Remembering Monolith Games: Condemned: Criminal Origins vs Condemned 2: Bloodshot

[Jediuser]

Recently returned to Condemned: Criminal Origins. Believe it or not, I actually started with the contested sequel (as tv tropes would put it), Condemned 2: Bloodshot. Bought it some years ago as a spooky game to play around Halloween.

Honestly, not entirely sure which one I like more. I think Condemned 2 is better from a pure gameplay standpoint, with a deeper combat system and a more hands-on forensics system where you actually feel like you're piecing together evidence instead of simply being led by the hand, like in the original. But in terms of plot and atmosphere, the original is far superior.

Put simply, 2 feels like Monolith trying too hard to go bigger and losing sight of what made the original so unsettling. The original Condemned, for all its hints towards some mysterious force behind the scenes, ultimately had a sort of gritty realism where you investigate desolate, dilapidated buildings on the trail of a serial killer, where the only inhabitants are drugged-up lunatics that attack you with things like pipes and sledgehammers. Think something like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs. The sequel, on the other hand, sets the standard in the opening level by having you face down....tar monsters. That fall from cocoons on the ceiling. And it only gets sillier from there, with a later level having you face down living porcelain dolls. Yeah........the plot, which now involves cultists pulling some supernatural shit, is pretty silly, which isn't good for immersion.

So, which do you prefer?

 

[Zerohour2k12]

About time I got around to playing them. Is this the same Monolith that gave us No One Lives Forever?

 

[Donte]

Also, hope one day second game to come to PC

 

[Jon-Patrick-S]

The second game is kind of a wild swerve away from the tone of the original but it was still enjoyable to me and there's a few scenes that stand out as pretty memorable like the part with the bear with the huge rabid bear chasing you in the lodge. The whole voice cult thing was just kinda odd in general but I think a lot of the game's atmosphere still holds up well.

 

[Jediuser]

About time I got around to playing them. Is this the same Monolith that gave us No One Lives Forever?

it's the same dev studio, yes.

Though No One Lives Forever was a departure for them. Usually they make more horror themed games like Blood and their magnum opus, F.E.A.R. (though NOLF 2 is another departure in that it's a monolith sequel that's well liked).

Post automatically merged: Mar 23, 2025

The second game is kind of a wild swerve away from the tone of the original but it was still enjoyable to me and there's a few scenes that stand out as pretty memorable like the part with the bear with the huge rabid bear chasing you in the lodge. The whole voice cult thing was just kinda odd in general but I think a lot of the game's atmosphere still holds up well.

I actually played the second game first, so I didn't notice until I played the original. I definitely prefer the original's more grounded tone, but the second one has the clear edge when it comes to the fundamental aspects of gaming like level design and combat mechanics.

Post automatically merged: Mar 23, 2025

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Also, hope one day second game to come to PC

I theorize it never happened because the sequel got something of a bad rap in the years since its release (like just about every Monolith seqeuel that isn't No One Lives Forever 2 or Middle-Earth: Shadow of War).