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Condemned - the official thread

I started Condemned last night and while I only have played around 40 minutes or so, I have to say that I'm very impressed.

A couple of highlights for me so far:
- The atmosphere is just incredible and very immersive.
- I always thought Condemned graphics look quite bad or average when shown in screenshots. Oh, how wrong I have been! The game looks fantastic and very realistic. I have absolutely no complaints about the graphics. The lighting, specifically, is just superb.

I look forward to playing more of it during the upcoming weekend.
 
If you're looking for a genuinely fun, moody, and original Xbox 360 game, give the game a shot. No pretenses about this one. Excellent visuals, very straightforward gameplay that keeps you addicted, and a story that keeps you wondering "What's next?"

I've been playing this game all day, and I highly recommend it.

Think CSI + Silent Hill with a little Doom on the side, but without any nonsensical puzzles.

Buy it now.
 
This game deserves so much recognition, but maybe it's cause I'm playing it in 5.1
You can tell Monolith purposely exaggerated the sound of your footsteps and ambient sounds to freak people out. Oh, and the flashlight likes to fail in the most inopportune time :D No game I've played even comes close to matching the atmosphere of Condemned.
 
Apharmd Battler said:
I'm not a huge fan of the combat, but it works good enough. Reallyl intense and gritty, but kinda frustrating.
Click to expand...

don't forget about the taser...makes the fighting a lot easier...
 
newsguy said:
This game deserves so much recognition, but maybe it's cause I'm playing it in 5.1
You can tell Monolith purposely exaggerated the sound of your footsteps and ambient sounds to freak people out. Oh, and the flashlight likes to fail in the most inopportune time :D No game I've played even comes close to matching the atmosphere of Condemned.
Click to expand...


Amen! My 5.1 system paid for itself with this game. Speevy...I don't know how you played "all day" :lol Well, I suppose playing in the day is easier, but last night I only got through 1 level and a little bit before I chickened out. I'm going back to conquer the next level or two at 1 tonight. Nothing beats this game for atmosphere. Silent Hill was scary enough, but with this game's graphics and surround sound, not to mention the first person perspective, it's probably the scariest game I've played. :D And that's a good thing
 
This game is far scarier than Silent Hill. I was walking and I kicked a bucket (oh the irony) and I thought somebody was following me. I basically jumped up and sent the (now wireless) controller flying.
 
Y2Kevbug11 said:
This game is far scarier than Silent Hill. I was walking and I kicked a bucket (oh the irony) and I thought somebody was following me. I basically jumped up and sent the (now wireless) controller flying.
Click to expand...

I kicked a bottle and I could hear it rolling forever, which made me really uncomfortable. It finally stopped and then a minute later I heard it again. I actually stopped and had to think for a second "now didn't that bottle stop rolling??" and then I turned around to check and there was a dude right freakin there. Very intense moment.

The sound is amazing in this game.

I really really like PDZ but this and Call of Duty2 are the best Xbox360 games in my book. And this might be the most "must play" game of this last half of the year.
 
I kicked a bottle and I could hear it rolling forever, which made me really uncomfortable. It finally stopped and then a minute later I heard it again. I actually stopped and had to think for a second "now didn't that bottle stop rolling??" and then I turned around to check and there was a dude right freakin there. Very intense moment.
Click to expand...

Sold.
 
Truelize said:
I kicked a bottle and I could hear it rolling forever, which made me really uncomfortable. It finally stopped and then a minute later I heard it again. I actually stopped and had to think for a second "now didn't that bottle stop rolling??" and then I turned around to check and there was a dude right freakin there. Very intense moment.

The sound is amazing in this game.

I really really like PDZ but this and Call of Duty2 are the best Xbox360 games in my book. And this might be the most "must play" game of this last half of the year.
Click to expand...

:lol This game owns.
 
Truelize said:
I kicked a bottle and I could hear it rolling forever, which made me really uncomfortable. It finally stopped and then a minute later I heard it again.
Click to expand...

I probably would have thought something like "AH, freaking sound effects bugs !"
 
I'm really tempted to buy this because it sounds great. That bucket bit sounded brilliant :D It sounds like 5.1 is a necessity for this game, which is fine with me. Surround sound>HD visuals

One question though: a lot of criticism has been about apparently repetitive backgrounds, textures etc. Is that true, and is it a problem? Or can you just ignore that because the rest of the game is so good?
 
123rl said:
I'm really tempted to buy this because it sounds great. That bucket bit sounded brilliant :D It sounds like 5.1 is a necessity for this game, which is fine with me. Surround sound>HD visuals

One question though: a lot of criticism has been about apparently repetitive backgrounds, textures etc. Is that true, and is it a problem? Or can you just ignore that because the rest of the game is so good?
Click to expand...

I've only been through the first area so far, but from what I've seen it wont matter a whole lot if the backgrounds are repeated cause they fit with the set-up.
I'll know more after some more playtime.
 
