THIS IS THE MOST DISSAPOINTED I'VE EVER BEEN WITH A GAME!!! TAKE EVERYTHING GOOD ABOUT THE ORIGINAL AND SAY SCREW IT!!!! HERE'S SOME BLACK BOOTY HOLE INK MONSTERS, A OVERCOMPLICATED COMBAT SYSTEM, AND BEYOND BORING LEVEL DESIGN!!! OH AND THE STORY, ANCIENT ALIENS MANNNNN!!! SCREW THIS GAME, IT'S HONESTLY THAT BAD. IF YOU LIKED THE ORIGINAL, AVOID THIS GAME!!! I WISH I NEVER PLAYED IT!
also.....
WTF WHY IS THEIR A MULTIPLAYER MODE IN A HORROR GAME, WHAT A WASTE OF DEVELOPMENT TIME, ESPECIALLY WHEN NO ONE WANTED IT!!!

WIKTOBER 2023 Log #002 - Condemned 2: Bloodshot

The original condemned was always praised for its combat and atmosphere. Not necessarily it's story. The best parts about C1 story were never explained. This turns out to be a pretty big boon for the game because the devs actually did try for a story for 2, but it's utterly generic.

The game starts off especially in the combat department. Fantastic impact with lead pipes and planks of wood make you actually feel like you're there. In the slums. Stomping out a fellow homeless alcoholic. As the stakes raise more guns are added and the combat quality drops significantly.

Not that the story was ever much to write home about, but it attempts to add gravity and seriousness while being completely fucking insane. Why did that bear get so aggressive? It was the strongest fictional bear of all time. What was with the magician guy? Why did he do anything of what he did?

TL;DR: There are some things going for C2, but too much against it to recommend. Just play the first half. Really the only redeeming quality of the second half is the ending when the black operative gives you a "you aight, white boy."

I think this game has a lot of potential. The level ideas are pretty good and varied, but can either be really boring and empty, or just bad. One level is just constant screen filters that makes it hard to see and just fucking hurts your brain. The second half of the lodge level is pretty much empty corridors (not enough enemies).

The punch combo system could be really good, except the game feels like crap. Parrying feels limp and like you don't even hit it most of the time. Enemies have super poise and will not get interrupted. The game just needs way more oomph to it.

Mixed package.

Better gameplay than the first one, specially the investigation parts which are more free-form and interesting.

However, the story is shit.

Holy shit that bear level though, one of the scariest parts of any game I've played.

Sometimes an upgrade doesn’t mean better

Won’t lie this one hurt after really loving the first title but I cannot wholeheartedly say that the sequel is good. However, I don’t think it's bad which is why this is annoying because beneath all the weird choices lies a great game.

So what did I not like about Condemned 2?

To begin, this game has very odd choices in level design from good to outright literally painful levels that will give you a real life headache. To explain, you probably have heard about the bear chase if you know about the sequel…. Well I forgot about it so getting to that segment was amazing the whole chase was VERY good. Sadly right after that chase the rest of the level become a brainless gun shooter just ruining the overall greatness of its level. For everything condemned 2 does right it does 2 things wrong is what you will notice throughout this review. On the top of weapons let's talk about the combat which imo was a downgrade. In condemned 1 the combat was simple but it was effective and never felt annoying as in 2 the combat was usually frustrating. To explain, they added a combo system which on paper sounds fun but in execution is terrible as you can barely even get a combo off without taking at least 2 hits unless you begin to parry everything perfectly which is as well hard since everything feels slow making parrying hard. It's unfortunate because the idea of adding a combo system SHOULD have made it better but honestly made the combat even worse in this game Hell later on in the game you will almost forget that there is melee combat as there will be numerous guns blazing all out gun war near the end of the game. So yes , the combat was not good and the decision to push for more shooter sections was a terrible choice. To touch upon the guns once more you earn a mode after finishing the game which is an FPS mode where you play throughout the game ONLY using guns with infinite ammo and I do not know who the hell this mode was intended for no one wants guns to be the main focus in these damn games.

Oh the horror…

One thing that I adored about the first game was the constant feel of dread and anxiety as you walked through the narrow halls in complete silence. Well that is all thrown out of the window in the sequel due to its tone shift and once again level design. To explain, the first game’s story was grounded but had hints of other elements which do get shown in the sequel but to a degree that is almost mind boggling ruining the overall feel of the game that the first title built so well. All the sudden you are dealing with ink monsters , doll babies that blow up and creepy crawlers and it just feels so out of nowhere with how cracked out the story gets. Never once (besides the bear sequence) did I feel an inch of dread , creepiness that the first game consistently produced. It also doesn’t help that you are shown constant reminders you are busting out a combo on screen ruining the immersion as you stare at “COMBOOOOO 3.5X” all the time throughout the game. I


Story

This will be extremely short because I will not dive into spoilers but this game does not finish the biggest plot point I wanted resolved. From what I understood 1-2 more games were planned to be made but sadly never came to be so sadly we are left with an unfinished story. This annoyed me because what we are left with is a CRAZY cliffhanger of an ending with a very good after credit scene but now we will never know what happens next. While I don’t like how the overall story went into really insane, mind boggling territory there was a certain element that was there from the first title that I enjoyed a lot and I WISH we could see it end.


