Xbox 360

Condemned: Criminal Origins

Despite its detrimental effect on my blood pressure, I found myself drawn into Condemned. In this dark, first-person thriller you play the role of a wrongly-accused cop fleeing the law while in pursuit of the "real" killer. The atmosphere maintains an ultra-high level of intensity as you creep through abandoned buildings, collect evidence, and bash the skulls of crazed wandering drugs addicts (who love to sneak up on you). The dark alleys, grungy abandoned buildings, and dank subway corridors look amazing. Don't let anybody tell you that graphics don't matter, because these "next generation" visuals make you feel "in the game" like never before.

Condemned is definitely worth owning. The game is very immersive, many times I felt like I was in a dark empty hallways with crazy criminals hiding behind the next door, just waiting to bash me in the face. All the levels were very impressive and although the story may raise a few eye-brows in confusion, I felt that it was good enough most of the game. Condemned is probably the best Single-Player experience you can have for your Xbox 360 at the moment.

Mich hat das Spiel von der ersten Minute an gefesselt. Ich konnte mich nur schwer nach ca. 6Stunden vom Spiel losreißen und habe die andere Hälfte dann in einer anderen Etappe von 5Stunden gespielt. Über die Gameplay Fehler kann man klar hinwegsehen und das Spiel ohne sich andauernd aufzuregen Genießen. Durch die teilweise fehlende Musik, hat das Spiel an Atmosphäre eingebüßt aber Notfalls tuts da auch die eigene Musik. Wer eine 360 hat und brutale Spiele nicht verabscheut, der sollte zugreifen oder das Spiel mindestens einmal gespielt haben.

Out of all of the launch titles available for the Xbox 360 CCO manages to set itself apart from the competition providing an action packed, spine-tingling adventure that hasn't already been done to death on the current gen consoles. If you're a thrillseeker who isn't afraid of things that scream in the darkness, you just found your next challenge.

Condemned is my surprise hit from the launch titles for Xbox360, I loved it. And if you like a good scare, and have no doubt – this is THE scariest game you will probably play – you can’t afford to miss this.

Condemned is aan prachtige en super-enge horror-game met CSI invloeden erin verwerkt. Het kan je echt de stuipen op het lijf jagen en de manier waarop je de vijanden kunt neer meppen met de verschillende slagwapens is prima uitgewerkt. Het is erg leuk dat je allerlei verschillende wapens kunt gebruiken en dat je deze gewoon kunt vinden in de levels als normale voorwerpen. Dat er bijna geen vuurwapens worden gebruikt in dit spel is alleen maar positief te noemen, want zodra je een vuurwapen in handen hebt wordt het een gewone FPS en kun je de vijanden van een afstand neer knallen. Als je geen vuurwapen hebt zul je toch echt dichterbij moeten komen om de vijanden af te maken.

Condemned is truly a showcase title for the Xbox 360 and a must-own title for anyone who loves FPS games, scary movies or a frighteningly good time. Turn off the lights and prepare yourself for the thrill ride of the year.

But even with some complaints, I have no qualms about recommending Condemned to horror fans grabbing a 360 at launch. It packs some true scares, a fresh approach to its genre, great graphics, and fun gameplay mechanics. In short, Condemned: Criminal Origins is the start of the next great horror series.

Unpacking a new game, let alone a console, is for men an experience that holds the middle between the feeling women get when they're shopping in overdrive or kids when they're heading down the stairs on the day Santa passed by. In other words: it's fun! If you've gotten yourself an XBox360 by now and next to PGR3 you've gotten yourself Condemned, the fun won't stop after unwrapping the plastic!

At the heart of Condemned lies a solid storyline with an in-depth combat system and a haunting atmosphere, but there isn’t enough variety to keep gamers coming back for more. Still, playing the campaign the first time through is an absolutely bone chilling experience that makes this game easily worth a rent, if not a purchase.

When you were in elementary school, didn't you at least once fantasize about what hitting someone with that gigantic razor on the paper cutter would do? Of course you did. Well, thanks to Monolith Productions Condemned: Criminal Origins, you can actually live out that fantasy as well as do the world a favor by brutally ridding it of drug addicts and their pesky homeless cohorts. This game is dark, it looks great, the sound is insane, it's got an engaging melee combat system, and it's one of the scariest games I've ever played. Even though the game's level progression and puzzles are extremely linear, you'll have a hard time being disappointed by this one. That is, unless you've got a severe aversion to ramming your head into the pulpy face of a grotesque sledgehammer-wielding sewer-dweller.

