I downloaded and played the free Demo for Condemned 2: Bloodshot from the PS3 store.
While the atmosphere is certainly one of the creepiest I’ve encountered, and I always like a bloody mess (I played it alone in my basement during the day, but would not want to do so alone at night), the graphics and gameplay are reminiscent of first person combat games of a few generations ago (hand to hand, the predominant format, is clunky). Visually, it does not come close to what the PS3 is capable of [for that, see Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (a great, fun game) or Assassin’s Creed (which failed not b/c of its graphics, but due to storyline flaws and repetitive gameplay)].
If you know me, you know I love sandbox games. But oddly, Condemned 2, which apparently prides itself on this concept, only gets it part right. While you can use almost anything as a weapon (lead pipes, crutches, prosthetic arms, circuit-breaker pipes), I am not kidding when I say you cannot hop over a 3 foot chain link fence or even a 1 foot high air conditioning vent. In fact, you cannot jump at all. That is just fucking ridiculous.
I am always on the lookout to get my creep on (Rez Evil, Silent Hill, Clock Tower), but Condemned 2 didn’t do nearly enough to convince me to purchase the full game. If anyone wants to send me a free copy though, I’d be happy to play it and, more than likely, trash it some more.
Of course all this means that the the Industry-friendly folks (whores) over at Gamespot gave it an 8.5 out of 10. By refusing to be critical of developers, sites like Gamespot do gamers a great disservice. First, they encourage regular folks like us to go buy these mediocre games, which flushes Big Gaming companies with cash and rewards less-than-stellar production. This in turn encourages Big Gaming companies to remain uncritical of their final products and release these mediocre games. It’s a shitty, vicious cycle, to which we at ENF refuse to contribute.
If a game sucks the big one, we’ll let you know (see review, Assassin’s Creed). And if it’s actually fun to play, we’ll let you know that too (see review, Ratchet and Clank Future).
I’m sure I’ll play the full game someday, when the price is reduced, but based on the Demo, this game gets a 3 (mostly for creep and blood) out of 10.
PS3 developers are being lazy. They either put out a game that belongs on the PS2, like Condemned 2 does, or they put out a beautiful failure, like Assassin’s Creed. Take the time to get it right.
Elf Needs Food 