The Breakdown:
Condemned Criminal Origins places you in the highly trained shoes of FBI Agent Thomas, a forensic criminal investigator. The first level of the game places you at a crime scene trying to find clues to track down a serial killer known only as “The Match Maker” - whose name is aptly earned as he likes to dress up his victims and place them poses along side department store mannequins.
After some gumshoeing, you end up chasing The Matchmaker through a desolate, dark and deserted apartment building. To make a some-what long and complicated plot development as brief as possible: The Matchmaker ends up killing two of the other investing officers at the crime scene and framing you for it. You now have to continue your search for the killer without the aid of the Bureau and just to add insult to injury, Agent Thomas starts going insane and seeing things that aren’t really there.
The Game Play:
Game play is made up primarily of survival melee combat and crime scene investigations. The combat is challenging, though frustrating at times, and it’s nice to be able to pick just about anything up and use it as a weapon. Though it would have been nice to pocket a side arm to help get out of some of the games for sticky situation.
Investigating crime scenes is very fun. I had a blast walking through dark hallways with a black light on in search of any sprinkle of blood or smudged footprint that would create a new lead. The fact that all of these investigations take place in run down or abandoned locals where danger could come crashing down at any moment added sense of urgency and paranoid need to keep looking over your shoulder.
The locations you visit are the true gems of the game. Some are really creepy and the others are just downright scary. Notably so, would be a (supposedly) abandoned orchard, a closed down department store, and an old run down high school. As a matter of fact, during the high school level something happened to me that has never happened while playing any other game before. I got so scared at one particular point that I jump so much I dropped my controller, and had to take a break from my Xbox to let the beating of my heart slow down.
The Finial Verdict:
The game took about 8 hours to complete, and overall it was a very enjoyable 8 hours. Although it didn’t really feel like the story came to an end. As matter of fact, the game leaves several questions unanswered and the final scene is just outright confusing as to what exactly is happening to agent Thomas. Perhaps the second installment of the game will fill in some of the gaps? My only other gripe would be that the combat gets just a tad repetitive. Just how many strung out drug addicts can you beat in the head with a pipe?
The Bottom Line:
The game is beautifully made and if you want to be scared out of your wits, it should be played in the dead of night with all the lights off.
8/10