When the Xbox 360 arrived, in November of 2005, one of the console’s launch titles was a unique, first-person fright fest, called Condemned: Criminal Origins. Developed by Monolith Productions and published by SEGA, this un-hyped game took fledgling 360 owners by surprise, mixing survival horror with a first-person perspective. While the occasional gun was still involved, most of the time your character would defend his self by picking up harsh environmental objects, such as a 2x4 with nails in it, or a metal pipe torn from the wall. This mechanic, on top of its eerie environments that are always shrouded in darkness, is why Condemned delivered such a terrifying experience. Being completely underpowered and outmanned, bumping around in the dark having only a flashlight to see by, while fending for your life from psychotic thugs and ghoulish transients with nothing but random bits and pieces of debris. 

The original game’s ending was purposefully left wide open for a sequel, and nearly two-and-a-half years later, Monolith and SEGA team up once again to bring us Condemned 2: Bloodshot. At the end of the last game, the bone-weary anti-hero, SCU (Special Crimes Unit) Agent Ethan Thomas, had been put through nine levels of hell on a horrifying chase throughout the city slums, and eventually the countryside, by the devilish vigilante killer, Leland Vanhorn, a.k.a. Serial Killer X. Fast forward to now, and after enduring SKX’s carnival of horrors, Ethan has lost confidence in himself and in the world. He’s quit his job at SCU, has stopped bathing regularly and now drinks his troubles away every night at the bar. That is, until SKX’s uncle, and one of Ethan’s only allies, Malcolm Vanhorn calls him and warns him of impending death and mayhem. 

Of course, there’s much more to the story than that, and, in the end, it all ties together nicely with the first entry. The only difference this time around is that Ethan’s no longer a suspect on the run, chasing down a killer. Instead, he’s put back on the job by SCU, to investigate Malcolm Vanhorn’s disappearance, and is subsequently drawn back into a dark world of psychopaths, killers and inescapable fear. The developers have managed to keep the noir-ish tone and style, which made the original game so unique, intact, although Condemned 2 does tend to steer more towards science fiction and the supernatural than the first game ever did. There are sure to be a few fans of the original that will be put off by some of the new sci-fi directions, but I assure you - the overall plot never falls too deep into the abstract or unthinkable. However, on the other side of things, this new title offers absolutely no back story or recaps of the first game, so it isn’t necessarily recommended for newcomers.

Either way, Condemned 2’s most noteworthy attribute is not its story, but its relentlessly haunting atmosphere. The dark isn’t just a nifty gimmick to setup a few cheap thrills in this game. It’s a living entity that opens up its sickly-toothed grin and devours you whole the moment you start playing! I’m sure it’s a safe assumption that you wouldn’t feel particularly safe if you were actually traipsing around in an extremely dangerous, abyss-like environment, save but a rusty pipe and a dimly lit hand torch - and that’s the uneasy feeling you’ll have every moment you’re in control of the game. Unnerving growls, rattling fences and other fear-inducing noises will come from all around you, in an ominous circle. A soda can will knock over here, a door will creak open over there, and an empty wheelchair might inch forward a short distance ahead of you, down a seemingly empty hallway. And as soon as you even start to think everything’s going to be okay, you round that next corner and someone (or something) is waiting for you, patiently; ready to strike. 

On top of the worldly creatures and shapes that already make your heart skip a beat more often than not, the foreboding dark will not only heighten and exacerbate your gloomy surroundings, but also occasionally take hold of Ethan’s sanity, forcing him to see menacing spiritual manifestations that may, or may not be, actually standing right there in front of you. Whether you scream like a teenage girl in a slasher-flick, or shout out random obscenities, the only thing that’s for certain is, that at one point or another, this game will scare your pants off. Literally. So you may want to wear some fresh underwear if you’re planning on having company over.