Condemned 2: Bloodshot Preview

 

The boys and girls down at Monolith Studios have finally given us a look at the sequel to one of my favourite Xbox 360 titles, Condemned, and to say the least I am now quivering with anticipation for it’s release.

For those of you who never got the chance to play the first game, you filled the role of Ethan, a detective who was investigating a series of brutal murders, and through a lot of twists and turns, the police are now hunting after you and you become the prime suspect in the case. The games eerie environments, gripping storyline, unique gameplay and hand to hand combat is what really made it stand out from a pack of boring first person shooters that were being released at the time.

Well in the sequel players will be re-visiting the role of Ethan, who has turned to alcohol for comfort to dealing with the issues that have plaqued him for the past five years (after the original game). Unemployed and without much to live for, Ethan is called in on a case, which is where the game takes off. Problem is that Ethan suffers from hallucinations, and has to decided what is real, and what is not which takes the game and story to a whole new dynamic.

The developers have built on the dynamics that made the original game so unique, including upgrades to the combat system, and the investigation scenes.

We will start with the combat mechanics. Instead of the simple block and hit combination in the first game, the player can now chain together different attacks to create more effective combos. Players can now also throw weapons at enemies, which react to hit points on their bodies. Throw a brick into someone’s kneecaps, and they will have some trouble walking! The finishing system has also been updated, and instead of just having a handful of finishers, these will change dynamically dependant on what is in the environment around you, which offers some variety to the gamer. Gunplay will be much the same as the first title, except this time around guns can be reloaded and don’t require to be discarded when empty.

The investigation segments of the game have also been overhauled, and definitely for the better. While in the first game these scenes were extremely cool, they were quite linear. The game automatically told you which tools were required, and exactly what to do. This time around the tools will be more complex and it will be up to users to figure out what is evidence. This should make the game even deeper and more enjoyable

The developers have also thrown in a Multiplayer component which promises to be good, but I guess we will be the judge of that. It has four different modes with up to eight players online, including the standard Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. Players will spawn into the world weaponless and will rely on hand to hand combat and hope to find some of the weapons scattered across the map, which will make for some furious and close combat online, which will stand out from your typical run and gun online multiplayer modes out at the moment.

Bum Rush, a unique mode to Bloodshot, sets two players in the role of being a squad member of the Serial Crimes Unit, armed with automatic weapons. The other six players must rely on wits and their melee weapons to take down the two SCU members, and roles are switched at the end of every round based on performance of players.

The final game mode is called Crime Scene, and has four “Influenced” players protecting two cases from SCU members. Each player only has one life in this game mod

So I’m not going to lie, I am terribly excited to get my hands on the full game early March. What started out as a overlooked, but great game at the 360 launch, now looks like it is going to grab the attention of most people with all the improvements that have been thrown in