A short single player game and a non-existent multiplayer means you could potentially knock this game out in a weekend, if not a single day. Clever achievements provide some incentive to revisit the game but a completely linear story means there is little or no reason to replay the campaign rather than to get both endings, though the Propaganda Reports do add slightly to the experience.

I advise you to pick up Condemned and give it a go, if you find it too scary, let your friend play it. Condemned helps round out a solid Xbox 360 launch as it is contains all the qualities of a ‘AAA’ game but doesn’t offer enough replay. They could add in more weapons to use, a jump button to help out your attacks and even diversify the enemies you encounter. Overall though, Condemned is worthy of your $60 and is a definite pick up.

Condemned: Criminal Origins is one of the finest horror games to date, managing to mix the traditional scares with action-packed, enjoyable combat. The atmosphere is palpable, the audio downright chilling, and the storyline is compelling and well executed. The game isn't without its flaws - the framerate should be better and the action can get a tad repetitive - but overall, if you're looking for an engrossing experience, real scares or just an intense first-person fight, then you really ought to pick up Condemned.

Stylistically Condemned is more like the bastard child of Max Payne 2 and Manhunt, with the latter being most evident through the faux film-grain effect, violently detrital environments (coincidently including a shopping mall) and ten-a-penny psychopaths just itching to bludgeon you to a lifeless, unrecognisable corpse. In Condemned you play a cop – or more specially a fed, working on the city’s most violent crimes. In true sci-fi style it pretty quickly emerges that your call to the profession was more than mere morbid fascination, when during the course of a serial-murder investigation you begin experiencing a very specific form of psychosis, giving you insights into the killer’s prior actions. It’s this ‘ability’, for want of a better word, that makes you such a keen crime-scene investigator, but it’s also what sends you on a perilous journey through a violently depraved underworld, hot on the heels of an enigmatic killer who has singled you out for the special psycho treatment.

Knallharte Action mit Gruselgarantie. Wer meint, so etwas ist nur auf dem PC mit F.E.A.R. möglich, der hat wohl noch nichts von Condemned: Criminal Origins für die Xbox 360 gehört. Nein, keine Panik, das hat jetzt nichts mit mangelndem Zockerwissen zu tun! Wer sich nicht täglich mit dieser Materie beschäftigt, dürfte eventuell gar nicht mitbekommen haben, dass dieser Titel bereits im Handel ist, denn offiziell zu kaufen, gibt es ihn in Deutschland nämlich gar nicht.

Condemned: Criminal Origins is simply put, an awesome game. The compelling story, the insanely good graphics, lighting, animations, and the great audio are what makes the game great. The storyline was well put together, and the scary and realistic graphics make it happen. The audio adds a great deal of suspense to the game, just like you were in a scary movie. Condemned is really more about the interesting story than gameplay, and this is probably why there was no multiplayer included in the game.

In the end, the slow pacing might turn off gamers looking for a straightforward shooter. The game isn't very long, either. Including all of the deaths and retries that I had during the game, I finished the adventure in about eleven hours. There aren't any other gameplay modes, so once you've finished the single-player game, you've experienced everything Condemned has to offer. Does this make it a bad game? No. Is it still worth buying? I'd say so, especially if you're a fan of this type of game. If you like to breathe heavily and feel your heart pound, this is definitely the game for you. The story will captivate you and the ending will have you excited for more. The unique gameplay, thrilling story, and disturbing graphics make Monolith's Condemned: Criminal Origins worth playing, and as an Xbox 360 launch title, it's one of the top five in my book.

But for the ride alone, Condemned’s super-creepy serial-killer yarn cannot be beat. It looks great, but more than that,  it doesn’t rest on its visuals to get its gruesome point across: Next-generation gaming is just as much about gameplay as it is about graphics.

Condemned is honestly the sleeper hit for the Xbox 360 launch. When I picked it up last week, not much was available so my choices were narrow. It’s freaky, bizarre, eccentric, horrifying and will make players trembling at times. Well maybe not trembling but it will scare you I can guarantee you that. It isn’t the typical “what’s hiding in that dark corner over there” scare either. You’ll be surrounded by all light and still find the same scares that you wouldn’t normally experience in such games as DOOM 3 that rely on cheap tricks to scare the players.

The Xbox 360 launch was marked by a selection of games that mostly featured sequels (or a prequel in the case of Perfect Dark Zero) and ports of popular sports titles. King Kong was based on an already-existing intellectual property so in fact there were only two titles based on original properties. Condemned: Criminal Origins is one of those two titles. From the twisted minds at Monolith, Condemned is a first-person psychological thriller in the vein of the serial killer movies Se7en and Resurrection starring Christopher Lambert (how's that for an obscure film reference). So grab your crime scene kit as we begin our investigation of Condemned: Criminal Origins.

