<P mce_keep="true">The first Condemned was probably my first memorable gaming experience on the 360. I have played through it at least twice, which is saying alot for me. I have been waiting ever since for the next one. Its finally here, and it was worth the wait. Here's my review on Condemned 2: Bloodshot
<P mce_keep="true">Gameplay: If you haven't played the first one, what the heck are you doing reading this, go buy it and play it, then buy this one!This game picks up a year after the first one ended. You play once again as Ethan Thomas, but a "different" Ethan than you remember. This guy is reckless and could care less about anything or anyone, not to mention he's a drunk. While I cant dive to much into the story without spoilers, just know this game does continue from the last one. Its not a part 2 that has nothing to do with part 1. While Ethan may have hit rock bottom, his fighting skills have improved. Which is good because thats what this game is all about. They went back to the drawing board with the melee combat and added combo's and finishing moves to the fray. You can now injure your opposition to the point of going into a slow motion "finisher" sequence that is a timed button pushing mini game of sorts. While it only uses the left and right triggers, you still mess up alot. Messing up the finishing move releases the enemy and allows them to attack again. You can also beat down your opponent until they are stunned on the ground, and then pick them up and finish them off with different things in the vicinity. Besides Melee combat there is weapon play. This game takes a more realistic take on gunplay by allowing you to only use the ammo in the weapon. There's no carrying 50 clips. If you see a baddie with a gun, take him out before he empties the clip and you get the remaining shots. A little strategy is to wait til they unload on you, reload, then take em out before they can fire, that way you got a full clip. You can reload your clip if you find another of the same type of weapon. You also can only carry one weapon at a time (until later, which I will hit on in a minute). Headshots are instant (Messy) kills, and enemies do react to shots in different area's of their body. Ok, lets say you just unloaded your clip and a baddie is running at you. You have a few options besides running like a girly man screaming. You can throw your weapon at their legs, forcing them to trip and fall, or throw it at their head (easier said than done) and stun them, allowing you to finish them off instantly. You can also combine things, like smash and enemy with an alcohol bottle and hit them with the taser to start them on fire. While I'm on the subject of alcohol bottles, if you drink them your hands steady when your aiming. I couldn't figure it out, and it doesn't mention it in the book. I kept drinking, and it puts an icon on the screen but I didn't know what it did, til I aimed. If you are not drinking/drunk Ethan has the alcoholic's shaky hands. Little additions like this add alot more to the fighting than the first one. Now another big part of the first one was the CSI stuff. This one takes it a step further by making you choose what you see. For example, you see a dead body. You have to look at it and identify if its male/female, how they were killed, see if they have any way of telling who they are. All these things are done with multiple choice. Some can be hard, like telling how blood spatter was produced. You also have tools like a camera, and UV light that help you find clues. Fear not though, they will prompt you in area's that you need to do stuff, they just don't hold your hand like they do in the first one. Lets see now, another new feature they added was getting bonus items based on the rank you get. You can rank gold, silver or bronze depending on how you did on your mission. Add ons include a holster (to carry a spare fire arm) better boots (for stealth) and stun guns. This adds a little replayability as you can go back and play later missions after you complete them to get a better
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Originally Posted by soul embrace"
