Metareview: Condemned 2 (PS3, 360)

by Justin McElroy { Mar 12th 2008 at 11:30AM }

As one of the earlier Xbox 360 first-person titles, reviewers probably judged the first Condemned with slightly rose-tinted glasses. As such, we were a littler unsure what the response would be to Monolith's follow-up, Condemned 2: Bloodshot. So far, the game seems to be faring really well with improved crime-scene investigating and combat, as well as plenty of scares.

1UP (91/100): "This first-person action-shooter-cum-supernatural thriller follows the events of the first game. But while the spooks are similar -- think ambient sounds, disrupted vision, and yes, monster closets -- developer Monolith has fine-tuned the gameplay."
GameTrailers (80/100): "The original Condemned was really the first of its kind. The first-person pugilism, investigative challenges, and somber tone have been expanded for Bloodshot. Still, the experience remains relatively the same-just more supernatural and less plausible this time around."
Game Informer (88/100): "Condemned 2: Bloodshot is probably the best survival horror title we've seen this generation. The online multiplayer modes aren't going to blow your mind, but they are a thoughtful addition. It's got a higher level of action than its predecessor, and some gorgeous horror backdrops."

Gallery: Condemned 2: Bloodshot (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tags: condemned, condemned2, metareview, sega

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

MarkHawk @ Mar 12th 2008 11:34AM

I'll have to look into this one ... ha ha ha knee slapper...

cody @ Mar 12th 2008 11:36AM

1up doesn't give number reviews

Matt @ Mar 12th 2008 11:46AM

They've converted the letter to a number value, Einstein.

cody @ Mar 12th 2008 11:53AM

i know but why? There reviews are in letters now. Not numbers that they convert to letters. It would have been easier to just put there grade up there as appose to converting to a number that you cant be 100% sure is correct

Demaar @ Mar 12th 2008 7:24PM

This is why 1UP shouldn't have used -/+s. It lets douche bags convert the scores to digits too easily.

I wonder if it's within ZD's right to demand Metacritic and Gamerankings to take down their review scores that have been converted?

WhoMe @ Mar 12th 2008 11:41AM

"As one of the earlier Xbox 360 first-person titles, reviewers probably judged the first Condemned with slightly rose-tinted glasses."

Damn straight, like Perfect Dark Zero. :s

I liked the first game. I recall listening to the Joystick podcast (or some other podcast maybe) and apparantly you guys didn't like it at all.

Like I said, I liked it, it was something different you know. The CSI part wasn't that great though, I just wanted them to get on with it and smack more hobos with improvised weaponry.

The story, well that was weird... to say the least.

Tetranitrocubane @ Mar 12th 2008 11:49AM

"As such, we were a littler unsure what the response would be to Monolith's follow-up, Condemned 2: Bloodshot."

I was a litter unsure too, but now I'm slightlier more exciteder about the game.

Yubastard @ Mar 12th 2008 12:57PM

lol

xFenixKnightx @ Mar 12th 2008 11:50AM

"I recall listening to the Joystick podcast (or some other podcast maybe) and apparantly you guys didn't like it at all."

Joystiq staff are too busy playing Patapon, N+ or Rez...you know...those "cool" kind of games. Then they act like they really play mainstream games later on.

I keed I keed, or do I? o_O

muddyhelmit @ Mar 12th 2008 12:22PM

I believe it was Chris Grant from the last Joystiq podcast who said he hated the 1st Condemned. Ludwig likes the game though, but he was absent from the last podcast. Maybe if Chris would have played the game when it was released back close to the launch of the 360, he would have liked it more. I thought it was decent at the time, but I haven't went back to play it recently. There have been a lot of triple A titles between now and then.

J.Goodwin @ Mar 12th 2008 2:31PM

I thought the first game was great. Chris's complaints about the storyline indicate that he clearly DIDN'T attempt to get all the birds and other collectible items that unlock the reports that actually fill in the backstory and make sense of the game's ending.

*SPOILER*

The cult is using subaudible waves to create general chaos in the city and bring about a period of dark terror. The sound waves are killing the birds and driving derelicts, citizens, and cops into homicidal rages. Serial killer X has been affected by the sound waves and driven to kill. To effectively channel his desire to kill, he has been hunting down other serial killers and killing them by the same methods that they used in their previous crimes. The easiest way to locate these serial killers was to follow Ethan around, since Ethan (a homicide detective) was already assigned to hunt them down.

*SPOILER END*

I didn't get all of the achievements (wussed out on melee master, IIRC), but I put a lot of time into it and didn't feel cheated in any way shape or form.

