Condemned: Criminal Origins Is A Fantastic Horror Experience | A Retrospective
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- čas přidán 16. 07. 2024
- Condemned: Criminal Origins is quite literally one of the best horror games I've ever played.
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Chapters:
Arriving on Scene 00:00
Briefing 00:47
Premise(No Spoilers) 02:10
Development 04:30
Gameplay 07:21
Plot(Spoilers!) 17:14
The Atmosphere TM 29:27
Legacy of Condemned 36:26
Closing Statements/ Patreon 38:05
Referenced Footage:
-Extra Gameplay: • Condemned: Criminal Or...
Music: (in order of appearance)
-Main Title(Condemned Criminal Origins), Born Again(Manhunt), I’ve Been Losing You(Silent Hill 3), Title Screen(Lost In Vivo), Piotrek(Darkwood), Lab Activity(CSI Hard Evidence), Snow and Carnage(SIFU), Future(Max Payne 3), Main Theme(Dead Island), Blood Trail(Vampyr), Main Theme(Dishonored), Atmosphere(Resident Evil 7), Main Theme(The Forest), Phasmophobia Unofficial OST(CarmineRock97), They Know My Name(Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth), Go Home Johnny(Lisa The Painful), Lazy Evenings(KENKURA)
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"Condemned criminal oranges"
00:47 -shout out @madewithrobots for winning the community post and picking a random phrase for me to throw in the script. Was fun, I'll do this for future videos as well, make sure you have notifications turned on to get the answer in first 😉
I thought I heard oranges lol
I remember the thing! I'll have to revisit it
was just about to comment on it
@@TheUnknownDrifter YOOOO, THE THING! We really need a video on that!
La noire exist
This game holds up so well, the whispering mannequins are a classic.
Best level imo
There's also a Mannequin that swivels it's head to look at you at one point and I don't see many people mention it when they talk about the department store
Really? I never noticed one doing that. That's super creepy
I always hated the whispering mannequins 😂
Super freaky
Underrated horror classic, no question about it.
I own a piece of artwork from this game autographed by the whole dev team at Monolith.
That's awesome!
That's badass, is there anywhere I could see it?
Oh wow that's cool!
This game was the first I ever got for my 360. I remember a friend gave it to me and just told me,
"Play it in the dark. You'll love it."
See, thing is, I was a wuss back then, and he knew it. But he insisted I played it how it was meant to be. So I did. And it was terrifying, hell it still is. I remember Condemned was one of the first truly horror driven games that I ended up enjoying while also being scared. I attribute Condemned to my current love of horror, and it pushing me to become a huge fan of haunted attractions and the general atmosphere of horror as a whole.
I love Condemned, and am so glad it still gets remembered so fondly.
It truly is one the most terrifying games to experience alone in the dark, but at the same time it is so much fun to play. Holds up great too even after all these years
I played Condemned in my basement in the dark. My sister does some sewing as a hobby and she keeps a mannequin down there, so I had one behind my back as I was playing.
I did the same thing with Silent Hill 2. I posted that story on a Silent Hill 2 video and everybody thought I was nuts lol. The mannequin isn’t so scary. My sister keeps a pink, floral robe on her. It’s kinda hard to be scared by that. It’s like if Michael Myers wore a Hawaiian shirt.
@@Ckoz2829 I'm sorry, but I just gotta say that "Charlie Koszulinski" is one of the coolest names I've ever seen
@@ytcorporate9237
Wow, thanks! My mom was a big fan of Charlie Brown, so that’s where she got it from lol.
@@Ckoz2829 That's a nice story! My nephew is similar. He's also named Charlie, but his name was sort-of taken from Charlie in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia lol
One of the things that I liked about Condemned was that there wasn't really any reason why people were going insane so even when allies showed up in the mall for example I still was on edge thinking they'd turn on me
Because even the police are crazy too! Haha
The reason is explained in 2
I remember this game having some of the most meaty melee combat in a game I've ever played, each hit really felt powerful, brutal
The combat feels so good, I can't think of any other first person melee being as impressive
The sequel improved the melee combat even more, although the atmosphere wasn’t as scary.