Condemned is a brutal action game that's fully deserving of its 18 classification. It's not a game for the squeamish or delicate and might come as a bit of a shock to those who normally enjoy action games in general. The brutality of the combat aside though, Condemned definitely deserves praise for its presentation and creating an atmosphere that is truly soaked in fear. The combat system is a well thought out one and having to deal with an enemy AI that's fairly sophisticated makes the experience all the more rewarding. The level design could have been better though and some will point to the game's length as also being a problem. The addition of captions for the out of sight enemies (that can be heard) would really have been a nice touch (and made the game more accessible for deaf gamers) but sadly there are none. If you want a fear soaked action game for your new Xbox 360 Condemned is certainly well worth it.

The best words that can be used to describe Condemned: Criminal Origins are violent, creepy, and chilling. Placing you in the shoes of Agent Ethan Thomas, this game is all about creepy settings, visceral combat, and solving a mystery. Who is this mysterious Matchmaker? Why is he so interested in Agent Thomas? What has turned ordinary citizens into psychotic killers?

"Condemned: Criminal Origins" acerta no quesito mais importante num jogo de suspense: a capacidade de "sugar" o jogador para dentro de seu mundo de cenários desolados e de horrendos inimigos, aliado a um sistema de luta que obriga o confronto cara-a-cara. Por outro lado, as partes de investigação são simples demais e até mesmo as lutas acabam ficando repetitivas. E o enredo, que promete muito, não justifica as expectativas. Mas, mesmo com apenas um truque, o título é capaz de ganhar o jogador.

You know those warnings in the front of a games manual? The one that says take a break every so often but you never pay attention to? Well don't worry, Condemned makes you want to take a break every 15 minutes. We're not lying, it's not often that you'll find the Totally360 staff walking away from a game, especially one as good as Condemned. The crushing atmosphere, combined with the visceral attack on the senses combine to create one hell of a scary game; even with the lights on. Monolith has managed to create a game that blends genres, impresses graphically, and fills you with fear of what's round the next corner.

Condemned Criminal Origins is a welcome game to make the launch of the 360 and offers something different to the other games on offer. Condemned is naturally full of suspense and will no doubt make many players jump in their seat at times or genuinely feel anxious whilst playing. It’s great when a game can accomplish this especially for the right reasons; and this puts Condemned as a must play launch title. It’s gritty, it’s destructive and it’s dark but most certainly it is a highly involving and entertaining game.

Even still, I’m pretty pleased that I purchased Condemned: Criminal Origins. Once I bought it, I couldn’t put it down. The game is pretty different than a lot of the other ones that I’ve played, and it was a refreshing change of pace from the more typical first-person games that I play. The storyline is really good, especially during the concluding portions of the game. Monolith has once again delivered a memorable experience that challenges a lot of expectations and norms and proves that they’re probably one of the best in the biz. There are some problems, and this is probably a one-time journey for most of you, but Condemned: Criminal Origins does deliver an excellent experience if you’re willing to give it the time.

Anyway, I still highly recommend this game to horror fans, detective novel readers, or anyone that enjoys a nail-biting, gut-wrenching tale. I won't advise anyone to purchase this title due to its high price and short length unless you are going to resell it immediately on Ebay, but it's definitely a must rent. Don't miss out on the absolute best action/horror title on the Xbox 360.

Condemned puise dans les bas-fonds de nos peurs les plus primaires : la peur du noir, la peur de ce qu'on ne voit pas, et la peur de ce qui pousse des cris bizarres. Cette atmosphère pestilentielle et horrifiante enverrait au tapis les ténors du survival horror, en particulier quand on la couple à la violence des combats. Dommage cependant que le gameplay soit aussi tristement dirigiste, Monolith ne laissant pas la moindre initiative au joueur. Pour autant, Condemned n'en reste pas moins mon coup de coeur de boeuf faisandé sur Xbox 360.

It is a game I would recommend to anyone that has any interest in survival horror games. For those that like guns, stay clear. It is not about blasting but rather about strategic planning of how to batter someone with a sledge hammer. Gore is also something that is plentiful so if you are weak at the knees ensure that you never play this game as you might feel condemned thereafter.

The game is also short, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Any longer and it might lose its tight pacing, which culminates in one of the most intense final levels that plays like something straight out of The Hills Have Eyes. The amount of replay you'll get out of Condemned depends on how much of a completist you are, because there's a bit of optional collecting to be done here. If for some reason, as a 360 owner, you missed out on this game, at least give it a rental and brave its grotesque world for a couple of nights. You'll never look at your surroundings the same again.

