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Having been previewed as one of the Xbox360’s first
title’s at E3
2005, Condemned was a little brief, a little
bug-ridden and a lot worrying. As SEGA’s entrance into the Xbox360
field,  Condemned did little to endear the public to SEGA’s
more westernised development approach for the heavily-westernised
gaming system and, in-fact, was clearly superseded by SEGA’s other
early Xbox360 release on show, Full Auto. That’s not to say
Condemned is without tact, style or substance; it’s just
very easy to see how SEGA managed to shoot themselves in the foot
with a title borne for the Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt
generation, which has received lack-lustre sales in the UK when compared with its Launch Line-Up counter-parts.
To discuss Condemned as another generic First-Person
Shooter would simply be heresy. Condemned portrays its
ambitions in a new mould; an incarnation resembling that of the Metroid
Prime
series’ eagerness for exploration through hugely
expansive environments. The title relies heavily on close-quarter
combat, often restraining the ammo for an entire Level. Entering the
shoes of FBI Agent Ethan Thomas, you are thrust into a hell-torn
city full of drug-addicts, serial-killers and, although never quite
fully-explained, some devilish personification of evil in all it’s
purity.
Playing with an almost permanent two-inch visibility and
little more with the torch-light, Condemned is a title that
makes moves with its atmosphere. The title centres on creating that
shrinking-feeling, with an atmosphere demonstrating the use of light
sourcing used to great effect. Much like Project
Gotham
Racing 3, Condemned is guaranteed to be on the top of
your list when that High-Definition display arrives. However, whilst
creating the feeling of perpetually being in mortal-danger, it’s
often unlikely that’ll you’ll stumble across certain death
unless wholly unprepared for play (on many occasions, taking that
break to make a cup of tea can cost you twenty-minutes play). The
areas filled with enemies are few and far between – quite a
blessing, considering only
two-or-three hits with most weaponry will
end your investigation with a loud bump – and merely offering a
momentary break from the fundamental-core of the absorbingly
claustrophobic gameplay. The Checkpoints within Levels have been
placed respectably for the best part, although the occasional
Automatic-Save may see you left with very little health or, in one
instance, unable to progress through having dropped the required
weapon before reaching the Checkpoint. The earlier scenes take on
the familiar settings of subway, abandoned warehouse,
generic-empty-delopodated-building-no.423, and there’s only small
variation to be had throughout the games over-bearing length.
The plot is advanced mid-Level by phone calls from various
characters. The placement of the communication is always perfect and
punctuates the action well. However, the character assumed by the
player is most unbelievable at the best-of-times and, when amidst
all the gruesome slaughtering, being able to keep-his-cool and
be full of one-line quips just pushes it into the realms of pure
fantasy, totally breaking the boundaries of suspension-of-disbelief
worked so hard for by the lighting, sound and enemy set-pieces. Condemned
seems to be a title that chooses to offer it’s inadequacies for
debate far more freely than others. Not ashamed for being a
First-Person Shooter trying to attempt something different, but
never really feeling comfortable in the either role.
The
First-Person Combat System is one of the best I’ve witnessed in a
First-Person Shooter, but still only paralleling with that of The
Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, which doesn’t
quite  attach the same gravitas. Each melee weapon has two swings; a
full width and a forward stab, however, these swing animations
happen totally at random and are in no-way dependant on your press
of the RT Trigger.
Graphically,
Monolith have managed to pull all the stops-out. Condemned is
easily one of the better looking titles available for the Xbox360,
however this could simply be due to the title’s incredibly
short-sighted nature and lack of in-game animation. When in a bright
enough light to be noticed, the surroundings are crisp and detailed,
although it seems rather lazy that items can’t be damaged; even
when attacking vending machines with a Crowbar. The character
animation is very accomplished and, even though some cut-scenes
could easily be considered ruff around-the-edges, running in
high-definition is often astounding.
The
sound-quality is unmistakable however. With many developers
seemingly content with reusing the same “ping-pung” sound
effects in use since the early ‘80’s, it’s really relied-upon
for companies such as Factor5 with their MoSyS System in-built in
the GameCube to push the aural boundaries. Which, of course, makes
Monolith’s dedication all-the-more endearing.
It
seems that, while Condemned went down in Electronic
Articles history of being one of the worst E3 showings, ever,
Monolith have managed to release a title that lets itself astound,
question and disappoint all at once. Whilst breaking boundaries, Condemned
forces new restrictions into place. Much like the GameCube’s Geist,
Condemned proves that although little has changed in the
First-Person genre since Halo: Combat Evolved, it’s also
actually quite difficult to change a genre so firmly-stead in it’s
roots without a few teething problems.
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