I remember when I was fighting this drugged up hobo in the game, he looked like he was about to attack me but pulled back at the last second, he FAKED his attack, obviously falling for this I blocked, which lead me to pulling down my defence to which he then actually swung at me and hit me. I was shocked! And he wasn't the only one to pull that trick on me either. Such a good game.
@@MrHammersdying light 1
@@di-lungjr8764don't be a dummy mcdummerton! 😂 This came out way before dying light. I believe by approximately 10 years or so you crazy princie mcprincerton on!
With the True Crime genre being as big as it is I find it really shocking how we have never had another game like this
True crime is female dominated and a majority of women play mobile games.
Probably because it's very hard to write a good story for a game like this. This game and its sequel had stories that made very little sense. You're basically a rogue "detective" that kills anyone and anything that comes across you. I remember playing the first condemned like 15 years ago and only beat it because the horror aspect was done so well, not the story. So then when I tried playing the second one, which has very few gameplay improvements and less horror, I just gave up halfway through because the story was so insanely "out there" and removed from reality with non stop plot holes. No wonder there was never a 3rd game.
I legit had to put this game down, it actually gave me nightmares. My breaking point is mannequins man, fuuuuuck that. I did watch my buddy complete it though, we'd set time aside and I still had to leave the room at certain moments, I was 26 when this came out. Great video.
No shame in that 😂. It's a super creepy game
It's horrific especially when they pop right out of the corner
The Hallucinations got to me at some points, so you're not alone. Condemned 2 wasn't as scary in my opinion, except for that part in the MRI scanner where the alcohol demon taunts you... but yeah, one of the few games I actually got scared by.
Lmao
That reminds me. I hated the damn mannequins in Bioshock. I just started shooting everything
I was born in 1995, this game was like a manic hurricane in my life. Completely consumed me and my older brothers free time. I was happy just to watch someone else play it, truly genius action horror.
Fellow 1995 here lol
I wish they get going with the grounded police investigation of creepy locations angle.
Imagine an LA Noire with this games horror elements, but without toeing into the supernatural stuff. Banger game on launch
Yeah exactly! That is like my new dream game right now, pretty much a modern version of this but just focusing on the murders and not cult shit lol
A Game that would be a mixture of L.A Noire and the movie Se7en would be phenomenal
@@StonedCabbage L.A noir style game but set in the 90’s with x-files style cases would be amazing.
@@mammoths_4229 I mean that was the beauty of Se7en is the atmosphere felt otherworldly, it never tells you where it takes place and even the police badges just say metropolitan. I think a Decetive game with supernatural/extraterrestrial elements would work great as long as its given the right approach, I mean Deadly Premonition still has people talking about it of course mainly because of the quirkiness but something that took itself seriously. Think we might be on to something
As a horror fan Ive played many scary games and only a few have made me feel the dread, paranoia, fear and anxiety like Condemned did. Fantastic game.
Condemned’s a perfect Halloween/fall game in my opinion, and the intro song fucking slaps as well 😂
Having a main menu theme song that slaps is unironically one of the most important things in a game. When it slaps you are always hyped to play it again. It's also a sign of genuine passion being put into a game.
When I was a kid the most terrifying thing to me was that enemies could respawn in the area you just left, and sneak up behind you to attack while you're trying to gain to courage to continue forward
I love the Condemned games. The second one was my introduction to the series, and the gameplay is phenomenal. My finest memory of it was beating up on a guy, and he started to run away from me. I grabbed a crutch, threw it and sprinted after him, elbowing him in the head and him getting tripped by the crutch. I then stomped him out. When I finally got to playing the first one, I did find it unsettling but man, that chase in the house. Scary.
That sounds amazing tho haha
Games like this are worth remaking and remastering.
