Have you ever sat around and wondered what it would be like to be a detective? You know … go out on the crazy back streets of a major city investigating crimes and hanging out in the dark and seedy corners of the earth looking to take out the dark criminal element of society? Now, have you also ever sat around and wondered what it would be like to haul off and drill someone across the face with some heavy blunt object to see what it would do to them? Well, if you answered “yes” to both of these questions … you’re in luck! Sega has taken a left turn into a dark, creepy, crime infested world with it’s newest entry to the PC world with Condemned : Criminal Origins which allows you to search for clues, try to track a nasty serial killer, and kill lots of crackhead-like criminals hellbent on taking you down and probably doing some really disgusting things to you.

Condemned stars a man by the name of Ethan Thomas, a detective who starts his evening out on a murder investigation tracking down a serial killer known as “The Matchmaker.” He comes across a really disturbing scene, sends some evidence down to the crime lab, and this then kicks off a really dark and twisted ride for the player where you will use forensic evidence gathering devices and a variety of weapons to not only track down this Matchmaker character, but also help unravel a bizarre storyline involving framing and possibly detective Thomas’ own personal sanity. I won’t give away any more since I don’t want to ruin the story for any of you planning to play it, but it’s a pretty intense 8-10 hour ride from that point forward.

Condemned is, well, I guess a first-person shooter for all intensive purposes, but you won’t be doing a whole lot of shooting in this title (aside from a stun gun which comes in handy later when faced with more than one of these deranged killers at a time) so I guess you could call it a first-person swinger, or basher … but you get the idea. The combat that occurs along the dark and twisted halls, rooms, and corridors of a variety of cluttered and dirty (and well … condemned) looking buildings mostly happens with a creatively assembled variety of hand-to-hand weapons like fire hatchets and lead pipes with the left mouse swinging your weapon and the right one blocking. Due to the lack of distance that you can really place between you and your potential assassins, this really ups the whole intensity thing while you’re playing the game and I spent quite a few times tensed up on the edge of my chair. Enemies are relatively smart and extremely dangerous, and will oftentimes leap out unexpectedly from behind lockers or pillars, sometimes set up traps (one will approach from in front while the other one slips out from behind while you’re not looking), and there is even one level where these psychos disguise themselves as innocent-looking mannequins and then unexpectedly leap out at you when you approached. Yes, it’s intense … yes it’s creepy as hell, and yes … there were some potential underwear changing moments that happened along the way. In addition, I also learned that if I’m ever paralyzed from the thighs down … I can leap about three feet in the air using only my rear end.

Another cool thing about the game aside from the pretty smart and scary AI and the emphasis on hand-to-hand weapons versus ranged combat is the use of CSI-style laser evidence collectors to scan blood traces or fingerprints and such left behind to help you track down this psycho killer. When you come across a potential lead, your seemingly one-and-only buddy back at the station will alert you to use one of your tools to collect info and send it back to her, which in turn will help give you clues to help you figure out what to do next or possibly where to go and look for something to keep you moving forwards. Sometimes this may be dried or wet carbon-based evidence, sometimes it may be chemical or gas, and sometimes you will come across some really grisly scene that leads to some interesting story twists at times along the way.

OK … so we’ve established a decent storyline, a creepy atmosphere, and some decent enemies and creative crime-busting equipment … so what’s not to like about Condemned? Well, unfortunately the game tends to get repetitive to an extent after the first few hours, since enemies (while relatively intelligent) always seem to use the same attack styles when it all comes down to it. Rush in, swing, then leave a brief opening which allows you to bash them across the face or even stun them and break their necks or headbutt their face in. While much more dangerous in packs, single enemies usually won’t pose too much problem once you’ve gotten comfortable with the “block then swing” timing thing. In addition, the levels themselves can sometimes feel like an endless maze of trash-strewn darkness where you often find yourself going back through the same areas multiple times trying to figure out where to go next. There are sometimes obvious things that can be missed in the dim lighting like boarded up or padlocked doors that can be smashed in, but other areas can sometimes just be missed because they look similar to another area that you were already in a hallway or two back.

The second issue here was mentioned in the opening paragraph, which is the time thing. The game isn’t super long, and most of you hardcore-gaming types may find yourself running through it in the course of a weekend. You can always go back and play it over again, and it’s one of those titles that I can see myself breaking back out again down the road when I’m looking for something that just feeds that whole “creepy violent game” thing, but for a lot of you out there that’s not going to be enough to warrant a full purchase price. In addition, the PC release isn’t really any different than the Xbox 360 release, so if you’ve already played that one than you know what you’re going to see here.

Overall, I definitely have to give credit where credit is due to the folks over at Sega for Condemned. While game isn’t perfect, it’s a welcomed and enjoyable (albeit scary as hell at times) ride that takes the whole FPS genre and offers up something new that forces players to rely more on wits than firepower. The bottom line here is that if you are looking for a game that will provide some decent, dark, and creepy fun for a while this is definitely a good game to check out … but be warned, it may be a one time only thing for a lot of you out there so buy with caution.

Gameplay: 7.9
The enemy AI in Condemned was really good for the most part in the sense that baddies won’t just rush blindly at you all the time, but their moves are predictable after a while, which will take some challenge out of one-on-one confrontations. The controls are solid and work great on the PC, and while the environments can feel repetitive at times, they do well in setting the overall atmosphere of the game.  

Graphics: 8.3 
The graphics to Condemned were really good. Enemies will buckle or crumple realistically when knocked down or out, and the motion capture was done extremely well. You can almost feel every pipe hit or 2x4 bash in real life (which hurts by the way), and the trash-strewn hallways, dirty rooms and corridors, and just general dinginess and filth of the environments was almost so real looking you could just smell the urine and mildew in the air. They did tend to get a “been there done that” feel to them after a while however … but nothing that will ruin the game.

Sound: 8.4
The sound in Condemned was really good in my opinion. The enemies will shout various taunts and insults, or eerily whisper to try and freak you out. Everything was done really well from the environmental sounds (like distant running or clanging) all the way to small things like plastic buckets scooting across the floor. 

Difficulty: Medium
While the enemies attacks and movements get predictable after a while, the difficulty will get more challenging as you go with some mini boss characters and the fact that you will get attacked at times in packs or get caught in a “trap” that has been set up for you.  

Concept: 8.2 
While the game wasn’t perfect, the creepy mix of atmosphere, FPS-style gameplay, and unique puzzle solving using CSI-style forensic tools was a good change from the standard FPS titles out there.

Overall: 8.0
Overall, Condemned takes a well-used gameplay genre and adds in enough newer elements to make it a unique and fun gaming experience. Unfortunately, this may be only a “one time through” for a lot of you … but much like a good DVD movie it’s one that I can see myself going back to later on down the road. If you’re looking for something which will provide some good scares with a pretty decent storyline and enough intense anticipation at times to literally make your muscles hurt, then this isn’t a bad one to check out.