Condemned 2: Bloodshot (released as Condemned 2 in Europe and Australia), is a 2008 first-person action and survival horror video game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Developed by Monolith Productions and published by Sega, it was released for both systems in North America and Australia in March 2008, and in Europe the following month. It is a sequel to the 2005 game Condemned: Criminal Origins.
Set eleven months after the events of the first game, former FBI agent Ethan Thomas has become a violence-prone alcoholic plagued by hallucinations. As violence continues to escalate throughout the city of Metro, Thomas's former colleague, Rosa, elicits his reluctant assistance in tracking down the missing Malcolm Vanhorn. Learning that Leland Vanhorn (aka Serial Killer X) may still be alive, Thomas soon finds himself at the center of a vast conspiracy and must do all he can to evade the powerful cult who want him dead at any cost.
In making Condemned 2, Monolith looked closely at the reception of the first game, focussing on what was popular amongst fans and critics and what was not. With this in mind, they specifically set out to correct the two most frequently criticised elements of the original; the implementation of the forensic tools and the lack of depth in the melee mechanics. At the same time, they attempted to enhance or expand upon every aspect of the original; from the graphics and cutscenes to the AI and overall gameplay and game mechanics. They also hoped to take the story in unexpected directions by making Thomas a much darker figure than in the previous title.
Condemned 2 was well received by critics, who praised the graphics, AI, sound design, atmosphere, the overall improvements to the game from the original Condemned, and, especially, the enhancements to the combat system and the introduction of combos and chain attacks without betraying the core of the original. Critics lauded Monolith for listening to fans and attempting to address their grievances. Common points of criticism included the storyline, an overuse of firearms, and what was perceived as a pointless online multiplayer mode.
Gameplay Condemned 2: Bloodshot is a psychological thriller with first-person shooter, survival horror, and action elements. There are two main components to the gameplay – combat and investigation.
The game's combat is built primarily around melee; firearms are available but are relatively uncommon (although they are more prevalent than in the first game). Players can acquire melee weapons from their immediate surroundings in several ways; they can be found lying out in the open, they can be forced from the environment (such as pulling a pipe from a wall or snapping off a 2x4), or they can be taken from an enemy. Enemies can also acquire and use any weapon that the player can use, including firearms. Each weapon has its own combination of damage, speed, and range stats; so, for example, an axe may have higher damage and range stats than a pipe, but the pipe may have higher speed. There are three classes of melee weapon; light weapons, heavy weapons, and exotic weapons. Light weapons are fast but weak, and include 2x4s, pipes, signs, electrical conduits, and batons. Heavy weapons are strong but slow, and include sledgehammers, baseball bats, shovels, crowbars, and axes. Exotic weapons are level-specific and include prosthetic arms, gumball machines, exploding dolls, broadswords, and antlers.
Blocking is an essential component of the game mechanics as the player can only take a few melee hits before dying. A successful block momentarily knocks an enemy off balance, giving the player a chance to attack. The player can also use a quick-kick, which is available at all times; if the player is unarmed, if they are carrying a firearm, or if they are carrying a melee weapon.
The melee combat system differs from the system used in the previous game in several ways. For example, Bloodshot allows for bare-fist hand-to-hand combat. Additionally, the variety of weapons available to the player has been significantly increased, and throwable weapons have been included (including bottles, bricks, and billiard balls). Unlike in the first game, all melee weapons will eventually break after repeated use. The game also features context-sensitive "environmental kills" (such as shoving an enemy's head into a TV or a spiked wall, setting them on fire, impaling them, or throwing them off a balcony).
Another significant difference is that whether fighting with a melee weapon or fighting bare fist, the player can now chain attacks and achieve combos. To perform a chain attack, the player's chain meter must be full, and if so, a chain attack can be initiated at any time, at which point a QTE will begin, which allows the player to chain up to four attacks. Combos can be performed at any time and require a specific sequence of attack types, but if the player takes damage mid-combo, the combo resets and must be restarted.
When using a firearm, as in the first game, each firearm lasts only as long as there are bullets in the current magazine. However, unlike in the first game, the player can now reload their current magazine by picking up spare ammo. The player can also use the butt of any firearm as a melee weapon. The player also has a taser which can be used to temporarily stun a target. This does minimal damage, but it does allow the player to seize the stunned enemy's weapon. However, the taser can only be used a limited number of times before the battery is drained, meaning it cannot be used as a regular substitute for the game's melee weapons.
Initially, the player can carry only one weapon, whether firearm or melee. Later in the game, however, a holster can be unlocked, allowing the player to wield a melee weapon and keep a handgun as a backup weapon. As the game progresses, the holster can be upgraded to hold larger weaponry. A new component to firearm combat is the addition of iron sights aiming. When using an iron sight, the gun will begin to shake and the screen will fade in and out of focus. This is caused by DTs tied to Thomas's alcoholism, and can only be countered by drinking alcohol, which is found throughout each level. Each drink will steady his aim for a limited amount of time.
