Condemned: Criminal Origins

+

decent game if you can get it for less then 5$, however a horrible ending. the main reason to play this is for the atmosphere

This game is quite a unique horror game. Made in 2006, the atmosphere is top notch, and honestly, the enemy AI is more interesting that majority of games released today. It's based mostly on a visceral melee combat system, where you fight with whatever blunt object you get your hands on (with some firearms). The melee combat is honestly excellent and difficult throughout, even though it doesn't change much throughout the game. The simplicity of it is its strength. There are also some "forensic investigation" sequences which are not difficult, but fun enough as you scan for items of interest and report it to your forensic specialist on your blackberry (lol).

The story is good, the mystery interests you throughout, however I'm not sure about the ending/concluion of the game, as it leaves something to be desired. The last level isn't my favorite either, but sometimes last levels of games are hit or miss... Another negative is that the voice acting is bad. But that almost... adds to the charm lol. The graphics of the environment, while not having updated textures, are extremely atmospheric, but the character models are obviously very dated. Anyway, I enjoyed this early 2000s horror game for its effective simplicity.

a fun take on survival horror games. i didn’t really like the ending, not much is explained, although it gets all explained in the sequel… which isn’t on steam.

God, some days I just miss the Condemned series so much, they had something really special here, and again in the sequel (for the most part).

THE STEAM COPY OF THE GAME IS INCREDIBLY BROKEN WITHOUT SOME PRETTY INVOLVED TWEAKING, but it's still such a joy to revisit. Condemned deserves better, holding out for a glow-up, or at the very least holding out for Butcher's Creek (from a dev who cares about their games)

I love this game

Fun game, good atmosphere. Gameplay feels a little dated and I don't like the final boss fight. 7/10

i love watching drug addicts beat each other to death with pipes and wooden boards 8/10

Not a bad game, pretty good survival horror. the story is decent. it manage to scare me more the ones. so 8/10

The mannequin level is worth playing this game alone.

beating up homeless people is fun

great old school game

Condemned is like the perfect definition of its era. It does not lack edge, it is dirty and vulgar, but most importantly an excellent horror title. I started this game expecting something different because of F.E.A.R. and boy, was I surprised.

Its heavy focus on melee combat is the love language here... in a pretty messed up way. See, you fight addicts and quite some disturbing enemies in disgusting abandoned buildings, sewers and tunnels. And all of this combined with the excellent hand to hand combat really makes every encounter an experience which will leave your blood pumping. The enemy AI is insane, they will bait you, parry your attacks and even hit each other and start fighting to the death.

Now the story is... interesting? I think it does a lot well and there's a lot of mystery to it. The voice acting is excellent too and it is all very intriguing, but I feel like by the end everything just happens and there's not much to it. And the detective work was pretty flat and doesn't give much beyond the scripted actions.

But again, this game is a great time for horror fans, especially those looking for something stressful and aggressive. The violence is constant, and the atmosphere is just phenomenal. It's crazy this came out in 2005.

This is one of the silent Hill clone i have ever play it

Still a banger of a game, forgot how short it was though!

game delete all progress big zombie go brainzzzz

Absolute cinema

Tremendous survival horror that still holds up 15+ years later.

An absolute classic. There's a mysterious element that's present in the level design and atmosphere that really creeps you out.

please fix Taser in this game doesn't work no keyboard key nor xbox controller key works to use it! please fix steam!!!! this is a great game but the taser makes it great!!!!

This game runs terrible. I love it, but the Xbox version is far superior. I have a 7700x and a RTX 4070. If anyone has tips to fix the FPS issues, I'll change my review to Positive.

Condemned: Criminal Origins – The Frosty Take from HowlStrom

Introduction – A Chilling Journey Through Urban Decay

Basic Plot Summary – Crime, Chaos, and Corruption

Originality – Frosted Flakes of Innovation

Studio Spotlight – Monolith’s Mastery

Gameplay Mechanics – Crunchy and Claustrophobic

Atmosphere and Sound Design – A Symphony of Dread

Character Development – Ethan’s Frosty Descent

Impact and Legacy – A Chilling Influence

Praise and Critique – Frosty Pawprints

• Visceral, weighty combat.
  
