Condemned: Criminal Origins Image
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78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 238 Ratings

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  • Summary: Developed by Monolith Productions for the Xbox 360, Condemned: Criminal Origins allows players to experience a heightened level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, and melee combat to track serial killers and bring them to justice. Gamers will play as AgentDeveloped by Monolith Productions for the Xbox 360, Condemned: Criminal Origins allows players to experience a heightened level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, and melee combat to track serial killers and bring them to justice. Gamers will play as Agent Thomas, an investigator in the FBI’s Serial Crimes Unit (SCU), whose pursuit of relentless serial killers leads him through urban environments filled with sociopaths lurking on the periphery of humanity. Weapons and ammunition are scarce, leaving the player vulnerable to a gallery of mentally deranged criminals. Careful detective work and precision reflexes are a player’s primary means of survival. [Sega] Expand
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Condemned: Criminal Origins Gameplay Movie 5
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Its brutal, in-your-face action will make you cringe, while the creepy atmosphere will have your heart fluttering as you wonder what's around that next corner. Even the hardened veterans of the world's best horror games will find this to be a fine addition to their collection.
  2. 85
    Condemned: Criminal Origins isn't a long game and it only has one game mode, but it's an unforgettable experience while it lasts.
  3. Condemned: Criminal Origins combines a visceral atmosphere; both auditorily and visually, that really does a bang-up job of immersing you into the world of Ethan Thomas. However, this is not the easiest game to pick up and just play on a Sunday afternoon.
  4. 80
    A rush of horror and brutality from the start, grabbing you by the throat, tossing you into the abyss, and laughing as you try to claw your way back out.
  5. As a plus for a console port, they even took the liberty of including a quick-save function, effectively issuing the middle finger to most other port developers out there and ultimately making Condemned: Criminal Origins a solid contender for the PC market.
  6. This isn't a run-n-gun type of FPS, it is an FPS that will have you creeping around quietly and cautiously, while you nervously check your anemic ammo supply around every corner, looking swiftly behind you to see if that rolling tin trash can was the result of an oversized rat, or a stalking drugged out psycho planning an attack, even if you as the gamer has no idea why it is everyone wants to kill you.
  7. Computer Games Magazine
    60
    It's still over too quickly, and there's little explanation why you're running around these ruined buildings beating up drug addicts. [Sept. 2006, p.76]

See all 24 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 41
  2. Negative: 5 out of 41
  1. Oct 20, 2019
    10
    Очень странная игра и при этом нечестно сложная. Спасает все атмосфера, декорации и сюжет(правда он настолько размыт, что нужно ждать обзораОчень странная игра и при этом нечестно сложная. Спасает все атмосфера, декорации и сюжет(правда он настолько размыт, что нужно ждать обзора Зулина с объяснениями). Expand
  2. TiagoM.
    May 27, 2006
    9
    . It´s violent in a way that no other game was before.Dark raw and evil-scared me a lot. And the sound it makes when your head gets . It´s violent in a way that no other game was before.Dark raw and evil-scared me a lot. And the sound it makes when your head gets beated by a pipe is amazing and extremely real. The use of soft shadows is very good. FLAW: more questions than answers at the ending. Expand
  3. LeeWolfgang
    Oct 2, 2008
    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: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.
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  4. Aug 10, 2020
    7
    The game is truly great, mostly because of its scary atmosphere and interactive gameplay.
  5. MohammedN.
    Apr 21, 2006
    7
    A great hand-to-hand action game from Sega. Pity the game is short and the replay value is weak.
  6. asasasasdfxdvxvd
    Dec 16, 2008
    6
    Just like F.E.A.R the novelty of this game wears off really fast, except it's even more confusing than F.E.A.R ever was. For 3/4s of theJust like F.E.A.R the novelty of this game wears off really fast, except it's even more confusing than F.E.A.R ever was. For 3/4s of the game I couldn't understand what was wrong with the entire town. Why where they all beating each other to a pulp? Unfortunately instead of having somebody asking in the beginning of the game "what's wrong with everybody" or someone saying "there's unexplainable surge of violence amongst the civilian population in this area," they leave any such dialogue towards the end of the game. This makes it seem that such violence is completely normal, as none of the characters even mention it, with all dialogue focusing on catching a serial killer instead expressing concern for a town which literally seems to be ripping itself apart.
    The main character is extremely cliche - the old story about a cop who has been framed for murders he never committed. This barely serves any purpose in the game, as you very rarely encounter police officers, and when you do they're more focusing on riot control than capturing you. Otherwise you're investigating crime scenes just as you would be if you were still on the force.
    While its a struggle for the protagonist to get from area to area, other characters get around relatively easily rarely facing danger when they meet you in the streets just before or after you've just smashed some addicts heads in with a sledgehammer.

    The 'one weapon system' is interesting, but stupid. Why is it so difficult for the protagonist to put a pistol in his belt so that he can use it when he needs it? And how does his forensic equipment survive the many beatings that Agent Ethan Thomas receives. Then there's all those stupid dead birds that you can collect around the different levels. It's seriously arcadey and ruins any atmosphere when you're using your forensic equipment to locate these tokens.
    Overall this game is very repetetive and the locations dead boring. It's looks very much like the game designers ripped off the levels from F.E.A.R, and replaced gun fights with melee fighting. It looks like alot of Condemned's potential was realized in its sequel, which unfortunately is unavaible to PC.
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  7. Sep 9, 2019
    0
    This is really horrible. I do not want to play this game. I'm glad i borrowed it before playing. Now I'm recommending that everyone save theirThis is really horrible. I do not want to play this game. I'm glad i borrowed it before playing. Now I'm recommending that everyone save their money and don't bother buy it. Truly awful. It is boring, tawdry, and the story is so derivative. The acting is third-rate, amateurish. The effects look like they were drawn using crayon. A piece of godawful trash. Expand

See all 41 User Reviews

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