Oh, Sega. When will you ever care about other properties that aren’t Sonic already. Well, with a new Shenmue game being announced… Behind a wall of Sonic games, I think now is a good time to talk about a classic Sega game. And not just any Sega game, but a horror Sega game that fell into obscurity after some time ago. Yes, everyone. Today, we will be taking a look at the psychological horror game known as Condemned: Criminal Origins. Also, since this is an underrated game, I think that this will also be a Hidden Gems article. So, today, you will get both a Corner of Horror and a Hidden Gems article. Two for one. Let’s see if Condemned is a good horror game or if it’s utter shit.
Condemned takes place in the town of Metro, a place that is separated between normal denezines and crazed serial killers who swarm the other half of Metro. You play as Ethan Thomas, a member of the FBI Serial Crime Unit, who is investigating the murders within Metro, and just so happen to enter the other half of Metro that is the… Not so good half. While there, two of your comrades are shot and killed by a mysterious serial killer known as Serial Killer X, who murders serial killers in the same way that they do. For example, you start the game by investigating the crime scene of a serial killer nicknamed The Matchmaker, who kills women by strangling them while having them sit across the table with a male mannequin. The Matchmaker later turns up dead in the same way, and was caused by Serial Killer X. After this, Ethan is framed and is hunted by the police, and must now do what he can to find Serial Killer X and prove his innocence. It’s a mix between a film noir and a horror story, and it is quite enjoyable… For the most part.
As an investigator, your job is to use your skills to find out crime scenes, and have many tools at your disposal to do so. You need to use these tools to find fingerprints, different fibers, blood and chemicals, markings from pens, wounds, small items, bodies, and many more. Being a sorta, kinda murder mystery game as well, you do have to find evidence and piece it together, which really make for some neat puzzles if you ask me. Not to mention, having to zoom in your camera to the dead bodies to where it is incredibly close starts to get a little uncomfortable as the game goes on. I mean, do you really want to be looking at a corpse that has been badly beaten extremely close? Condemned is a game that makes you very uncomfortable. It doesn’t give you a second to settle down and you are always forced to get close to corpses, which never jumpscare you……. Most of the time (Screw that locker scene). Of course, it’s not all searching for corpses, because Condemned manages to do something just as good. And that is the game’s combat.
Condemned has very tense combat. Guns in horror games are always very scarce. You’ll be lucky to have even a tiny amount of ammo, because it’s the most effective way to kill enemies. However, in Condemned, while you can get guns, it’s for only a brief period of time. You will want to save as much ammo as possible for large groups, as you can devastate enemies. But when you play the game, your combat will mostly consist of getting up close and personal with your enemies and using whatever melee weapon you can find. Whenever you fight any of the crazed vagrants in the city, you will have to find a melee weapon, and fast. Sometimes the enemies will already have a weapon, while other times, they’ll be running to get a weapon to attack you with. The combat in this game is also intense. Blocking, striking, and dodging are important in this game. If you knock an enemy back, you need to predict if he’s going to stay staggered or if he’s going to snap out of it and deliver a comeback. This isn’t just a simple “Mash this button to kill this guy”. You gotta plan ahead, and getting into a huge duel with a group of them can be real nerve wracking. You can use your taser to stun a few of the enemies, but only a few. Eventually, it will need to charge, so you’d better use it wisely. And, if you manage knock them onto their knees, you get to perform one of four finishing moves. These moves never get old. It’s such a lot of fun. Now, trust me, as good as the gameplay for Condemned is, it isn’t perfect. What I’m trying to say is… The story sucks.
Now, Condemned is a good game, but it has one of the dumbest, poorly written, and most nonsensical stories I’ve seen for a horror game. Now, I can understand the town being driven insane, but what I find more baffling is how Ethan was framed. He was framed by the man who took his gun. You’re telling me that, with all of that equipment, the FBI can’t believe that, maybe, there was one crazed killer in the bad side of Metro? Speaking of the murders, why didn’t the two officers shoot Serial Killer X. He had one of your officers held at gunpoint, in a place filled with crazed unreasonable individuals. Why tell him to stop? Just shoot. And Ethan isn’t much better. The best way to prove he isn’t a murderer is go around and greatly decrease the population of Metro by murdering everyone in the area. Also, when he comes to, he meets this one man named Malcolm, who says he was a friend of Ethan’s father, and he just trusts him right then and there. But if we are talking about how badly written Condemned’s story is, then look no further than the ending. For some reason, whatsoever, it turns out that the crazed citizens of Metro were made this way by some entity called The Hate, which is just some stupid Hellraiser reject. So, the entire time, the town was haunted by a paranormal figure, which as also driving Ethan insane. What a terrible ending. And it doesn’t seem that killing The Hate did anything much, since Condemned got a sequel that had just as much problems, with a just as desolate horror setting with evil hobos. What a way to fuck up a game, Sega.
Okay, so maybe Condemned has a rather… Awful story, when you think about it. And yeah… It really is bad. But the atmosphere in this game is amazing. The environments are all hollow and empty, and when you aren’t in the midst of combat, you are hearing shouting and items being dropped on the ground from a distance. Enemies can come from anywhere and can come in many different ways. And the Mannequins are some of the best use of paranoia I’ve ever seen for any enemy in a horror game. Condemned manages to have a very creepy atmosphere and some amazing use of combat and crime investigation. While the story is… trash, it manages to do well in everything else. Also, since this is also a Hidden Gems article, Condemned: Criminal Origins gets an Excavation Worthy ranking. Take care.
