Condemned 2: Bloodshot E3 2007 Preshow Impressions Poster, trailer and Previews

The sequel to the brutal first-person action game looks to raise the level of violence, as well as the story.

Games don’t get much more brutal than 2005’s Condemned: Criminal Origins, a first-person action game built around the idea that you pretty much have to pummel your opponents to death using your bare hands, blunt objects, sledgehammers, and whatever else is convenient for you at the time. It made for an incredibly violent, yet also creepy, and stunning game. Well, the brutality is going to get ratcheted up even higher in Condemned 2: Bloodshot. This sequel promises to combine the shocking violence with a creepy atmosphere, and the result is a game that feels like it’s a combination of the paranormal horror game F.E.A.R. with the movie Saw, as well as a good bit of C.S.I.-style forensic work on the side.

Condemned 2 will pick up a year after the events of the first game. Once again, you’ll play as Ethan Thomas, a disgraced FBI agent who has fallen into a drunken depression after his life falls apart because of his uncontrollable rage that causes him to beat the heck out of anyone who offends him. To say that the subject matter is bleak would be understating it, but things get even stranger after Thomas meets a mysterious figure at a playground who bashes his head in with a brick. At this point, you’ll begin a descent into a creepy, paranormal world…or will you? That’s because the story in Condemned 2 looks to be anything but conventional.

The emphasis in Condemned 2 is to really open up the combat system, which Sega admits was a bit too repetitive in the original game. Now there are four layers to combat, starting with hand-to-hand. You can punch, kick, and grab opponents, twisting their heads around to snap their necks or pummel them to death. Or you can get creative and use the environmental finishing moves, which is another layer to combat. If you grab a guy from behind and slam his head into a television set or against a wall, then you can stomp on his neck to break his back. Then there are weapons, which are yet another layer. Read more …