn't see him.

Furthermore the level design reveals itself to be extremely linear. Sometimes there's like two paths to the same room, but they usually only differ in what pointless items they're gonna have, and it's usually conduits. And these diversions are so brief that you end up exploring both paths anyway. Then there are these special doors that require a special weapon to open, and it's always somewhere around the corner. So there's basically no consequence for picking one weapon over the other, because you're always gonna find the one weapon you need when the situation arises.

Needless to say, guns are almost useless here. Most times you find them with about 3 bullets inside, which isn't worth trading an axe or a sledgehammer for them. I don't really mind having less ammo in a game like this, but what really bugs me is the in-game reason (or lack thereof) for why you can't carry extra clips. Because you carry an entire forensics lab worth of tools on you, but there's no place for an extra clip?

Speaking of the forensics, they're just busywork here. They're not some fun gameplay mechanic. They're usually just "pull out a tool, point it at something and left-click". Most games that feature forensics have this problem, but here there's so much emphasis on it that it becomes really annoying really fast.

And the final nail in the coffin for me is the movement speed. It's very slow, and you wanna hold down the sprint button the entire time, but then you keep running out of stamina. I dunno why they decided this was a good idea. Being slow does not add to horror or suspense. It just makes you feel handicapped. If the goal of the game was to make you feel handicapped, I'd understand, but you're supposed to beat the shit out of hundreds of junkies, so I don't really get it.

All that being said, the core combat is really well-done. I think, if they made it a bit more complex and let you move faster, this could really develop into a fun first-person brawler. The potential is definitely there.

Condemned is a jubilant, evil-grinned celebration of twisted crime thrillers, and even when the story is muddled and the movement can feel sluggish, it still excels with its great combat, astounding sound design/music, and striking visuals, creating an atmosphere and overlying tension that feels absolutely decrepit and putrid, in the best way possible.

Combat is not exactly on Sekiro levels or anything, but those latent senses I formed during my time with that game were coming out with this one. It has some surprising depth to it with blocking and counters, with a very minimal focus on guns considering their scarcity, but when you pick them up, you always have the upper hand. The focus on melee combat with a touch on devastating guns is a great yin to the yang of F.E.A.R. 's focus on gunplay with minimal focus on the hilariously over-the-top melee system. Bouncing off of that, instead of F.E.A.R.’s array of heavy military weapons, the array of weapons in Condemned, if you could even call it that, helps the game imbue its squalid and low-class environment, where everything and anything scattered around seems like a weapon. Some of my favorite examples of this were both detached locker doors and school desk tops in the school level. I will admit that the taser basically works against everything great about the game’s combat, but I had the best experience possible in that I accidentally forgot about the taser and spent the vast majority of the game not using it. However, I still cannot force myself to ignore it and it being one of the worst parts of the game. Enemy AI is just as engaging as the actual combat, where they stalk you and take cover and hide to try and get the jump on you as much as they can. When you get to overall movement though, it sounds good on paper, but in actual practice it’s a total nightmare, and not in a good way. The deliberate slowness could help with pacing if the game was strictly linear with no puzzles, but it is such an insane pain in the ass when you’re backtracking or trying to look around for supplies/weapons, and the sprint button has such a fast disposal and slow recharge, creating this sludgy loop of fast, slooooooow, fast, slooooooooow, fast, slooooow that can make progression just garbage. However, the movement and stamina actually works pretty well for combat, adding a lot of weight and strategy into the process. I understand that having faster movement would make this game even shorter than it already is (the game’s length is not a problem, trust me, I’ll get to that shortly), and there’s okay ideas in its implementation, but it seriously needed some reevaluation in its final form.

The story is not really a huge part of why this game excels, because at its core, it’s pretty vague, nonsensical, and seems like a mishmash of several murder mystery movies, most notably Se7en but also Minority Report and Oldboy to a lesser extent. However, it serves as a good catalyst for its levels, and does a lot to create this coherent carnival of amazingly creepy and offputting locations. I think all the people saying the game quickly loses its footing are smoking loud (or just referring to the story, most likely), because in my opinion the game starts good and keeps getting better and better, with the last few levels all feeling standout. The game is impressively short, beaten in only 6-7 hours, but not one level feels like it takes away from the upwards-accelerating haunted phantasmagoria it feels like. I’m a big fan of when games just have a seeming apocalypse going on in the background of the story that is mostly irrelevant to the central plot/conflict (we learn this is sadly not the case in the sequel). In terms of atmosphere, progression, and setpieces, the department store level is an absolute masterpiece and sets an insurmountable standard for the rest of the game (as great as what’s left is).

Sound is such a huge part of why this game excels, and even when this is mainly in reference to the game’s incredible sound design, it’s also like jazz, in how it can be about the sounds that don’t get played. There are so many subdued and drawn-back moments of terror when music is not there to make it more tense. All you’ll hear are footsteps, breaths or rattling chains nearing you, and that is so much scarier than hearing le scary music or le shock sound effect, just you, silence, distant noise, and your brain to make of that what you will. This unseen terror is very deliberate in tying into the game’s “background horror” where the world seems to be ending around the protagonist while he’s preoccupied with other things. Especially great is the game’s forgoing of an in-engine reverb system and uses what I could call “pre-rendered reverb” to get the echoing of people’s voices and noises in a much more realistic manner. Voices in another room absolutely sound like voices in another room, and it really puts you off-guard the first few times you hear it, adding to the overall immersion in a fantastic way. In continued regards to sound, the score is great at its shining moments, but as explained earlier, is used sparsely in order to let the sound design shine.

To me, Condemned feels like a combination of two games among my all-time favorites: Cry of Fear and BioShock 1, which both happened to release after Condemned, and while it shares similar flaws to both of those, the terror and atmosphere is still clamoring at me weeks after I beaten it. It is simply psychotic to me that Monolith managed to release both F.E.A.R. and this game in the exact same year. Thoroughly unbelievable; The absolute cooking that was going on in that studio between 2004 and 2005.

very original horror game, interesting investigation mechanics. lighting, atmosphere and sound-design are superb, compelling plot and voice acting, melee and firearm combat feels crunchy and satisfying, Monolith was cooking some serious heat back in 2005/06.

there is some ocassional jank regarding the blocking and investigation mechanics though, my first few hours were a bit frustating because of these two things.

unfortunely the game does get repetitive rather quickly, the combat while enjoyable falls into the strike/block loop, movement speed is slow considering the often large levels, the level design itself doesn't offer enough variety to keep the player entertained after a long while of play.

I still recommend giving an shot, I miss when Monolith was still around to create these original games with good gameplay, influences and technical prowess instead of being stuck with estabilished IPs, shame that the sequel is not on PC but I will definitely try it once I get the chance.

This game got one of the best jumpscares I've ever experienced and the immersion is peak. As this is a spoiler free review I can't go into examples but just know that you are always being watched and things will move by their own when you turn your back. My only complaint is that I hate the combat so bad and that the ui needs to get fixed. Because it literally looks like I'm browsing a website from 1990's with the ugliest font and colors imagineable. I may be harsh for giving it only 3.5 but it's a huge deal breaker for me because I don't feel motivated to play it again.