In a game such as this, sound is everything. Playing your favourite tracks whilst experiencing Condemned will not only spoil the atmosphere, but also limit your ability to track opponents. Monolith resort to every trick in the book to scare and confuse players (along with cut sequences and voice direction that are professionally placed to enhance the experience). It's just a shame the developer couldn't expand upon the promise of forensic options and truly deliver something novel and terrifying. However, as its stands, Condemned: Criminal Origins overtook all our fears and certainly points the way forward for survival horror.

Condemned est donc au final un jeu bouleversant, avec une ambiance extraordinaire digne d’un premier jeu nouvelle génération. Reste que les joueurs PC ne seront peut-être pas forcément convaincus, car le genre est déjà bien représenté sur ce support. Mais les joueurs consoles seront ravis de pouvoir apprécier un jeu de cette qualité sans se ruiner dans l’achat de la dernière carte graphique (même s’il faut acheter la console sur ce coup-là). Et dire que ce n’est que le premier titre… On se met doucement à rêver…

This is a masterpiece for the next generation of gaming. I wouldn’t recommend it wholeheartedly to a person of age as I would RE4, but it is the first great horror experience on the 360.

Even if the brutality of it all doesn't prevent you from eating while playing, the scare factor will. This is the essence of what we should expect from a new generation of consoles, and while it still carries some of the basic design flaws we've come to expect from the previous generation, there's little doubt that Condemned doesn't try to do everything to ensure the player has the experience the developers wanted.

When compared to the horrific world of Condemned: Criminal Origins, you get the impression that other survival-horror games or shooters are merely playing when it comes to creating fear or depicting violence. Boiled to its essence, the gameplay is run-of-the-mill: you wind your way through linear levels, kill enemies, and grab some health kits. On paper, it's pretty thin stuff. Yet Condemned packs serious scares and manages to tap right into your id as it embroils you in utterly brutal violence. After all, that's where true horror lies: not with the monsters of fiction, but in the cruelty, depravity, and violence that can spring from even good men.

Raw, savage beatings are the order of the day in Condemned: Criminal Origins, an original first-person action game developed exclusively for the Xbox 360. You play as an investigator tailing a serial killer while struggling to keep your own sanity as you face off against what seems like an army of depraved sociopaths. Condemned's impressive graphics and bone-crushing hand-to-hand combat sequences make for a visceral, highly atmospheric experience that's quite unlike anything you've ever played before. But as great as that may sound, Condemned is also something of a one-trick pony, whose monotonous gameplay doesn't quite live up to the quality of the presentation and underlying concept. Don't you dare let that stop you from making this one of the first Xbox 360 games you play if the concept intrigues you, though. Despite its shortcomings, Condemned offers a compelling sneak peek at some of the incredible potential of the next generation of games.

Despite its short amount of gameplay and little to no replay value,Condemned: Criminal Origins is a welcome addition to the horror genreof video games. Its visual and audio concepts show just how strong theXbox 360 can be. Condemned: Criminal Origins, with its dark atmosphereand its lust for violence, is a game that horror fanatics and gamersalike will find to die for. My only suggestion is to play this game inthe dark with a good sound system; only in this element you will beable to take full advantage of the horrifying and disturbingconstituents that make this game unforgettable. Well done Monolith!Well done Sega! A sequel is inevitable.

By mixing some of the best elements from games like Silent Hill and The Chronicles of Riddick and with a little CSI thrown in for good measure, Condemned turns out to be a great, original title. Like a number of 360 games, replay value is significantly enhanced by a smattering of interesting and sometimes difficult achievements. If you enjoy games like Fatal Frame and Silent Hill, Condemned should be right up your alley.

While much of the Condemned experience will leave you sleeping with the lights on for months, the actual game itself will last you little more than a handful of hours. Our first run through the game clocked in at little over four hours, which was quite disappointing. The game does have a ton of collectibles to find, including some cool Xbox 360 Achievement Awards, but just don't expect an epic 20-hour experience.

While it is a worthy first survival horror game for the Xbox 360, Condemned: Criminal Origins is a bit of a one-trick pony. Once the campaign is over, the player can go back to unlock more extras, but the game is pretty much done, and it has probably gotten repetitive to the average player by then anyway. Fans of the genre who have a shiny new Xbox 360 will almost surely want to check it out to experience the immersive and disturbing atmosphere the game can create using the new technology, but those just looking for the best launch title should keep looking.