Hey, you like crime thrillers? You like horror? Well, there's a whole list of steam games that have all of it covered. But before that, with a close B-movie hollywood production inspired by the likes of Se7en, and Silence of the Lambs with a setting placed similar to crime filled cities like Baltimore.
Monolith Productions were recognized for dwelling into violent action games with a lot of psychological horror elements. Around 2005-06, they released both F.E.A.R. and Condemned Criminal Origins came out. This was way before Warner Bros purchased the studio, and they've decided to work on Lord of the Rings IP, and an upcoming Wonder Woman title.
Though, they do switch around, they made No One Lives Forever, and Alien vs Predator 2. Trust me when I say this, these guys were legends, their games didn't sell a lot, but respectful games with amazing storytelling was always present in their works.
The first game was this realistic, grungy horror fest. The sequel amps that up in scale my making the criminals even more insane, and adding insane psychological elements. The first few minutes of the game, and I am brawling with street bumps. Then some Vampyr looking dude comes out behind me, and knocks me cold absolute. Only to wake up with everything falling apart.
Civil unrest, poor social welfare, prejudice, and all the terrible things we know happening in major cities have nothing on this. These people are crazy, they kill each other, they do hard drugs, and only see this rugged ex-cop as a target. It's never fully explained why.
But the thick atmosphere, constant need to be spatially aware of the environments both small and big, it's this paranoid edge driven with bloodlust to put the real hurt on these thugs. It gets crazier when black mucus, and humanoid shadows come running at me. The only way to fend these guys off is old-school close encounter beat-em up like a good old fashion retired fed. With all the stuff I could find like pipes, bricks, circuits, toilet seats, baseball bats, bed handles, etc.
And no, despite having access to guns, you don't keep rounds and only use what's in the chamber. Talk about minimizing the one easy way to kill, except it's not when the guy shakes during aim down sight. Ethan here got the yips, so brawling it is. Unless there's a drink around.
Both trigger attacks differently, pressing them together blocks and parries, right analog kicks, and certain times there's a hit boost if parried right and other times a QTE finisher prompts up. It's tricky to do it right, timing is everything and these guys are vicious, they don't screw around. Ethan gets the absolute s**t kicked out of him at times.
Melee weapons have different stats, and can deteriorate after use. There are also sonar plants on the wall, that is some kind of side activity, requiring to listen to how audio or using a spectrometer to find them nearby. These things need to be also destroyed. The same applies to drug labs.
Ethan is also a cop, so in the second mission, he gets his tools from cameras, GPS, and UV light as well back to him. He has to investigate crime scenes, look for clues, make observations and give analysis as to what happened. This is another sort of those mini-games where guessing the right answer also sort rewards useful gears in the end.
You know, the story isn't the strong suit of the game. It's just a cop's case of going against this oncoming threat that tears flesh, and puts all weird stuff around their bodies. These guys believe they've ascended to a higher form of humanity, insisting on mind programming.
They're worse than drug junkies, or skinheads, or even methheads. And they like beating on me, what other reason would I need other than absolutely expressing my violent tendencies against such a dangerous group and saving the city from dealing with a group that does nothing but create homicidal maniacs. Oh wait, who am I kidding? I am one!
The premise is darker than your John Grisham novel, the setting takes place in the most dreadfully decrepit suburban areas, and not even the police want anything to do with it. Well, anyone of law enforcement outside the FBI though. They can deal with this stuff alright.
Ok, I am rambling. But it's a great game if you're super into psychological horror games that involve brawling, detective work, and some body horror stuff as well. Yes, that's Vanhorn mutilated, and having his arms nailed to the ground while some of his organs become apparently missing. Also, damn, the global illumination for an Xbox 360 title is sick. Moreover, there's the spooky mannequins in some places that, if you look back, somehow seem to be following you. Will drive ya insane.