Condemned takes place in the town of Metro, a place that is separated between normal denezines and crazed serial killers who swarm the other half of Metro. You play as Ethan Thomas, a member of the FBI Serial Crime Unit, who is investigating the murders within Metro, and just so happen to enter the other half of Metro that is the… Not so good half. While there, two of your comrades are shot and killed by a mysterious serial killer known as Serial Killer X, who murders serial killers in the same way that they do. For example, you start the game by investigating the crime scene of a serial killer nicknamed The Matchmaker, who kills women by strangling them while having them sit across the table with a male mannequin. The Matchmaker later turns up dead in the same way, and was caused by Serial Killer X. After this, Ethan is framed and is hunted by the police, and must now do what he can to find Serial Killer X and prove his innocence. It’s a mix between a film noir and a horror story, and it is quite enjoyable… For the most part.
As an investigator, your job is to use your skills to find out crime scenes, and have many tools at your disposal to do so. You need to use these tools to find fingerprints, different fibers, blood and chemicals, markings from pens, wounds, small items, bodies, and many more. Being a sorta, kinda murder mystery game as well, you do have to find evidence and piece it together, which really make for some neat puzzles if you ask me. Not to mention, having to zoom in your camera to the dead bodies to where it is incredibly close starts to get a little uncomfortable as the game goes on. I mean, do you really want to be looking at a corpse that has been badly beaten extremely close? Condemned is a game that makes you very uncomfortable. It doesn’t give you a second to settle down and you are always forced to get close to corpses, which never jumpscare you……. Most of the time (Screw that locker scene). Of course, it’s not all searching for corpses, because Condemned manages to do something just as good. And that is the game’s combat.
Condemned has very tense combat. Guns in horror games are always very scarce. You’ll be lucky to have even a tiny amount of ammo, because it’s the most effective way to kill enemies. However, in Condemned, while you can get guns, it’s for only a brief period of time. You will want to save as much ammo as possible for large groups, as you can devastate enemies. But when you play the game, your combat will mostly consist of getting up close and personal with your enemies and using whatever melee weapon you can find. Whenever you fight any of the crazed vagrants in the city, you will have to find a melee weapon, and fast. Sometimes the enemies will already have a weapon, while other times, they’ll be running to get a weapon to attack you with. The combat in this game is also intense. Blocking, striking, and dodging are important in this game. If you knock an enemy back, you need to predict if he’s going to stay staggered or if he’s going to snap out of it and deliver a comeback. This isn’t just a simple “Mash this button to kill this guy”. You gotta plan ahead, and getting into a huge duel with a group of them can be real nerve wracking. You can use your taser to stun a few of the enemies, but only a few. Eventually, it will need to charge, so you’d better use it wisely. And, if you manage knock them onto their knees, you get to perform one of four finishing moves. These moves never get old. It’s such a lot of fun. Now, trust me, as good as the gameplay for Condemned is, it isn’t perfect. What I’m trying to say is… The story sucks.
Now, Condemned is a good game, but it has one of the dumbest, poorly written, and most nonsensical stories I’ve seen for a horror game. Now, I can understand the town being driven insane, but what I find more baffling is how Ethan was framed. He was framed by the man who took his gun. You’re telling me that, with all of that equipment, the FBI can’t believe that, maybe, there was one crazed killer in the bad side of Metro? Speaking of the murders, why didn’t the two officers shoot Serial Killer X. He had one of your officers held at gunpoint, in a place filled with crazed unreasonable individuals. Why tell him to stop? Just shoot. And Ethan isn’t much better. The best way to prove he isn’t a murderer is go around and greatly decrease the population of Metro by murdering everyone in the area. Also, when he comes to, he meets this one man named Malcolm, who says he was a friend of Ethan’s father, and he just trusts him right then and there. But if we are talking about how badly written Condemned’s story is, then look no further than the ending. For some reason, whatsoever, it turns out that the crazed citizens of Metro were made this way by some entity called The Hate, which is just some stupid Hellraiser reject. So, the entire time, the town was haunted by a paranormal figure, which as also driving Ethan insane. What a terrible ending. And it doesn’t seem that killing The Hate did anything much, since Condemned got a sequel that had just as much problems, with a just as desolate horror setting with evil hobos. What a way to fuck up a game, Sega.
Okay, so maybe Condemned has a rather… Awful story, when you think about it. And yeah… It really is bad. But the atmosphere in this game is amazing. The environments are all hollow and empty, and when you aren’t in the midst of combat, you are hearing shouting and items being dropped on the ground from a distance. Enemies can come from anywhere and can come in many different ways. And the Mannequins are some of the best use of paranoia I’ve ever seen for any enemy in a horror game. Condemned manages to have a very creepy atmosphere and some amazing use of combat and crime investigation. While the story is… trash, it manages to do well in everything else. Also, since this is also a Hidden Gems article, Condemned: Criminal Origins gets an Excavation Worthy ranking. Take care.