The other primary game mechanic is forensic investigation, which has been overhauled since the first game. Once the player has been alerted that they are in a "study area", they must select the appropriate tool to record and/or collect the evidence. Upon doing so, the player is presented with multiple statements about that evidence and they must pick answers to communicate to Rosa in the lab. For example, the player might need to determine if a wound is an entry or an exit wound, how a blood splatter occurred, whether a body crawled or was dragged, or a cause of death. Picking the correct statements often reveals additional backstory and dialogue and counts towards a better end-of-level ranking, which unlocks upgrades, such as brass knuckles, body armor, and a holster. The player has four forensic tools available to them; a GPS device, a Spectrometer, a Digital camera, and a UV light.
Bloodshot Fight Club Available in single-player only, this mode of play puts the player in arena-like environments where they must fight waves of opponents. There are six arenas available: "Practice" (a customisable fight against a never-ending wave of opponents), "Lockdown" (make as many kills as possible in five minutes), Riot Control (using long-range combat only, the player must defend the police), "Streets of Rage" (the player and four AI-controlled allies must defend a building against waves of enemies, the game ends when all five defenders are dead), "Smoke 'Em" (the player must kill as many enemies as quickly as they can) and "Deadly Daycare" (the player must kill 100 exploding dolls).
Multiplayer The game's online multiplayer can support up to eight players. There are four game modes;
"Deathmatch" "Team Deathmatch" "Bum Rush" – a time-based game of SCU Agents versus Influenced. Two players are randomly selected to be SCU agents and the rest of the players are Influenced. The SCU cannot respawn but they can use guns (which the Influenced cannot), they have more health, and they can kill with one melee hit. "Crime Scene" – four Influenced versus four SCU agents; the Influenced must hide two cases of evidence, while the SCU must use their equipment to find and scan the evidence before the timer reaches zero. The SCU can use firearms, whereas the Influenced cannot.
Plot It is 11 months since the events of Condemned: Criminal Origins. Ethan Thomas has resigned from the FBI and become a violence-prone alcoholic plagued by hallucinations. Meanwhile, the phenomenon causing violence and psychosis amongst Metro's vagrant population has gotten worse, causing riots to breakout throughout the city.
As the game begins, Malcolm Vanhorn is missing and Lt. Rosa convinces a reluctant Thomas to help find him. Narrowing Vanhorn's last location to a derelict hotel, Serial Crimes Unit (SCU) Director Ike Farrell dispatches Thomas, Cmdr. John Dorland, and Sgt. Pierce Le Rue to investigate. They find Vanhorn's mutilated body, and back at SCU, Rosa discovers that the thoracic cavity is exposed and the sternum is missing. She also notes that Vanhorn has unusual vocal cords. She links this back to Thomas's chest x-ray in his personnel file, which would have shown his vocal cords if the area wasn't redacted.
Meanwhile, Mayor Rachel Mars's body is found in Metro Museum, decapitated, with parts of her skin peeled off, and lumps of muscle torn from the bone. Also by her body is a piece of paper with a hand-drawn X. Pointing out that Leland Vanhorn's body was never found, Rosa speculates that perhaps he didn't die, and was nursed back to health by Malcolm until Leland killed him. Thomas also finds blood-stained pieces of metal, which appear to have been ripped from Mars's body.
Finding evidence that Vanhorn recently visited a nature reserve and lodge, Thomas heads there. En route, Farrell contacts him and says, "some of us see you as a threat - the enemy. I see you as an asset, a special tool too great to be wasted. Rememdium." Finding Dorland's men all over the reserve, Thomas sneaks in and finds a computer on which Vanhorn has left him a message. He explains that Thomas's parents were in a cult known as the Oro, but when they left they were killed. Thomas's existence was kept secret from the Oro by Vanhorn but when Leland learned of the Oro, he became obsessed with joining, leading to Thomas's exposure to the cult.
Meanwhile, Rosa informs Thomas that Farrell has disappeared. Thomas finds him held captive by Leland and asks Leland why he killed Malcolm and Mars, to which Leland says, "their bodies possessed the Oro's secret." As Thomas and Farrell leave, they are trapped by Dorland. Farrell sacrifices his own life to save Thomas, saying, "Find the Voice."
As Rosa continues to study the Oro, she learns the group is over three thousand years old, and Oro is short for Oro Invictus which means "Invincible Voice". Their goal involves "Sonic Generation"; sounds that cause paranoia and hallucinations, and for those with a natural tendency for violence to become significantly more violent. Sonic Generation requires a hollow sternum, a higher than normal bone density, and very unique vocal cords, and the resulting sounds can be enhanced with the implantation of metal apparatuses throughout the body. Meanwhile, Thomas learns that "Rememdium" refers to a myth; someone capable of resonating a sound so powerful it can destroy flesh and bone and could potentially wipe out the Oro.