Now that I have an HDTV, I keep intending to get back to it, and the release of the sequel is probably what will bump it back up in my queue this weekend.

xFenixKnightx @ Mar 12th 2008 11:52AM

I think this game looks really good I saw the gametrailers review. Im down for some sick horror and blood. So wheres the Wii version??

tmacairjordan87 @ Mar 12th 2008 3:29PM

right behind the wii version of GTA 4

Dirt @ Mar 12th 2008 12:20PM

"The original Condemned was really the first of its kind. The first-person pugilism, investigative challenges, and somber tone have been expanded for Bloodshot. ..."

Someone never played Realms of the Haunting a decade ago.

Shagittarius @ Mar 12th 2008 12:39PM

Been playing that on my Retro PC, its a good game, but the pacing is a bit weird...it doesn't give it enough time to build atmosphere before your fighting sets of armor...Still a very atmospheric game given the time it was released...shame about the FMV cut scenes.

My Retro Rig:
Pentium 90 w/80MB ram
2 dual 8GB SCSI-W drives
4X SCSI CD-ROM
Mach 64 VGA card
Voodoo2 3DFX 8MB
Sound Blaster 16 ISA
Roland MPU-IPC
10BaseT network card
Roland MT-32
Roland SC-55MKII

I've got a multi-boot for Dos 6.22,Win '95, and Win '98.

I love playing the classics with a better set up than I had back in the day when I first played them. I'm thinking about adding a Pentium 233 MMX instead of the P90 but other than happy I think its the perfect retro rig.

vidGuy @ Mar 12th 2008 12:39PM

I really enjoyed the first Condemned. It was a cool move for survival horror games this generation. I'm looking forward to the sequel but recently succumbed to Brawl fever, so it'll be a while before I get to this game. I wonder how long before this drops to $40.

Alex R @ Mar 12th 2008 1:30PM

I'm sure you aren't stupid enough to not know that I meant "dEmo" and not "dOmo". But seriously, where the hell is it?

vidGuy @ Mar 12th 2008 1:44PM

I'm not, but apparently you are too uptight to take a little ribbing. I enjoy exploiting the occasional typo, big deal.

ChooChooCharlie @ Mar 12th 2008 3:25PM

No kidding. I just picked up Brawl and Bully SE, so unfortunately this will have to wait for a couple weeks.

Alex @ Mar 12th 2008 12:40PM

Where is the domo on Marketplace?! It was supposed to be uploaded on the 28th of Feb! Damn you, Microsoft!

vidGuy @ Mar 12th 2008 1:09PM

No kidding. If they'd just be kind enough to put up that domo I'd be willing to say "Domo arigato" ;)

Jeff @ Mar 12th 2008 2:27PM

I think this article made a mistake. 1up doesn't assign numbers.

Donald @ Mar 12th 2008 2:57PM

Metacritic feels the need to convert them to a number for whatever reason, and Joystiq is following along.

vidGuy @ Mar 12th 2008 4:13PM

"Metacritic feels the need to convert them to a number for whatever reason"

How would you include a review in the average at metacritic if it wasn't numeric?

Microswirl @ Mar 12th 2008 6:21PM

@vidGuy

Perhaps it's philosophically invalid to reduce a game to a number? Metacritic shouldn't be including 1up's "score" in the first place, since it's completely disingenuous to 1up's written review.

vidGuy @ Mar 12th 2008 8:34PM

So it's philosophically valid to reduce a game to a letter?

I don't see what the problem is. We have a general idea of what letter grades are worth what percentages; a conversion that is off by a few points won't negatively affect the metascore by much and at least allows the review (by a large contributor) to be included in the metacritic.

Whether an "A" should be 92% or 94% is a little nitpicky if you ask me.

Microswirl @ Mar 13th 2008 3:27PM

vidGuy, you completely missing my point. People of world, READ the friggin' reviews! Numbers, Letters, Gold Stars, etc. mean NOTHING. There's no way to make an informed descision without reading the review. Peoples' opinions of games, by virtue of being OPINIONS, are inherently subjective. Any kind of metric you use to judge something's worth is inherently objective. Metascores are no substitute for an informed impression of what a game is actually like, so stop buying games based on scores.

onesidezero2481 @ Mar 12th 2008 2:29PM

just traded in my psp for this game and paid off the rest of rs:vegas 2. im gonna be burnt out on fps's by the end of next week...

first game freaked the hell outta me... and it sounds like the few things i disliked about it have been fixed (mainly the investigations) so its lights out and surround sound up tonight at the apartment. i might even play naked... why? cuz everything is better when youre naked.