This game kept me riveted, and I enjoyed it all the way through. The story is interesting, though perhaps not altogether coherent. The melee combat (and infrequent of advent firearms) is pretty entertaining. Whatever it's faults, the dark and lonesome atmosphere is engaging, and one of the better I have played.

One of the best survival horror FPS of all time. Immension to the maximum, great acting, story-driven action that kicks some butts and gameplay from out of this earth.

A must-play for all FPS - Survival Horror lovers.

I recently played Fear 3 and wanted to played something similar so brought this in the deal, It was alot harder then Fear3 but it also had more atmosphere and interesting story, really enjoyed it would recomend it highly. Just hope they bring the sequel to PC at some point.

A great hobo beating simulator! Some of the best melee combat in an FPS ever, matched only by Dark Messiah of M&M. A shame the second never made it to PC! It gets weird in later levels, but the CSI-type gameplay is really fun, and the game is scary as all heck too.

This game got an interesting story, it's full of darkness, violence and heartstoping moments!

If u like this kind of thing, it's a must have.

It was good enough for me. When I played this game years ago when it released, at first and through most of it, it will make you jump, get your nervous, and catch you off guard. Eventually though, especially by the end...you just get used to its style and enemies that it's not what it was in the beginning. For $3 you can't go wrong (sale).

Are there better FPS games out there? No doubt. Same goes for horror. But if you're not quite sure what to do, give this a go. It's not exactly hard either. I never found the story of the game any different that what we have for media today, so the story alone was mediocre.

Amazing game! The atmosphere is terrifying, but that's all that's scary. However the combat can be very intense, and having to find the right weapon and improvising weapons can be very fun. Not a lot of gunplay though.

One of the first games to introduce some brutal first person combat with melee weapons. Unfortunately this game never got the recognition it deserved and even more the sequel never came out on PCs.

What starts out as a tense first person action/horror game quickly devolves into rather tepid shooting.

Story of sinister cults are usually worth playing through, but this one ends up being less interesting than it should be. The melee and shooting just aren't that satisfying as the game progresses.

Monolith missed the mark, and your FPS dollars could better spent elsewhere.

A first person almost shooter game. Think of the game FEAR, only with far less ammo, guns and far more scary setting. Your main weapons will be whatever melee weapons you can find around, from pieces of wood, to pipes, etc. Good graphics and very good atmosphere. Just a word of warning, if you have Logitech mouse and/or keyboard, there is a possibility to have severe frame rate issues. For that you will need to uninstall everything Logitech related and then hope for the best. It's a weird glitch with the game engine and the drivers. It's the same for other games using the same engine, for example FEAR.

LeeWolfgang

9

I have no damn clue why F.E.A.R. gets all this love from so many people when there's this awesome game to be proud of. Condemned: Criminal Origins, is the scariest game anyone will ever play. Unlike in any other horror game, you actually have to fight for your life instead of experience second-long hallucinations of random dead things. It's not actually scary to me, but that's just because I'm kind of stone-nerved. Many people say there isn't much story involved. There's a huge story involved, really. It's just at the end then it gets weird. In the loading screens, it gave a description of why people were brain hemorrhaging and become mentally ill. But then at the end you fight a ninja with metal pegs in his body and then the killing stops. That's the only really pointless thing about the story. Regardless of whether or not someone thinks of the story, the realistic gameplay, great sound, and effects make up for that and the fact that it's based on that abysmal Lithtech engine. The hallucinations the player experiences are done really well and show how he is undergoing brain hemorrhaging as well and is able to fight it off, though it takes over in some places to hype you up. It suffers some plot holes (I'll let you use my flashlight while yours is broken and walk around in the dark, Agent Thomas), but they're few and far between. The best implementation in this game, though, is that it's almost entirely based on melee combat. And that's done very well. The texturing is kind of low-resolution but the excellent effects and everything else make up for it. It's kind of slow, hence it's on an awful engine (though it's thoroughly improved), but everything is realistic as can be expected from a console launch title port.

I absolutely loved this game because of its innovative approach to crime scene evaluation and its non-stop twists and turns. It speaks highly of a game when it fools me or finds me wondering what will happen next - will the tech lady get whacked? Will I turn out to be the serial killer? Would this go well with the Chicken, Peter? My only gripe is that this game was designed for a console and the control scheme shows it, but I still found the game playable and enjoyable. This is one of those must-play games!

