Condemned: Criminal Origins Member Review for the Xbox360

    Initially, when I purchased Condemned: Criminal Origins for my Xbox 360, I had mixed views. I have always been a fan of survival horror games, such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil, but I didn't know that if a 'detective game' could live up to the genre.
    There are some pros and cons about this game, but I'll start with the pros first. One thing I love about this game, and what it is mainly hailed for, is the fact that virtually the whole environment is able to be interacted with. From kicking buckets or tables, to pulling a pipe off of the wall, there isn't much you can't do here. Another great thing about this game, is that the A.I. is very complex and almost impossible to predict. If you die and revisit a certain level, chances are your friendly druggie friends aren't going to jump out at you from the same place. As well, you have a rush that isn't too familiar from killing in this game. You really appreciate your work when you're done with an enemy. Instead of just killing, this game leads you on a wild chase of evidence and clues, that, instead of making you desire just carnage, make you want to catch the killer.
    Now the cons. Though you can strip the whole environment of weapons, you won't find too many different kinds. By the time you're half-way through the game, you've pretty much seen all of the weapons you can find, (Excluding Weapons exclusive to certain areas). In my opinion, the horror factor of this game is actually very low. The game surprises you at the beginning, keeping you on your toes for the first couple of levels, but by the end of the game, you're bored, rather than scared. Why is this? You get used to the repetitive 'jumpy' scenes which aren't elaborated enough. There are scenes when you are having 'visions' of sorts, and I will say these are pretty creepy. Yet, if they added this kind of horrifying effect to the rest of the game, it would have made it much more entertaining. All in all, this game is fun, but it lacks length. A devout player could probably beat the game in 1-2 days, or even less, dependent on how long that person played. I'm definitely inclined to say that This Game Is Fun, but with a bigger effort it could have made many more jaws drop, and much more money.