• Atmospheric environments that ooze dread.
  
• Innovative forensic mechanics.
  
• Smart, unpredictable enemy AI.
  

• Lackluster voice acting for Ethan.
  
• Abrupt ending with unresolved storylines.
  
• Aging graphics, particularly character models.
  
[*] Overpowered taser mechanic.

Conclusion – A Snowpaw’s Verdict

Joyita

i stan ethan tohmas <3333343

The 2005 masterclass in Horror from Monolith Productions, the same developer responsible for such classics as Blood, No One Lives Forever and Aliens vs Predator 2. Condemned was inspired by films "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Se7en".

Fun fact: Originally released for Xbox 360 in 2005, Monolith released F.E.A.R a month before on PC. Condemned was ported to PC a year later in 2006.

Condemned features a top FPS combat system and great pacing with unsettling atmosphere. The one downside is how heavy and slow the walking is in certain sections, almost feels like you are not even moving.

Fun beating up homeless people :)

Unplayable. Performance issues including FPS drops and continuous crashes.

A hood classic, that works perfectly on the steam deck.

As a kid I really didn't realize how terrible the story and balancing of combat was.
Sound design and atmosphere are amazing, while not scary as an adult, as a kid I couldn't get past the first level and would quickly alt + f4.
Parts of combat are clever and very ahead for it's time, like having to conserve firearms and ammo, or having to dodge & parry a variety of attack styles in a fast paced game. The bad thing about combat is the taser which allows you to stun any enemy every 5 seconds, and later on even 1 shot enemies. The executions are an extreme gimmick and very underwhelming.

Overall at the discount price it's a very good linear game that can be completed in a day or two, the developers thankfully didn't drag it out too much.

Wish they would have ported the sequel even though I hear it's trash. Love replaying through this game after playing it years ago. 3 things to note: *You'll need to install a mod pack from the steam community page to run the game or else the frame rate will make it unplayable *Depending on the mod pack you install you'll want to reload the game after every chapter because the frame rate will die out *Quicksave often it's an old game and this helps with some of the janky parts of it

It's a good game, but its not at its best mising sounds,bad frame rate and no widescreen support. sega fix the port please.

I loved this game and 100% it when I was younger. I used to play it alone in the middle of the night in the dark and it shat me up for real. I wanted to grab it specifically to collect dead birds and pieces of metal like one of the drugged up homeless people that this mad cop keeps blasting away without warning, alas, the game works TERRIBLY.

First off, if you were planning to play on control either, expect to map all of the buttons yourself in game with zero reference using possibly the most awkward interface I've ever encountered (this is what I did, it kind of works) or, do what a normal person would do and intsall Xwininput or whatever its called, which will allow you to map your controller to the game using a modern interface that makes sense. TLDR controller bad.

second, while playing the game you will experience what feels like input lag but essentially the game is barely clinging to life and it takes a second for it to figure anything out. it started off sort of promising and I really wasn't expecting much, I don't care how it looks honestly and I would have played with a second of input delay (even though it hurt to fight anyone and most of the time I couldn't tell if my melee attacks were even connecting/doing damage just had to guess with blocking too)

but, unfortunately, finally, on a modern machine with the biggest i7 there was and an RTX30'series graphics card etc etc. this game would only work "sort of well" for X amount of time (not super long it varies I played like a solid 30minutes once I got everything set up and was near the end of the first mission when it all went haywire) the game absolutely will give up the ghost and stop working, the number of frames I was allowed slowly decreased until I was playing the game in single movements once every so often so that I was nothing more than an apparition, floating down the hallways. It doesn't work, its a slow burning dumpster fire of a port (I'm assuming) and its only a matter of time before you watch your childhood favourite crack head killer warp before your very own eyes more than he could inside the story of the game.

seeing as this game doesn't support steam achievements anyway, and I got it on sale for less than 2 units of my local currency, I don't really feel like I'm missing much anyway. sad story, great game, terrible ******* version.

