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Platform: Xbox
360, PC
Related Articles: Review: Thief: Deadly Shadows (PC)
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Condemned:
Criminal Origins
Fire
up any action game, and you will see that the game is in a third person
perspective. While there
has been the occasional exception where a game has been played through
the first person, the vast majority of the time gamers have seen their
on-screen alter ego as bright as day.
In an attempt to make the experience more immersive, Monolith
Productions is working on a new game in the genre that thrust the player
into the first person, while sprinkling a liberal dose of survival
horror on top with Condemned: Criminal Origins for the Xbox 360 and PC.
Taking on the role of Agent Thomas, a member of the FBI’s Serial Crimes Unit, players will spend their time hunting various serial killers. While its tempting to compare the game to the TV show CSI, things won’t be nearly as cerebral in Condemned, as players will need to worry far more about getting jumped by an enemy while hunting down evidence. There’ll be plenty of opportunities to whip out a camera and take snapshots of incriminating evidence that can lock away the serial killers being investigated, but there will also be a strong focus on picking up pipes, chairs, locker doors, and the like so to beat the various bad guys into submission. That isn’t to say that Condemned’s action will be nothing but clobbering people |
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with
blunt objects,
as some of the images being shown for the game show the player armed
with a shotgun, and other firearms.
However, given how limited ammunition will be in the game,
players will spend more of their time whacking things than shooting at
them.
But seeing as the game’s story does revolve around someone who investigates serial killers for a living, one would expect there to be a certain level of creepiness to Condemned given the generally macabre nature of those Agent Thomas is hunting. As such, this is where the survival horror elements of the game |
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come
into play. Thus far, the environments and visuals appear to be the
driving force behind the fright factor being included in the game, as
everything is very dark, with plenty of strategically placed light
sources that ensure that much of what players are looking at are
obscured by shadows with who knows what lurking inside.
The character designs themselves are also looking pretty scary
thus far, with people all bandaged up, or covered in knife scars, all
sporting a particularly bloody sense of fashion.
Looking at the enemies in the game, while they are
disturbing to look at, one has to wonder if Agent Thomas is actually
taking on an entire army of serial killers, as there are just so many of
them.
For
the most part when people think of first person games, the FPS is the
first, and pretty much only, thing that springs to mind.
With games of the past like System Shock 2, and Thief having both
opted to go for a first person perspective yet not being all about
running around and blasting things, one would think that more
companies would have gone in the same direction given the success those
two games enjoyed. Sadly
that just hasn’t been the case. Hopefully
Monolith Productions can make Condemned into something that brings more
attention to the first person perspective that isn’t so centered on
the use of firearms.
Mr.
Nash (May
21, 2005)
Features: -
Next-generation lighting, mapping, and filtering techniques provide for environments
of unprecedented detail and visual quality. -
Intelligent enemies respond strategically to your offensive and
defensive maneuvers. -
High-level physics allow players to manipulate background items, which
respond realistically when picked up, kicked, or bumped. -
A tightly wound story is backed with strong character development and
major plot twists. - Meticulously crafted 5.1 surround-sound will cue players to the location of offscreen enemies. |
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