Score: 3 out of 5

Genre: First Person / Thriller

At a time where decent horror/thriller games are becoming rare, Condemned uses successful gameplay elements that will have players on the edge of their seats and deliver a few chills down their spines.

Being a launch release for the xbox 360 it is likely that many gamers missed this game.

 First Person Shooter?

Although the game takes place from the first person perspective and has firearms, referring to it as a shooter would not be accurate. The weapons being used majority of the time will be physical. Meaning if it can be picked up, it can be used as a weapon. This ranges from pipes, 2x4s, paper cutters and my personal favorite: the fire axe. Players can mix up different types of swings using the left analogue stick and the right trigger. The controls respond really well. Objects vary in damage, speed, block and reaching allowing players to pick up their weapons that best suit their style. All of this adds up really well as it gives the player some form of confidence when wielding a large object while searching in the dark fighting crazy things in an environment of despair.

When you do get access to a firearm, it will almost always be out of ammo and its accuracy will not be very good. To make things worse the only way to check the amount of ammo you have requires you to pull out the magazine to see the number of bullets. Thus there is a large trade off when picking up a firearm and this works well in not making the game easy-mode. The combat scheme at a whole works really well and helps build the atmosphere of despair.

Scared but not lost:

One of the most common elements seen in horror games is getting lost and having a hard time finding your way. The map in most levels for the game is very linear and players will have a hard time getting lost. Doors that you are not supposed to pass through early on will be locked. Most of the time they will be broken down once the player finds a key evidence or object. Other times doors will automatically get locked behind you so players will not be getting lost backtracking themselves. This also means that players will be able to easily finish the game in about eight hours. At first glance the linear design may seem like a bad thing but it makes sense when you take into account the other gameplay element: Collecting evidence.

Storyline:

The main character in this game is an FBI detective that works in the homicide division. Some of his cases involving murderers that murder on a regular basis have gone cold. At the same time birds are falling from the sky and dying. The infection supposedly effects humans too by giving them extra rage. For this reason the main baddies in the game are drug addicts and homeless people. Unfortunately the game ends with a lot of questions left unanswered. This does help build up the sequel though. 

Being a detective, players have access to high tech equipment that they use to gather evidence at crime scenes. However the game automaticaly prompts you and automatically choses the equipment for you. This works well as it does not take focus away from the main element of the game. The evidence collection acts sort of like a mini-game and helps drive the story forward by providing clues.

Design:

Considering this game was released a few years ago the graphics are quite good. Furthermore the sound effects and music are done well to drive the environment. Non-weapon objects lieing around display a major limitation with the design as they do not seem to be interactable. Boxes for example do not even get dented when hit with a fire axe. 

Final word:  Having to use physical objects as weapons works really well with this game as it helps build a good environment. However due to the game being relatively easy, limits in the physics and unresolved story line makes this game less than outstanding. 

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