Tweet. Summary: Condemned: Criminal Origins allows players to experience a heightened level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, and melee combat to hunt serial killers and bring them to justice. There was a problem. It was published by Monolith, who also released F.E.A.R. It was released in 2005 for the Xbox 360 with a Microsoft Windows release following it in 2006. The look isn’t totally original – all that grim dead city chic is straight from David Fincher’s Seven or Fight Club, and all the psychic weirdness and FBI style is borrowed from The X-Files – but it makes for a refreshing change from the usual. 0. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Call us sadistic, but there's something satisfying about whacking a hoodlum with a shovel. Condemned: Criminal Origins review The lambs are still screaming -- you're next By David_McCutcheon 22 December 2006. For me this was an intriguing game because it was a first-person psychological horror game with a … As you play hide and seek with the homeless and deranged, recycled rooms make it easy to get lost, but boy, those battered environments look gorgeously disheveled, as are the character models. Condemned: Criminal Origins is an incredibly unique horror title that provides players a distinct experience unlike any other available at the time. The premise behind the game … Why can you only open a door with a fire-axe when it’s surrounded by a collapsing stud partition and you have a sledgehammer? Released 2005. By. GameSpot said of the Xbox 360 version, "it captures hand-to-hand combat with intense, lifelike brutality like no other game before it." It was launched worldwide in 2005 on the Xbox 360, with a Microsoft Windows version released later in 2006. Condemned: Criminal Origins – 360 – Review. a year after Condemned’s release. It was published by Sega and released for the Xbox 360 in November, 2005, and the PC in April, 2006. Condemned: Criminal Origins rolled onto the scene for the Xbox 360 launch as one of the initial titles available in 2005. STAFF REVIEW of Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360) Thursday, November 24, 2005. by Tony Ingrassia. Not since SWAT 4 has a game done urban squalor this well. Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! Joe Dodson. For me this was an intriguing game because it was a first-person psychological horror game with a dash of CSI… Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Condemned Criminal Origins - Xbox 360 at Amazon.com. January 20, 2017 Leave a Comment Written by Mike. Of course, it does have a lot in common with the above description, but that doesn’t begin to do Condemned’s world justice. Condemned: Criminal Origins is scary, intense and occasionally brilliant. Condemned: Criminal Origins features brutal melee combat, photo-realistic backdrops, life-like physics, and highly sophisticated artificial intelligence. You play as Agent Ethan Thomas who must understand what twists the mind of an ordinary human into a serial killer. Episode 1 Review. Condemned: Criminal Origins places an emphasis on melee combat and puzzle solving, including searching for fingerprints and gathering evidence. In which case you really should listen, trot down to your local Blockbuster and grab the game, just because the whole experience is so grim, so disturbing and – above all else – so different that, if you are lucky enough to have an Xbox 360, you need to give it a whirl. About This Game What twists the mind of an ordinary human into a serial killer? November 22nd, 2005. Condemned: Criminal Origins Review. Description In Condemned: Criminal Origins players take on the role of agent Ethan Thomas, a member of the FBI's Serial Crimes Unit (SCU). A world in which just poking your head around the wrong corner of a department store can bring rage and bloodshed down upon your innocent head. Condemned: Criminal Origins is a first-person action game from Monolith (makers of F.E.A.R.). Visit our corporate site. (Condemned: Criminal Origins, Sega & Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) Condemned: Criminal Origins is a wonderful game that I truly think all gamers should experience. You could rip a length of pipe off the wall and start swinging, but you check your ammo instead -- and by the time you reload, this thing is wrapped around your shoulders! Condemned is all about confrontation, whether it's trying to survive gang attacks or the gulp you take before facing down a magnum-packing lunatic packing armed only with a … This is how we make money. NY 10036. After getting my first taste of Condemned: Criminal Origins back in October, Monolith’s FPS survival horror game quickly became one of my most anticipated Xbox 360 launch titles. Learn more. What’s more, there’s some really silly find-key-to-open-door stuff here. Condemned: Criminal Origins received "generally