Literal pain

I won’t lie, this game has what is probably one of the worst levels I have played in recent times. Level 5 you see yourself in the SCU building and this level produces some of the worst effects ever. Imagine playing through a level of a game where the game just throws every damn editing effect they can ranging from flashing lights , static everywhere, colors popping in and out , constant blurry effect. It literally got to the point where I felt sick and had to pause the game for a few minutes from how much effect it had on me. I literally do not know what they were thinking of making that level lol. I guess I could add that Ethan being some edgy ass drunk was also painful to me LOL


The new enemies

As mentioned before this game has new enemies that are all mostly….. Terrible?. To explain , the ink monsters are insanely annoying due to them blending into the background since the lighting of this game is terrible. Because of that they can be hard to hit making them get more hits in on you and boy do they hit hard. There are also flaming guys that will run at you and blow up and if they do will also disintegrate your health. Doll babies? Yeah they are the most pointless enemy as they are insanely easy to deal with. However , there are a few very cool new enemies, primarily this big armored enemy you fight in the museum level which was cool. As well this game throws a few bosses your way which are all honestly very cool fights besides the magic man fight which was extremely boring.


So what did I like?

It seems from the ranting I have been on I hate this game but I honestly don’t, I still think this is a fine game. As mentioned, the bear chase was a brilliant and genuinely scary moment in the game. There are a few standout bosses from the Museum boss to the doll factory boss. The story while going in insane directions does have some good moments and some interesting lore built upon. I do like how weapons actually break in this game forcing you to use a lot of weapons as in the first title you usually stuck with one weapon each level. In addition , they did add online which I have yet to try but might be able to since I found a discord server and I love weird online modes so I will probably enjoy it. Furthermore, they added some challenges that you can unlock and partake in which were pretty cool.


Overall

I think I touched upon everything I wanted to talk about so I will leave it at this for now and add more if I remember anything. In the end , the game was a big disappointment for me as there was so much room for improvement and so much more they could have fixed and done with this game. I know there are people out there who enjoy the sequel but I am not one of them. I am truly in the middle with this game because for every moment I enjoyed was a moment I didn’t. However, I truly hope we get remasters for these games one day that could potentially lead into a 3rd title because I really think condemned 1 is insanely underrated and deserves more praise.

I vaguely enjoyed the first Condemned, but this game was a total mess. The combat system is a good idea, but it's poorly executed and feels as though it's in the wrong game. Why does a survival horror game have massive COMBO text popping up? There's also a lot more guns in this game, and the gunplay is horrendous even for the era. Beyond gameplay, the story goes totally off the rails, and seems to miss the point of the first game. It would be so cool to see these ideas revived with some more modern game design, but as is the game is not worth playing (aside from the bear sequence, which I concede is great).

A worthy but frustrating sequel.

This one really feels like 2 steps forward and a step backwards.

I’ll start off the top saying if you hated the third act of the first game with the reveal of supernatural elements then probably avoid this as this one doubles down on the cult, superpowers, and blurs the line between reality and hallucinations.

The biggest upgrade in this one is the detective aspects of the game which I criticized in the first game as being undercooked and hand holdy. In this one you can actually make mistakes when investigating crime scenes and the player will actually have to select the right forensic tool to use as they go through a crime scene. Your contact Rosa will prompt you to ask and answer questions which will net you a higher score based on choosing the best answer. There’s a lot more agency here and the use of the tools are also expanded upon as you can use them to track, destroy and photograph side objectives within each level.

The simplictic first person combat of the original has also been expanded upon with now having a combo meter, being able to use your fists, being able to reload and holster firearms, a dash attack, and the ability to throw your weapon at enemies or targets.
The combo meter is a little jarring at first but overall it grew on me. The environmental take downs are awesome and gory.
The shooting hasn’t been improved tho which is disappointing because it’s much more prominent here although the mechanic of Ethan being an alcoholic and needing to drink to steady his aim is pretty cool.

There are more memorable locales in this game with the standouts being a museum, a doll factory and a bowling alley with area specific weapons like broadswords and bowling balls.

This game hits lower lows than the original however. The first mission drags on forever and the black tar monsters are totally miserable to fight especially with the black tar environments they spawn in. There’s several levels with these horrible filters and screen effects than made me nauseous and were a slog to get though. These really brought this title down for me because the screen effects were just so horrible. Luckily it was only 2-3 levels like that in the game and pretty much everything else is quite good.

This one is harder to recommend to someone because of the comically over the top edginess, insane story and couple of really ugly borderline unplayable levels. Overall I think I still prefer the first game but this one is a ton of fun and doesn’t nearly deserve the hate it gets. Sad Monolith didn’t get to finish out this as a trilogy.

7/10

I definitely didn't expect that the sequel to the great Condemned: Criminal Origins goes this way.
Some missions WERE FRUSTRATING as the combo-system is just too slow for some enemies. Some boss fights sucked immensely (looking at you Harley Quinn-wannabe in the doll factory with exploding baby dolls) but some sequences were so damn crazy, that it was fun as hell (the bear in the lodge). I wasn't expecting so much shooting, too but it was pretty satisfying. Yeah the story cranks the insanity up to 11 but did I hate it? Nah... I was just a bit sad that the sequel was turning the crime investigation part lower and lower as the game is nearing the finale.

Gotta say. I love both games. <3