Condemned 2: Bloodshot Member Review for the Xbox360

So, i'm going to talk alittle bit about Condemned 2.
The single player keeps dragging me in and keeping me up long into the night, and i'm finding it a refreshing change from my usual diet of straight up FPS games.

The first Condemned was a pretty average game that i got with my 360 I enjoyed it quite alot, and thought it showed alot of promise, despite a few little flaws which in my opinion, stopped it from being an outstanding game.

My main problem with the first Condemned was the overly basic combat. You picked up the nearest bit of wood and hit the nearest enemy with it till they died. Occasionally, you got a firearm, in which case you shot the nearest enemy with it until they died. then you went back to your trusty bit of wood. this is not the case in condemned 2, here theres a wide variety of melee attacks, combo's and the added ability to throw your weapon ,which makes the games combat far more then a simple "hammer the right trigger" affair.

And then there was the forensics. In the first game, they were widely flaunted as a big aspect of the game, but by and large, this boiled down to getting a glowy blue UV light, and shining it over the wall. In the second, this too has been improved, with multiple choice questions at the crime scene.

I have a vague issue with games asking me to analyse blood splatters and exit wounds like a modern day sherlock. But the side effect of this is that i think i'm REALLY ****ing clever when i manage to pull it off. so, nice touch Sega.


So far, so good right? Its taken the original condemned, polished it up, sent it on its way for its place as Undervalued gem of 2008.

this was, until they started talking about an ancient mythical cult. Now, correct me if im wrong, but i didnt notice an ancient mythical cult in Condemned 1. what i had, was a city full of mental homeless people, and a serial killer, who was probably a little mental himself, and this culminated in a rather scary chase round a farmhouse. Then you battled some crazy metal guy in your own head, and pulled his jaw off. I went O_o at this point, but then the game was over, and i went back to play Ghost recon, Job well done.

Now, in condemned 2, again the city is filled with nutcases. this is fine. However, theres also a mythical cult of people who control sound, and your main character becomes what is basically a mother****ing Ghetto blaster.

Yeah, someone at Sega's gonna get fired for that. This pisses me off, because, condemned was pretty solidly rooted in realism until the point i had to defeat suicide-bomber doll's, and then the whole experience took the wrong turn to Batshitcrazy-land.

I'd recommend renting this game, it is alot of fun, its just a shame the last third of the storyline turned into utter dogshit.

I'd give it a pretty solid 8/10. but im starting to get a little tired of Sega whispering promises in my ear and then palming me off with a watered down version of the awesome.