They should rename this game: Abandoned - Sluggish Brawler. You spend much of the game sluggishly creaking along like an old geezer through abandon buildings abstractly designed, in an unconvincing "real world" setting or environment. It would be great if I could pick-up anything and chuck it at least. As you sludge through slower than James Brown living with a hernia, you wield a bat or piece of pipe ready to deal some damage to the sociopath crackhead punks infesting all of the nice abandoned buildings normal people are just too cool to hang out in.

Seriously, you walk so slow it is painful. Instead of a young cop, the developers should have made the player's character an old cop 12 days from retirement, an old fart in his 60s maybe with a history of "that one incident never forgetting where he used his gun on the wrong person accidentally". Then, everything in this game would make more sense.

For a smart cop, your character is pretty dumb. Tries to go it alone with a club to beat the stuffing out of anyone. Doesn't carry gun or ammo. If you find a gun with 2 rounds, after you use those rounds, that's it. You'll be lucky if you find any ammo or guns. All of the baddies appear to carry only a couple of rounds which goes to show they are just as stupid too. I once acquired a shotgun from a baddie that had only 1 shell. What gives?

Graphically, they came is older but not bad. There is a lot of detail, but also a lot of boring detail. Like F.E.A.R. there are a lot of cans of paint, buckets, and other useless things around. It's as if the developers got tired of detailing the rooms and of figuring out what to put to create the game environment and atmosphere, and lazily went with "Uhhh, just throw in some more cans of paint, maybe a steel barrel altho yes it doesn't fit the office-setting of the building we are designing, but this one is abandoned too so we can get away with it, right?".

The fighting can be bloody, the ragdolling is great. The investigative angle, what is going on? aspect of the game and story works. Could have been better if it was not such a linear game. The investigative tools don't involve any thinking as the game literally tells you what to do.

I have to give this game credit for trying to do something different. The graphics look good for an older game, the story was interesting enough to keep me interested and curious as to what is going on, what is the mystery behind all of it? There were some nice surprises I won't spoil that showed up which I thought made the game overall better. The game is also very creepy. Not only do you creep around slowly, it is dark and creepy. You can definitely file this under the "horror" section.

It is not horror on the level of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, no way, but it definitely has a similar horror style where you must depend on your flashlight at times, you are going through an totally unknown ruined building, seeing scripted shocking images and things occur around you, crap leaps out at you, that sort of thing. Once big difference is in this case you have a weapon (usually 1 at all times) you can use to pummel the freak that leaps out at you, that caused you to yelp,"OMG WTH!", make your skin tingle, your heart jump for second; you can pay them back good for that, and watch them collapse into a bloody mess. Something I wish you could do in Amnesia but oh well. Lastly, despite pleasures like these, for an already slow game, there are some "action-stopping" puzzle situations, and times where I got completely lost and had no idea where to go next in the game levels due to poor level design.

Dark, desolate, creepy and violent describe this game best. Combining first-person action, melee combat, detective work and survival gameplay, Condemned is a unique gaming experience. Too bad its excellent sequel never made it onto the PC but that shouldn't stop you from playing this one.

Despite poor graphics for a game released around it's time Condemned - Criminal Origins offers solid gameplay with some interesting features. These include choices of many different melee weapons such as a plank of wood with nails sticking out or even signs posted on walls. However this game does seem to be heavily centered around melee combat, while guns are available, they are few and far between and offer limited ammo (As there are no ammo pickups besides what is alredy in the weapon to be found) and even poor damage compared to what you can achive with your favorite melee weapon. All in all this is a good horror game with some interesting twists.

So far so good. It's spooky and dark. Just the way I like my horror/FPMelee/film-noir-esque games.

Condemned is a very atmospheric game that requires one to follow the story for the true feelings of horror. This is not hard to do as the game does not require reading a bunch of back story and the cut scenes used are well done and to the point. Even towards the end the feeling of dread and mortality linger. As such I would recommend this for the horror game enthusiast.

Creepy, violent and viceral, this is one of the darkest FPS ever made, the sequel is unfortunately a console exclusive, but boy is this game tense! Being jumped on by a pipe handling psycho in the dark has rarely been so terrifying.