Slightly overrated but a semi-classic. These hobos will have you shivering. The melee combat just about holds up still.

average day in Portland

Very fun and creepy game, i wish steam would get part 2 as well. Only problem i had was the game kept crashing every time i played which got annoying, but it would happen far in-between each gaming session. 8.7/10

good game, not trash I promise papi

Condom'd: Criminal Orgasms

Oyun fizikleri doyumsuz bir zevk veriyor. Asla bulamayacğın dediğim bir oyundu. Çok eskiden beri arada bir aklıma gelen bir oyundu. Sonunda Steam üzerinden aldım.

fuck pyrocynical

Somehow someone at Monolith was able to predict the direction that horror games were heading, as several sections of this game feel similar to those of Amnesia, Outlast, or PT. It also falls into the trappings of a game from 2005; levels are littered with random collectables, nearly every action is context sensitive, and there's this crazy "moral choice" ending that feels like it was added in at the last minute. Some of these are charming, others not so much.

Overall while I'm not a huge fan of everything this game has to offer, I still highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see an early attempt at a modern horror game. There are even a few lessons modern horror games could learn from this one. I sincerely hope Monolith decides to revisit this classic with either a remake, another sequel, or a spiritual successor someday.

haven't been so paranoid playing a game in my life
highly recommend :)

Condemned is one of the rare video games I play back and forth. On my old account, I have easily logged over 100 hours alone. It's an urban explorers' dream. Spaces normally forbidden to the public open to us all in a format that is shown through a story that could easily succeed as a full-fledged series of a season of two or a well made movie. The spaces shown in this game, I believe - are beautiful and filled with history (Okay, fine, an elementary school isn't the New York City Subway System...but the general concepts apply.)

The lighting, story, and gameplay still presents it's self well and is well deserving of a modern remake - nothing redone. But as close to a 1:1 rendition but allowing for modern sensibilities. Some of the best moments WAS walking stretches of the subway and platforms as well as the numerous buildings before an encounter..... EX: Office space, streets, a department store. Before you get at me ....people like us see the nuances in these buildings and spaces....and whey they can offer and do with regards to the situations presented in game and if we went to these places ourselves.

An action game where you have the speed and combat capabilities of a turtle.

timeless masterpiece, takes you back to days of max payne.

I played this game when it first released on Xbox 360. The FPS melee combat and horror was a fantastic mix. REMASTER PLEASE!! Or at least acheivments on steam!!

A truly unsettling and grimy experience. Nothing else quite like it.
Voice acting and overall presentation holds up really well (lumpy potato people aside).

awesome game

An old school horror game made by Monolith Productions of F.E.A.R. (And Middle earth shadow of mordor) fame.
Won't go much into the story as it's best you experience it yourself IE: Track down a serial killer.
Released shortly after the first F.E.A.R. it holds the same charm: The terrific atmosphere alongside intelligent (well somewhat less in Condemned.) enemy AI.
Enemies hide behind walls to ambush you, flee purely to get better weaponry or ambush positions, different factions of druggies either fight amongst themselves or work together to take you down.
Armed with your trusty tazer and whatever item you can get your hands on, you end up relying on melee combat for most of the game and most ranged weapons barely holding more than 5 bullets.
For a game made all the way in 2005 (well this port was 2006 but still) It still holds up, which isn't suprising since Monolith used to make great horror games.
Highly recommend it as a game you can play for the novelty and if you like some good old horror atmosphere.

Genuinely creepy game. This was one of the first I played when the XBOX360 came out. Even all these years later it still sticks out in my mind because of the erie atmosphere and jump in graphics compared to PS2 era stuff, especially the lighting and motion capture. The ambient sound and music is also really good (the main voice actor isnt that great though). I realized the gameplay is also pretty solid as I go through it again now. If you look at the recent Resident Evil games and stuff like Dying Light I think some of those took a cue from the story telling of first person horror like this. even The Last of Us has crazed tweakers and violent freaks similar to Condemned, as well as an animal-born type plague. This game did a lot of those things first but not as many people played it

A good 7/10 Horror experience