I played 2 a lot, a sequel on the last generation would’ve been a perfect way to finish the series.
I disagree. Sometimes, games like this are so great because of the limitations imposed upon them. What makes it scary is the atmosphere that it has. A remaster might screw it up, like silent hill or gta
Monolith in general, are the masters or horror and atmosphere they are absolute MASTERS in this field.
So far? i think there is actually no game, that sucked that they made.
But its so sad, that you dont hear something from that studio :/ last time was like when they made Shadow of Mordor which are one of the best Lord of the Rings games.
Better not
They will ruin it
@@daniellau5859You picked like some of the only bad remasters out of a bunch of good ones. Hell, the GTA ones weren’t even the same game but upscale mobile versions if I remembered correctly.
There's actually a lot of subtle hints towards the cult, like all the eye graffiti in every level showing that you're always being watched, and it's not just one eye but multiple eyes, and certain items and even the little writing in the loading screen of all the missions hint towards it, kinda like doing detective work you have to look at the clues and hints then it starts to make more sense
I'm going to buy this game again and I'm really going to heed this comment and figure out what lurks in these condemned subways...
Condemned and Dead Rising were the reason I bought my first 360. I remember lauging my ass of playing Dead Rising and being scared shitless by Condemned. The audio and A.I was insane at the time.
2006 was the best of times for gaming
This game was fascinating and terrifying. Investigating that creepy crime scene with mannequins and human parts and then finding out the murderer is watching you from the top floor sends chills down my spine every time. I liked it more than the second because the second went full force with supernatural
This game was so fantastic when it was just a gritty, crime plagued horror game. I wish it didn't go supernatural near the end, bummed me out. The game is still pretty damn good, but man the story could've been so much better.
Fo sho, it was best when it was grounded in reality. Still a great game regardless of the odd plot choices
Honestly I LIKE that they didn't keep it completely grounded, because without the supernatural bits it would just be unrealistic about society and crime. Enough people already believe homeless people are violent criminals who will attack strangers with a pipe, when statistically they're far more often victims than perpetrators. I'm glad Condemned felt some explanation was needed, because if Ethan is getting attacked on sight THIS consistently just moving through derelict buildings...that requires some explanation. At least some heavy acknowledgement that the city is *abnormally* violent.
Maybe supernatural wasn't the best [tho I enjoyed where Bloodshot took it] but it would be playing into unrealistic stereotypes if the streets were just THAT violent for no discernible reason.
Coming across this video over a year later, but I had to comment- I never actually played the game fully until MUCH later in my life but I so vividly remember the online marketing campaign leading up to the release of the game. It was legit giving me Blair Witch Project vibes in that I legit thought all the content was found footage lol it gave me nightmares and I remember being so terrified of burglars or something coming into my home and attacking me 💀
It does have that vibe to it! They did the promos brilliantly haha
Lol you crazy silly jackass son of a bitch you legend!😂 God bless your big beautiful ❤️. You owe it to yourself to go get this game and face your fear and enemy straight on! You got this my kingie mckingerton! 💯. 💪.
Same! I remember having a Game Informer magazine where it was the cover game, really spooked me.
Ah man I remember my friend getting this back when the 360 first dropped in high school. We went to his house to play this. The graphics and sound effects blew me away not to mention the overall creepiness of the game. Really wish we'd get another installment.
I just wanna say that I really appreciate this channel and the videos you put out, they're usually about games that I know nothing about, but your videos never fail to entertain - keep up the great work, man!
Thanks dude, that's awesome to hear 🥹
Played this as a kid. Alongside manhunt, this game definitely contributed to my horror game avoidance in recent years
Haha I feel ya, that hammer looking good next to your name btw 😤
@@MrHammers hammer gang home boy
Condemned is on the same list with Outlast, Silent Hill and Dead Space! EVERYONE remembers the mannequin scene in the abandoned mall!
Hate that mannequin scene lol.