This game is bananas... The way that it draws the player into the story and environment is uncanny... The sounds are detailed, creating an eerie environment for the player throughout his/her venture through the creepiness and edginess that is Condemned: Criminal Origins. I give this game a 9/10, the only points it loses are just my own nitpicking, a must buy for any fan of the horror game genre.

+ Graphics and sound

+ Perfect climate

+ Melee system

- The story reveals not so much as it should

- Too short

I got this very cheaply on sale and it was excellent value for money. The screenshots on Gamersgate don't do a good job of showing you what the game has to offer - anyone with a decent PC can probably play it now with the settings on max and it'll look superb and still run smoothly. The atmosphere is what draws you in first, but the gameplay keeps you playing. The linear nature drags it down a little bit (belying its console origins maybe), e.g. the forensic tool option makes you think there's going to be some puzzle-solving and proper detective work required, but since it always gives you the tool needed for that specific section, then it's usually fairly obvious what you have to do. Still worth playing, though.

Intense game that has visceral first person hand to hand combat that feels very realistic. Use various weapons scavenged from the level. This game is well paced and very creepy like a great X-Files episode.

As many people have said, there is little "shooting" going on in this game, but there is plenty of improvised hitting and swinging. It's a good system of back and forth, where you have to block and attack at the right moment.

Anyways, the game itself is quite amazing. The graphics, though getting a little old now, are still quite amazing. It's also good at playing with lighting and the physics so that you're always ready to be attacked. The sound is also great, especially with some good speakers or headphones.

All of this plays into the amazing atmosphere of the game. You FEEL like a detective, using your flashlights and devices to find fingerprints. It's a very visceral experience.

Sure, there are flaws to the game. It's linear, which negatively affects re-playability. The story is decent, but I never felt that's what kept me moving forward. But for the short time that you're playing, you'll instantly forget its a game and be pulled right into its universe.

I picked this up when really cheap. Since then I am dreaming of dark, long mazes of debris and decay cluttered corridors. Thatīs what the game essentially consists of. And you you have a hell of a (great) scary time finding you way through them.

The games strength is also itīs downfall. At some point you might very well get weary of those corridors, while more open spaces are very rare. As a counterpoint there is the intense gameplay based on melee combat against a really, really wicked AI. The otherwise slow pace of the game actually adds to the horror similar to that of some John Carpenter movies, where the horror lurks just below the surface everyday live.

At the first play, it was incredible. But it gets a little bit repetitive with time.

The idea, the mechanics, its great. But after that, its kind of boring. I cant explain exactly why. The game has everything to work. But something went wrong.

Still, depending on the price, it worth trying.

Although I played this game few years after its premier and graphics are not so good the plot is so addictive that I didn't bother with it. If you like survival horrors and thrillers this game is definitely for you. On highest difficulty you have to watch you every step, and be ready to defend yourself. If you try to make all achievements it will become even more tricky, for example "beat the game using only male weapons".

Biggest disadvantages of this game are graphics (but still it is old game) and maybe sometimes it gets boring to wonder through this buildings when you get lost and do not know what to do next, but i happened to me only once or two times.

This game is definitely worth a try,a specially it is not so expansive.

this game is really good if you like scary games it scares the hell out of me when ppl just pop out i recommend this game to any1 who loves a good fright. ps. this game is the most scary game ive played

If you played F.E.A.R before, you'll recognize the horror elements that is unique with this developer. The story and gameplay is well executed and you easily get intrigued. However, for me, the physical speed of the character is too slow and some of the fighting could be improved.

But it's a great game that will scare you!

I want spend few words about this game;do you like being scared for all the time with suspance and horror atmosphere pursuing a serial killer? If the answare is yes this game was made for you.

Very scary! However, that fear becomes addictive!

When trying to play must be headphones. The sound effects sure to double it further fear.

It blows the core of the game, shooting people ask, maybe a little unsatisfactory. But the reverse is also scary because there is something missing that is a piece not hurt to try!

If you are looking for a horror game to try, why don't you give Condemned a chance, one of best horror games I have ever played.

Condemned has a good story line, it likes screenplay of a american detective movie. In main long game, player can use many type of guns but they are low ammo and power. Most important point in this game is melee combat. Game has many melee weapons such as knife, steel pipe, axe... Condemned has a bit puzzle with FBI toys to investigate crime scenes. Graphic is still quite good with a 4 years old game like Condemned. However, sound is awesome, it really makes me scary with 5.1 system speaker and play this at night.

