Horror fans got off to a spectacular start with the first Condemned for Xbox 360. This sequel took everything to a new level.
At Xbox 360, The Horror games they have had a special place over the years. The launch of the fantastic Xbox 360 was accompanied by a title of classic cut horror to the first person, Convicted: Criminal origins, the first part of two fantastic titles. When the first part came out, it was terrifying enough to reveal those who dared to play it, mixing the search for a deranged serial killer and the psychological terror with paranormal accents, in a classic adventure. It was a fantastic experience that many thought could not be surpassed, until Condemned 2 came along and continued the dark story of the first, but took things a step further.
In the years since the release of Condemned 2, we have seen evolve the horror genre in different ways. Zombies have once again become a key enemy of the genre, Resident Evil has lost and then regained that classic horror feeling we loved so much, and a few horror movies have gotten so terrifying that they now come with warnings for those who have. heart problems. In short, terror is now in a state very different from that of 2008. However, very few games have been able to Capture the unique horror style seen in the Condemned series, with maybe just Outlast getting closer.
The story of Sentenced 2 takes place only 11 months later of the events of the first Condemned One and, at that time, the mysterious phenomenon which senseless violence and massive psychosis among Metro City’s homeless population, it has since worsened. With riots all over the city and every street prone to violence every night, Metro City is one of the most dangerous places in the world.
In the midst of this chaos we come back to the protagonist’s controls from the first, Ethan Thomas. This time, however, he is no longer part of the FBI Serial Crimes Unit -at least not definitively-, but, after having resigned after the events of the investigation into the serial killer X, Ethan is now a homeless man and a violent alcoholic. The paranormal-tinged visions haven’t gone away, and his problems with alcohol have him trapped in a downward spiral.
However, under Director Farrell’s orders, Ethan was recruited again into the Serial Crimes Unit investigate the murder of his former mentor Malcolm Vanhorn. With the help of his former partner, Ethan’s investigations allowed him to discover that his former enemy, serial killer X was still alive.
While the original game focused on the investigation, Sentenced 2 he focused on a slightly different aspect. Research was still playing a role this time around, but that was no longer the primary focus, but rather that the actors focused on the history of the Oro organization, a secret sect whose plans to control the entire world with sound power were well advanced. Although the approach to the story was very different from that of the first game, the gameplay has remained largely the same, although with some New, well-designed features have been added to the mix.
The first major change was the introduction of the Close combat, which is controlled by the left and right triggers respectively. This allowed for a chain of combined attacks that provided close combat. quite satisfactory. Another notable change in the sequel was the greater presence of firearms. Although they are present in the original, they were so rare that the game didn’t even have a reload button. However, that changed in the sequel and some levels of the game even focused on shootouts against enemies wielding assault rifles.
While no longer a permanent part of the FBI’s Serial Crimes Unit, the game still had a strong forensic investigation component, which had also been greatly improved. Players were able to investigate and catalog different elements of each crime scene before making statements about the nature of the crime, and when they were right they were ranked higher than allowed to get upgrades such as bulletproof vests.
However, this episode was not without its issues, and one of the main ones was the pointless multiplayer they implemented. Coming at a time when multiplayer was starting to emerge on consoles, from a high room he was squeezed so that Sentenced 2 incorporate it somehow. The result was a terrible disaster.
Despite the improvements and one of the darker and more interesting plots that the writer saw in a video game, sales were well below expectations Yes Sentenced 2 was the last we saw in the series, with the dev team stating that unfortunately there will never be a follow-up. However, in 2015, the co-founder and former CEO of Monolith Studios, holder of the rights to the Condemned series, expressed his wish to find the independent development team suitable for carrying out the series. Sadly, it looks like no way has been found to make a new installment, but there is still hope that one day we can see something related to the franchise. With very few games on the market that come close to the unique experience Condemned and Condemned 2 offered, there are surely many who would also be delighted with the return of this fantastic series.