Love this game! One of my favorite horror games of all time. I remember bringing this to family reunions and playing it with my cousins. Having each one of them that hadn’t played it before inch their ways through the game. Loved watching them squirm as they inched around every corner with anxiety and fear lol
Great video, have a lot of fond memories of this game! Looking forward to seeing what you make of the sequel... It's a mixed bag, for sure, but IMO still has the best crime scene investigation sequences I've ever played in a game.
Also, thanks for the orange drop lol
Manhunt is straight savagery I loved it, time to buy this all these years later
The plot is goofy but this game is so memorable for it’s atmosphere and the unique gritty, dark, bleak world it created. Play it at night with the sound turned up, it will get your heart pounding.
That locker scene has stuck with me ever since I watched my dad play this game on his Xbox. Any time I think of a horror game that really left a scare mark on me it's this game. As you said this game was such a good mix of suspense and jump scares that it's really the only horror game I'm to scared to play. Plus the 'realistic' (for its time) style was and still is so much scarier then popular horror games now a days that have a cartoony look. There need to be more suspense horror games instead of jump scares cause jump scares will only scare you in the moment, but the suspense will linger a bit longer, and that's that I miss in early 2000's horror games.
“Tossing him out the window like 17th century fecal matter” hah I get that historical reference. Great video.
The Mannequins level gave me some serious House of wax feels.
Very scary.
This game is badass.
“Take this you fucking…”
*fist hits face with a squelching crunch*
The atmosphere looks great reminds me of manhunts atmosphere 😄
I am two weeks late with my comment, but this video popped up for me in my recommended. Condemned: Criminal Origins is one of the most underrated psychological horror games that I have ever played. I remember it being my first Xbox game, and then Oblivion. I always talk to people about horror games, and it saddens me that most of them have hardly ever heard of the game. Unfortunately, I thought that the sequel was rather lackluster compared to the original. I hope that one day we get a proper remaster of the first game or a dedicated remake.
This unlocked some weird memories for me. I never played either game, but I remember a favorite childhood memory being when my dad bought me my first video game magazine that had a review of the second game, and I thought from the screenshots in it that this must be the scariest series ever. I haven’t thought of that moment in years. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, and a great video.
This game is a wonderful masterpiece that should of gotten another sequel after part 2. Put the suspense of "Manhunt", creepy environments of "Saw", & a dab of "The Suffering". Stir it in a pot & you'll have a tasty potluck of horror greatness. The storyline & location draws you in because everyone who plays this game want to solve the "Spooky Who Done It" tale by using your resources. Your forensic kits to gather evidence & data. You use your camera to take evidence & send them to your partner "Rosa" for analysis. Then you get to explore a environmental open areas to go toe to toes fighting off homeless drug addicts to avoiding rats during jump scares. I believe "Criminal Origins," is way superior than the 2nd part. "Blood Shot" felt it came up too short. The Devs wanting to take the brand in a new direction. But in my opinion that move killed any exciting about the second part. My advice to you all play this first l....get familiar with the characters (Malcolm Van Horne), ,(Rosa), (Leland Van Horne aka Serial Killer X). Take your time to explore the areas & pay close attention to mission clues & Easter eggs. Cut your lights out & play this in the dark. I guarantee you this game will live up to your standards.
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊r
This is a really well put together video man. Nice job
This game really takes me back years ago. Looking back at it right now still holds up after so many years. The gameplay itself is so unique,with its way of investigating and solving mysteries. I seriously never forget the creepy guys dressed up as mannequins and also those creepy sewer dwellers. They really creeped me out as a kid. Thanks for showing this classic game. It really brought so much memories.
It truly is such a memorable game, not even just the story or any cutscenes or anything just the game itself creates memories with people. The mannequins are something id never forget
Fun Fact: When you start the first mission on F.E.A.R you can see the door way you entered on Condemned but it’s blocked off with a tapped off door. 🤙
I always look at that when I play F.E.A.R….
Whaaaat, that's cool!