Good game like this needs a sequel but Condemned 2: Blood Shot is exclusive for Xbox 360 and not for PC. That is so sad but you still have funs with Condemned: Criminal Origins !

Condemned is a pretty good horror fps, with enticing graphics and great sound design it brings in great atmosphere and feeling for the entire game.

With a indepth story and immersive gameplay, Condemned allows you to suspend disbelief and grabs you throughout it.

However, gameplay is slow and the game is quite demanding, both gameplay-wise and graphically.

good game, but it should not be taken as a survival horror but more loike a slow fps, the graphic is not that grate and the plot is mediocre. But there is a good atmosphere and the enemy design is appropriate

This is essentially a corridor based FPS with melee replacing the shooting. The graphics are dark, which suit the horror theme, however the endless mazes of dilapidated buildings can get somewhat tedious eventually.

The melee combat isn't hugely complex, giving you the two usual attacks (quick with low damage or high and slow), and largely boils down to blocking your opponent's strike at the right time before pummeling them yourself. There's some fairly visceral finishing moves when you knock an opponent down, and you also have a taser which can be used to stun opponents.

There's a fair selection of melee weapons, largely improvised, and they feel solid enough when swung which lends a nice meaty feel to the combat. Firearms are present, but since your ammo is limited they're usually only useful for one or two fights.

The level design isn't too bad as far as corridor style shooters go. There are the odd puzzles, which largely boil down to finding the right weapon to break down an obstacle, and plenty of secret objects and the like to find.

The story is interesting, though the twist is predictable, and occasionally you will be called upon to deploy forensic skills as a nod to the plot, though this is largely a case of selecting the tool it asks you to, putting the camera over a given point and that's it.

All in all it's competently put together and the melee combat offers a little more than the usual first person adventure. Despite the usual nods to replaying you tend to get with console games it's unlikely you'll play this through more than once but it will provide a decent weekend's entertainment.

Perhaps one of my top 10 all time games. Condemned offers the player unparalleled melee combat. A great variety of weapons such as boards and pipes. Weapons such as rebar, pipes, locker doors can be pulled literally right out of the environment. Ranged weapons include rifles, pistols and shotguns. Ammo is limited to what you find in the weapon. These ranged weapons also double as melee weapons at the touch of a key.

Condemned builds great atmosphere. Its story is told through the brilliance of forensic investigation using forensic tools. Condemned was released in 2005 and you can tell by the games character modeling however the environment that the game presents looks glorious on end high end rigs. The game's engine loads as fast as any engine I've seen which keeps load times to bare minimum.

In summary a fantastic game utilizing both melee and limited range weaponry. Great use of sound and nice visuals help with it's impressive and immersive story. Somewhat slow in places but the game pays off in the end.

Not your ordinary first person shooter. You can use firearms, but there are no big crates of ammo like so many other games, so you rely mostly on improvised melee weapons. I liked the system of combat with blocking at the right time being very important. When you're facing several enemies at once, it can be challenging.

The dark atmosphere reminded me of Max Payne, but the story is very different. It is obvious that this game presents only the firt part of the story, but what is there is already satisfying.

The graphics are really good, especially the light effects, and I find that the screenshots on Gamersgate are not as pretty as what I saw (of course, being an "old" game (2005 I think), I could play with maxed details with no frame rate problem).

The sound is really well done too, and you would do well to pay attention to the noise done by the enemies.

What I didn' like was the level design which was very linear, and you have to trigger some scripts to progress some time. Also, the omnipresent gore is a bit too much for my tastes. The taser can make the game too easy sometimes, and you have it almost the whole game. And the whole game is rather short too.

But in summary, I liked the experience and would recommend this game, especially to people fan of survival/horror.

A great game, overall. After researching the game, I bought it even though many people said it was tedious at times. However, I have not gotten tired of it after playin a week straight. The game is a straight adrenaline rush. There's even been times when I became so jumpy and nervous that I had to quit! The plot is excellent. It's an all around great game.

A First Person STRIKER, with great plot and melee combat system. Enemy AI is unpredictable, giving you lot of challenges(if you suck at fighting, use the Tazor!). Graphic is beautiful and dark. I felt collectives(birds and evidences, to unlock extras) are fillers and are hard to find. overall, awesome if you seek horror/suspense style set on real/modern theme.