favorable reviews" on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Condemned is actually a survival horror game, and a shockingly brutal one at that. Condemned: Criminal Origins – Review. In gaming terms, Condemned resembles a first-person Silent Hill, except with a truckload more detail. It's not actually scary to me, but that's just because I'm kind of stone-nerved. It’s not that we want realistic forensic investigations – who wants to cover every metre of every room? You play as FBI agent Ethan Thomas who is part of the Serial Crimes Unit, abbreviated SCU. Little things from birds cawing to kicking a glass bottle across the room not only showcase the interaction of the environments, but also make an already terrifying setting that much scarier. FBI Agent Ethan Thomas is framed for the murder of a detective and officer. It was launched worldwide in 2005 on the Xbox 360, with a Microsoft Windows version released … GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. PC REVIEW: CONDEMNED: CRIMINAL ORIGINS. But enough about the joys of the post-Christmas sales in Coventry. This review … There's a noise behind you. Criminal Origins is on that short list and thankfully it’s a great game that all Xbox 360 owners should check out. Pursue relentless serial killers through detailed urban environments filled with terrifyingly real sociopaths who lurk on the periphery of humanity. The game takes place in a fictional city and puts you in the shoes of Ethan Thomas, a crime scene expert working for the FBI who gets framed for … You ought to play it, but £40 is a lot for the privilege. You shake it off with an inch of health remaining and squeeze your last round between its eyes. The story borrows from several thrillers (Se7en, Silent Hill -- even CSI gets a nod when you use high-tech forensic tools) but avoids some cliches along the way. Unlike in any other horror game, you actually have to fight for your life instead of experience second-long hallucinations of random dead things. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Cyberpunk 2077 1.05 Hotfix Released for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Of course there are exceptions but for the most part I just stay away from the horror genre in general. Condemned: Criminal Origins has solidified it's reputation as one of the sleeper hits of the 360 as more and more people discover this diamond in the rough. It’s also a game that starts off looking like an FPS, but soon transforms into something much more interesting. Other reviews for Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360) What the users think. In Japan, where the same console version was ported for release under the name Condemned… Condemned: Criminal Origins Cheats & Codes. The whole frame-up premise seems woefully thin, and subsequent developments don’t always inspire credulity. You wander through a variety of creepy, deeply unpleasant locations, using your various scanning and imaging gadgets to uncover clues, while under frequent assault by assorted tramps, thugs, winos, nuts dressed like shop store dummies and depraved underground mutants. Even the plot has its dodgy moments. The game was originally released for the Xbox 360 but has now been faithfully adapted to the PC. He is part of an investigation looking for a serial killer known as The Match Maker, who kills people and then arranges their corpse with a department store mannequin. 16h-305. Scan this. It is currently selling on Steam for $14.95. I usually never like them nor do I ever get the urge to replay any. Tweet Share Share. Condemned: Criminal Origins is one of the launch titles for the Xbox 360. Condemned: Criminal Origins is scary, intense and occasionally brilliant. In some senses, Maybe Condemned is a missed opportunity, but at least Monolith took steps to create something unique. Instead of throwing just supernatural threats at you, Condemned pits the lower dregs of society in front of your shotgun. Condemned: Criminal Origins takes place in the fictional Metro City, at least that’s what I think it’s called. If TrustedReviews were a crude and unpleasant place, we might describe it … The ambient music and spot sound effects are constantly unsettling, and while your attackers aren’t fiendishly intelligent, they all have their individual strategies and ways to catch you off guard. and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor fame) and published by Sega. You turn around to find shadows in the last room with the dense light of your flashlight, which seems to be fading. Imagine a world of sheer, relentless terror. A world in which there are no safe places, and nowhere to hide. Condemned: Criminal Origins is a first person survival horror game that was developed by Monolith Productions (of F.E.A.R. 5 (8) 4 (8) 3 (4) 2 (1) 1 (0) 4.1 stars. 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