Condemned 2: Bloodshot - The Bloodiest Game of 2008
Date: Tuesday, July 31 @ 01:22:17 UTC
Topic: Gaming
Can’t get enough gore with your game? Read on to find out how Condemned 2: Bloodshot plans to deliver the goods and turn your stomach in 2008.
1) Monolith’s great track record of action games consists of F.E.A.R. and its currently in-development sequel; the No One Lives Forever series; and Tron 2.0. Oh, and the original Condemned: Criminal Origins, obviously.
2) Manhunt 2 will look like My Little Pony in comparison to Condemned 2’s ferocious violence. Producer Dave Hasle has confirmed they’ve talked about the game’s content in light of what happened to Manhunt 2, but have decided not to remove or even tone down anything already in there at this stage. (As of press, senior producer Constantine Hantzopoulos is saying otherwise).
 3) Weapons can also be thrown. Bottles and billiards balls will split heads open, though it’s actually much more fun to lob something at an enemy’s feet as he’s running towards you, causing him to trip up and allow an easy instant-kill finishing move.
4) Teaser trailer gold: “I only believe in two things. Both of them are fists. And both of them are mine.” Awesome. “Life is funny. Not funny like a joke, but funny like a kick in the balls.” Sweet! And finally, “What does the sidewalk feel when a bird shits on it? Nothing!” We love him already.
5) Almost everything you see can be used as a weapon, leading to over 30 deadly items - double the first game’s weapon count - including bats, pipes, tasers, bricks, tire irons and mop buckets. There’s nothing more satisfying than the crunch of bone as pipe meets skull.
6) Part of the reason why this game feels so visceral is the wise decision to keep the action viewed from a first-person perspective. It’s pretty shocking to see your noggin looming into view towards an enemy’s for a vicious headbutt, and then see the injuries you’ve inflicted up-close when your head pulls away. Even the finishing moves are in first-person.
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360-Hq Game Database: Condemned 2: Bloodshot for Xbox 360
7) Greg Grunberg, who voiced Ethan in the original and who now plays Matt Parkman in sci-fi drama Heroes, won’t be back in Condemned 2. Why? Producer Dave Hasle says they want a “darker, edgier voice” to represent an inebriated Ethan, which implies they’re taking the character seriously.
8) Although ammo is just as scarce as in the original game, Condemned 2 features twice the gun-related mayhem. A shotgun, a machine gun and a crossbow are just three of at least ten projectile weapons, and you’ll be able to holster these when you’re busy with your fists or a melee weapon. Michael Drummond, lead level designer, believes ranged attacks add another layer to the revamped combat: “Firearm combat will ramp up in difficulty across the game with weapon types and how the AI uses the environment. The levels are tailored for different combat; some firefights will be close quarters, and others will have more open sections where the player will need to push for position.”
9) Bigger and better boss fights will test your combat skills. Experimenting with finishing moves, weapons and those grisly environmental attacks is the only way to defeat bosses.
10) Ethan will still work on his own without having a partner to baby-sit. There are echoes of The Punisher in that he isn’t attached to any official organization and everything he does is a means to fulfilling his own agenda.
11) There’s a lot more to do in each level than in Condemned. Areas are less linear, take place outdoors at different times of day and contain more puzzles. There are also secondary objectives and a bunch of collectibles to be found by helping other characters or finding all the environmental finishing moves.
12) It won’t all be doom and gloom. Ethan bounces back by returning to work as a Serial Crimes Unit investigator to track down his missing partner, and uncovers a bigger conspiracy in the process. He’s about to have a very bad day.
13) Oh, how could we forget the sickest move of them all: the American History X-style curb stomp? That’s right, unfortunate victims can be positioned against a curb as if biting it before Ethan mercilessly brings his foot down on their heads. It makes us queasy just thinking about it.
14) Did we mention you bust heads open like melons using a big pipe?
15) Protagonist Ethan Thomas is messed up in the head and looks like absolute shit. In other words, he’s a classic anti-hero. Frank Rooke, lead game designer, sums him up: “Ethan starts the game as down and out as anyone can get. He’s truly a broken man with one foot in the gutter and one hand gripping a bottle of bourbon.”
16) Condemned 2 will top the terrifying department store mannequins of the original game with an even more pants-messing level set in an unsettling doll factory. Dolls are creepy and scary.
17) Ethan’s a bit crazy, and these creepy enemies, seemingly covered in tar, are living manifestations of his brain-wrongs. Hallucinations or not, they’re still going to get a pipe to their heads.
18) We’re promised more closure to the story, with clearer info as to who or what is turning people into psychopaths and why. Producer Dave Hasle let slip that Ethan’s search for his own answers is tied to the reasons why there’s so much violence in the world around him. Not that we suspected anything else.
21) Even with all the guts n’ gore on display, it’s often what you don’t see that’s more frightening. Frank Rooke, lead game designer, explains: “There’s certainly an art to scaring people, but really the harder one tries, the less successful it becomes. Most people can see a scare coming a mile away and that’s because, as designers, it’s so easy to resort to clichéd moments. What’s great about the Condemned universe is that the scare factor is inherently built into the subject matter. We don’t try and scare people - it’s a natural by-product of all things that make up the game.”
22) A new Rush Attack move sees you sprint towards an enemy to deliver an elbow slam if you time it right. Your fists now work on each trigger; pulling both together lets you block, while combos and special chain attacks again require perfect timing. Grapples and holds are also new.
23) Now, nearly all of the forensic events are optional. You’ll be able to decide which hi-tech tools to use and scan entire rooms rather than single items. A revised scoring system will reward you with extra information and other goodies.
Above: Hell of a game of fetch…
24) You can punch dogs and not feel bad about it. Not only that, but there are more enemy types than before, and they’ll work in teams to try and outsmart you. You might spot different factions fighting each other - dogs vs. hobos perhaps?
25) Online multiplayer will be just as brutal as the single-player game. Bloody hand-to-hand Deathmatch is a given, while one Team mode pits the Serial Crimes Unit against the Influenced in which the latter try to stop the former finding clues using their range of hi-tech forensics tools.
Think you can handle more? Check out our interview with Constantine Hantzopoulos for more mind-screwing mayhem.
News-Source: http://www.gamesradar.com
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