Such an underrated horror game, still remember that locker jumpscare!
the quality of your videos are always top notch its a mystery youre this underrated in youtube
I love it when ads happen right before a jumpscare and the sort.
“The picture didn’t come in clearly. Can you take another one?”
…
…
…
*THE BRAND NEW HONDA CIVIC*-
😂😂
This showed up in my recommendations and you just earned a follower. I’m a big fan of this game series.
Thank you! Glad you liked it
Your script is incredibly well researched and well written. For a small channel you sure do put in a lot of work well done! keep it up your killing it man!
Thank you 😊 that's very kind
im so glad you brought this back into my memory. This game was something special.
Both Condemned games showed that you can make a scary horror game with combat in it.
Heck, Condemned and Condemned 2 are the only two horror games aside of Silent Hill 2 that were able to really scare me.
I'm fed up with all the walking-sim horror games.
Completely agree, games like outlast and amnesia are lame to me. Picking up a pipe and fighting for your life makes sense which is where condemned gets it completely right. Silent Hill too of course
One of the best horror games I've ever played. So happy to see this game get some love cuz pretty much no one I know ever played it or even knows about it.
It's got some good recognition out there, but it's definitely not the most well known or popular game
this game scared the crap out of me when it came out (played it on PC).
I’ll never forget being creeped out 2 decades ago playing manhunt and then some years later the first FEAR
You did this classic justice with your retrospective. Subscribed and liked ✅
The environment design in this game, and Manhunt are still some of my favourites, can’t describe it but I wish more games with that aesthetic and tone came out.
I remember the mall section of the game used to scare as child, this had me on the edge with the mannequins
I’m glad someone remembered this game! It still has one of the best atmospheres in a horror game
Dope video, as always. Definitely worth the wait. Loved the comparison to Innsmouth, that was spot on. And fun Patreon shoutouts!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked them haha 😆
Love the vid man! I love the longer video and the attention to detail you do for all your videos. Can’t wait for more videos you do.
Thank you! I think I dig the longer format was well
Thanks for doing a video on this, loved this game when it came out. I've been meaning to replay the second one for awhile now, it's been a good 10 plus years since I experienced that bear scene 🐻🐻🐻
Awesome video! I’ll have to check this one out👍
This game was well remembered in my country as "That game where you beat homeless people with pipes"
This was my first PC game and I was eager to play it but my rustic computer could not run it so I had to wait a few years and, man what a game! Like you said, the way it balances jumpscares with psychological horror is perfect, even with the plot holes in the story it is a very enjoyable survival horror experience; it kept me on edge the whole time. I only wish it had more replayability value, like unlockables or an alternate ending and it's also a shame that the soundtrack was never officially released.
Condemned: Criminal Origins is still my fav horror game of all time even after all of these years. 🎉
Kinda reminds me of the feeling of I Am Alive. Every bullet counts and encounters feel more realistic because of the interaction between characters.
Another great video, I'm glad you pick the games you do!
Thanks my dude😎
Condemned and The Suffering trully deserves a reboot.similar to what capcom did with resident evil 2 remake.
Awesome video! Definitely will be checking out more of your content!🤘
This is one of my all time favorites BECAUSE of the forensics!! This made me want to study criminal justice in college
Amazing video !! Keep it up g !
Thank you my man. Appreciate you
love these videos so much
One of my personal favorites. Any essay on this game is a notch up In my book. That puts Hammer at notch 1 😁
Thank you brother 🙏
Thanks to you man I’ve fallen back in love with this game.
Man I want to play this game and the sequel soooooo bad, the fact that it takes a lot of notes from the film Seven, the nasty scenarios and grim gore from Saw and the messed up tension of Silence of the Lambs.
I bought this game a few days back and just beat it a couple of hours ago. I gotta say, with how much i love horror movies and games. Can't believe i missed Condemned all these years. It was certainly a different kind of horror game for me.