Oh dammit! It's a little after 7:30am and my nerves are spent from playing this game. I stayed up all night. I played this game for a few hours and got creeped out, and my nerves wouldn't allow me to go to sleep. :lol I can get unwired, to freaking manic!! God I'm such a big baby. :lol

I've been playing some more stuff that will take the panic edge off (i.e. XBLA, Quake 4, etc.). This game gets into your head. Goddmamn when I got to this particulat chapter I also wet my pants. I don't want to spoli it for you....all I say is I didn't know that was a person. Trust me you will wig out when you get to chapter 4............

:)
 
Apharmd Battler said:
I've been playing some more stuff that will take the panic edge off (i.e. XBLA, Quake 4, etc.). This game gets into your head. Goddmamn when I got to this particulat chapter I also wet my pants. I don't want to spoli it for you....all I say is I didn't know that was a person. Trust me you will wig out when you get to chapter 4............

:)
Click to expand...

I haven't played the game yet but it seems to me that there must be some set up where
you're investigating a crime scene and there are mannequins there, and one of them springs to life because it's actually a person.
 
HELP!

I'm at what I presume to be the final battle, or something close to that.

Anyway, I just took the metal parts off this guy in the processing plant, and I'm in this dreamlike gray area with shimmering skies.

There are 3 items: A small pipe, a medical kit, and a large board.

Now, I can use the medical kit, but the other two items won't pick up, even though the "press A" icon indicates that I can.

Am I supposed to kick this guy to death? Help. I really don't want to have to start the chapter over.
 
Speevy,
might be a bug...I used the fireaxe the entire time..it never made me drop it...ive heard other people had to kick him to death because they were in the same situation u were in.
 
Fuma said:
Speevy, might be a bug...I used the fireaxe the entire time..it never made me drop it...ive heard other people had to kick him to death because they were in the same situation u were in.

how do you hide text with the black bars?
Click to expand...

With the spoiler tag. [/spoiler] to end and
to start.

I may just get a cheap 5.1 kit for this game. Don't need any power since I'm in an apartment.
 
Speevy said:
HELP!

I'm at what I presume to be the final battle, or something close to that.

Anyway, I just took the metal parts off this guy in the processing plant, and I'm in this dreamlike gray area with shimmering skies.

There are 3 items: A small pipe, a medical kit, and a large board.

Now, I can use the medical kit, but the other two items won't pick up, even though the "press A" icon indicates that I can.

Am I supposed to kick this guy to death? Help. I really don't want to have to start the chapter over.
Click to expand...

I
switched it to easy mode and kicked the shit out of him
.
 
Speevy said:
Okay, I overcame the problem and beat the game. I loved the game, but I wanted so much more from the ending.
Click to expand...

Yeah same here. Still, the game drew me in like very few do. At the risk of sounding corny, I saw a sample of what next generation can bring. The immersion factor. The visuals and sound created an incredible atmosphere. Its only going to get better as devs get more familiar with the hardware.
 
When does this game get good? (tongue in cheek..)

I'm getting a bit bored with the sluggish movement and lack of action. Even when there IS action, it's like deja vu - just a good bit of repitition. The only reason I'm spending time with it over more PGR3 is to justify the $65 spent. More power to the people that really got into this game but I think I'll be trading it in or selling it on ebay soon.

I have to admit though that the atmosphere is top-notch. Very spooky.
 
I started playing this one tonight. Scary indeed!

The part where...

the "mannequin" spring to life
totally freaked me out. I was like "oh, no I did not just see that". From then on I started
zapping all of the mannequins with the taser because I was scared one of them was going to jump out at me
.

The dressing rooms where you find the dead body
were scary too. I thought for sure that something would jump out at me. This game really messes with your head.

Oh and did anyone try shooting
the "dead" woman's body that was floating face down in the water with the taser? I knew that bitch wasn't dead.
The shock literally sent her flying 10 feet straight up into the ceiling then she came crashing back down
into the water.
Meanwhile she's screaming the entire time. It was totally awesome.

Very good game. The combat is much better than I thought it would be. I hope there is a sequel. This game shows a lot of potential.
 
it is pretty creepy so far :x

like you look at a door, open it, and you're like... "that's for later!" then walk away then BAM! something hits the door on the other side

or when you're walking down hallways and you see some dude run across it or something. Damnit!
 
I really dug Condemned. I came so close to giving it a five, but I just couldn't based upon its length. But for the time it lasted, I probably enjoyed it more than just about any other 360 launch game. It's kinda good that way, too. When it comes down to it, the combat isn't all that deep, but just when I started to tire of it the game came to an end.
 
Outlaw Pro Mod said:
When does this game get good? (tongue in cheek..)

I'm getting a bit bored with the sluggish movement and lack of action. Even when there IS action, it's like deja vu - just a good bit of repitition. The only reason I'm spending time with it over more PGR3 is to justify the $65 spent. More power to the people that really got into this game but I think I'll be trading it in or selling it on ebay soon.

I have to admit though that the atmosphere is top-notch. Very spooky.
Click to expand...

Just started playing this last night and I have the same feelings.

