The horror genre in games has been constantly evolving over the last few decades. Starting with text-based games, evolving into rudimentary 3D adventures like Alone in the darkand then evolving into big budget and technically amazing games like demonic resident Y Silent Hill, the horror genre continues to grow year after year. But every once in a while, a bold new horror experience slips through the cracks, and the Condemned The series is certainly an example of this.
Released in 2005 and 2008 respectively, the two Condemned The games were first-person horror titles that became instant cult classics. Heavily inspired by innovative and gritty horror movies like saw, SevenY Silence of inocentsthe Condemned The series places an emphasis on gore, tension, and realistic horror. With a perfectly spooky visual style and truly unique mechanics, the Condemned The series is still going strong today, though a remaster of both games wouldn’t hurt.
Why The Condemned Series Deserves A Remaster
The first game in the series, Damned: Criminal Origins, released in 2005 for Xbox 360 and a year later for PC. Developed by Monolith, the studio now best known for its Middle Earth: Shadow games, Damned: Criminal Origins puts players in the boots of Ethan Thomas, a CSI agent who is tasked with hunting down a man known as Serial Killer X, who framed him for murder. In this job, Ethan will venture into a series of “doomed” apartment blocks, where violence lurks around every corner.
The real appeal of Damned: Criminal Origins it’s its realism and visceral nature. From a technical perspective, Damned: Criminal Origins captures its suspenseful atmosphere perfectly, with realistic lighting systems that force the player to use their flashlight to navigate the environment. The brilliance of this system is only further highlighted by the game’s surprisingly complex AI. Along the Condemned, players will face a variety of human enemies, all of whom pose a significant threat and are capable of killing the player with just a few hits. Players must use stealth and all the tools at their disposal to defeat their enemies, as the AI is easily able to outflank the player and overwhelm them.
The brutal realism of Damned: Criminal Origins it is further reinforced through the game’s combat system. Using a first-person perspective, players are forced to rely on close-quarters combat to survive, and can even rip pipes and other weapons from their environment. This often leads to some incredibly intense fights, with players struggling to find a weapon in the environment, all while being chased by violent and relentless enemies. The player can also occasionally find firearms, though ammunition is extremely limited. In a particularly unique option, both the player and the enemy AI can be killed with a single bullet, adding another layer of harsh realism to the game.
Being a CSI agent, the player can also investigate various crime scenes throughout Damned: Criminal Origins. Acting as environmental puzzles, these crime scenes ask the player to collect evidence from their surroundings, including fingerprints, blood samples, and fibers. Players will also have to occasionally inspect a body and record its various wounds and lacerations.
In 2008, a direct sequel called Convicted 2: Bloodshot released on Xbox 360 and PS3. For the most part, doomed 2 it plays quite similarly to its predecessor, with a focus still on close combat rather than ranged. Nevertheless, doomed 2 introduced a new melee combat system where players could use their fists to brutally defeat their opponents. doomed 2 Gore environmental finishers have also been added, allowing players to bash their opponents’ heads into walls or floors.
Despite having favorable reviews for both entries, the Condemned The series has all but faded into obscurity in the decade since its last release. Despite Condemned features some of the most impressive atmospheric tension in any horror game series, and had a truly unique approach to first-person combat, not many gamers today have played them, and with the second game restricted to only PS3 and Xbox 360, it is unlikely that anyone would return now. So with that in mind, remasters of both Condemned gaming should be high on Sega’s priority list.
Damned: Criminal Origins Y Convicted 2: Bloodshot They are available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