+Great graphics
+Great sound
+Nice atmosphere
-drab, boring locations (at least Silent Hill/RE have really cool/creepy places to visit)
+solid combat
-but kinda boring combat
-You move REALLY SLOW ^^;

Seems ok, but not really fun or exciting so far. I think the big kicker for me is that I don't find it scary :\ I played it in the middle of the night with the lights off and 5.1 sound but because the enemies are just humans I can't get scared of them. Its weird but if it was the same game and the enemies were all freaky demons it would scare the shit out of me, but with humans it just feels like a melee FPS game where you walk super slow. I know one of the early cutscenes hinted that there might be actual monster enemies later on. If that happens I think I'll get into it more, but right now it's not as fun as RE or as scary as SH so it just feels kinda bland. Least favorite of the launch games I got :(
 
I'm stuck on chapter 9, the apple seed orchard. The part where you see the riddle, and you have to follow the writing all around the house with the black light. I found 3 of the four I think, and the last one seems to stop at a small room with a hole in the damaged wall.

Do I need to be doing something different here?
 
Well, I just passed the department store and I noticed

It's the first time you realize that the main character has a problem. The mannequins rearranging themselves, the dead people in the water who come to life after a violent flash. The scariest part is the verey faint voice you hear about 3 times in the whole stage. If I didn't have surround sound I wouldn't have heard it. Someone whispers "you're dead" in your ear but there's no one there. Shit caught me off guard as it came from the rear right channel, not good for the heart."
 
How does one go about getting the second ending??

I would have thought it turns on whether or not
you shoot the guy in the trunk ("compassion or revenge")
. But I get the same ending regardless
(in the men's room, you turn into the demon)
.

Excellent game, BTW.
 
I just finished a section in a mall.

HOLY CRAP this game can get scary. I had two buddies watching me play and one of them actually screamed and jumped (and of course that caused us to scream and jump too). :D

Amazing game.
 
DopeyFish said:
for those saying it's slow... when you click in the left stick and move you run. just a heads up :P
Click to expand...

Need code for infinite run and the ability to map it to a button :P

Though less jokingly, is anyone else having problems with the click in and hold button commands on games? I mean everyone joked about how Gunvalkryie was so hard to control on the original Xbox pad, but I think the 360 pads are worse for clicking in and holding. In CoD2 when you have to click in to use your scope after about 2 secs it would unclick and go out of it. Same thing is happening to me in Condemned. I can run for a couple of secs but it's near impossible to keep it clicked in long enough to use up my entire run meter. I think it's just because the controller is smaller? I dunno, maybe I have a bad controller.
 
heh, changing run to the L button makes the game a lot more fun :) Running, strafing, blocking, countering, kicking...it's a very enjoyable melee engine. But I think it's the same thing as RE4, basically the more fun it is to fight enemies the less scary it gets. Why be afraid of enemies if you just want them to keep coming so you can keep beating them down? :P The scariest games are the ones with the absolute worst battle engines (SH and FF IMO) since you're like "shit! I don't want to fight you. RUN!".

Lighting and sound effects are amazing in this game though. When a guy was shooting off a shotgun the entire room lit up with each shot and the ground shook with the deep bass of the blast.
 
so far condemned is an awesome game and i'm only on chapter 2 :lol

I'm so lighthearted though, so when the game starts scaring me i pause it or just sit back and let my senses come back.

I remember playing silent hill and getting to the school. OMG. I remember opening a locker and a cat jumping out and I was so freaked out. The stupid ghost children weren't helping either :<
 
DopeyFish said:
so far condemned is an awesome game and i'm only on chapter 2 :lol

I'm so lighthearted though, so when the game starts scaring me i pause it or just sit back and let my senses come back.

I remember playing silent hill and getting to the school. OMG. I remember opening a locker and a cat jumping out and I was so freaked out. The stupid ghost children weren't helping either :<
Click to expand...

Naked midget kids with knives are the scariest enemies ever in any horror game.
 
DopeyFish said:
OMG there's finishing moves?! hahahaha
Click to expand...

The finishing moves SOOO make this game. Head butts ftw.


And the knife wielding baby things in Silent Hill still haunt me. I wonder why they didn't use them again. So freaky.

There a coulpe of enemies in Condemned that rank right up there with the babies though.
 
Bepbo said:
I think the big kicker for me is that I don't find it scary
Click to expand...

Wait until you get to the department store. That's when it really shifts into high gear.

Truelize said:
And the knife wielding baby things in Silent Hill still haunt me. I wonder why they didn't use them again. So freaky.
Click to expand...

Its actually tied to the story. The enemies in Silent Hill are based on the person's own fears/nightmares/thoughts. When Harry went into Silent Hill he was worried about his daughter Cheryl, who was a young child. Hence the children with knives.

Meanwhile Heather in SH3 fights with things of a more girlish nature like Barbie doll legs.

Its all dependent on the person, and everyone is different, so the enemies are different.
 
so to those saying scarier then Silent hill would you say it is scarier then RE remake as well? i've still yet to find anything that creeped me out that much gamewise yet. Silent hill was cool, just not scary to me.

I am really wondering if if this should be a rental or a purchase.
how long and what kind of replay value?
 
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