I like to put certain games into categories that made me REALLY feel fear. Such as Dead Space, Alien Isolation, The Forrest, SCP Containment Breach, Necrosis, Alan Wake, Moons of Madness, etc. And now I'll add Condemned Criminal Origins to this personal category of mine.
Sick! I bought it because Xbox has their backwards compatibility sale, since they’re dumping old games off Game Pass, and I hadn’t had a chance to play it yet. Your endorsement was more than enough!
Fucking love this game, played when it came out, gonna replay it soon again! Amazing channel man, I like the format of this kind of "old games video-review" :)
Easily one of my favorite 360 games and horror games ever..it really is criminally underrated, you always find some gems 👍
Criminally underrated my ass
This was one of my favorite SP games on 360 and the 2nd one had such a fun MP mode.
Damn man, i still love this game, probably the first horror game I finished
Awesome that you made a Condemned video. It was such an amazing experience especially as a young teen when I had to save alot of money for a Radeon HD 2600 😆
I was pretty young when I first played this game and I literally could not get past the part in the abandoned building with the guy running around because I was so scared
You gotta come back and finish it now that you’re older lol
Oh my gosh I was hoping you would cover this at some point
It's been lurking in the lineup for a while!
Another great video I’ll be proud to say I was here from the start one day after you blow up. Keep making videos like these and I promise you’ll be big
Thank you homie 🙏
Great video! I really love this game, so it makes me happy that you're covering it for a video. Other games don't quite capture Horror like Condemned: Criminal Origins does. I consider it one of the absolute scariest games I've ever played. It's amazing! Too bad we never got a 3rd game. The 2nd game in my opinion is alright, but not quite as scary. It would be nice if we got a third game, or even a reboot, but it'd be hard trying to keep up with how scary the 1st game truly is.
Thank you dude! I really wish there was a more modern sequel to this as well, for now at least I can look forward to condemned 2 :)
One of those games I couldn’t manage to beat or finish until I got older lol
I love your videos man great work these videos are a real comfort zone on my breaks at work.
They have metal on their bodies to amplify this kind of shout that drives people cray cray. It’s some ancient cult that came up with it and that’s how they get into the mind and fuck it all up. They are called “Oro”
Ohhhh. Very cool. Thanks a bunch dude
Absolutele masterpiece. I finished it when it came out, and man , finding that last bird for the achievement was a nightmare on the 360 lol. Back before there was a ton of walk-throughs, etc. I remember playing like 5 times to finally find that last bird haha
U know, I cant even remember if I ever did find that last bird or it was glitched out on 360 lol. I gotta look up my 500 ft list of achievements haha....
Grear video! :) would love to see a video about condemned 2: bloodshot!
As to the cult part, it's subtle. It's semi revealed once you collect all the dead birds in the game.
The coincidence of you making a video of this game, the day after I finished this and made it my mission to get a 100% achievements on this game, Is such a great feeling✊🏽
Great timing 😁
Please play Condemned 2. I remember liking that game more, it might clear up what you were missing from the the first game.
This man is the reason I play some of the classics
Amazing game and an amazing review. I played Condemended last year on my 360 and even after all these years its amazing. Although the graphics are rough these days the game pulls you in with its amazing atmosphere and world.
played this with my buddy. we rented it from the blockbuster when it came out! time flies.
Wow I remember playing this game as a kid rushing to play through scared asf this game was amazing!
I only played Condemed:Blood shot 🔥. This shit is intense AF, never played a game as scary till this day
I didnt release this review was 40min long until I was done watching it xD
your review are so well made and you voice is so pleasing to hear
goodjob!
Thank you my man 🙏
"Ahhh take this!"
Playing this game with my boy back in the day, we would always crack up everytime we finished someone off with a punch. It's like he felt personal gratification from finishing one of them off that way
I played this game not knowing it was a horror game
my anxiety was fuuucked lmao
but it really taught me a lot about psychology and survival and arguably helped me when I was homeless
One of my absolute favorite games ever. I couldn't tell you how many times I went 100% play-throughs.
The story rocks too. Also, the sequel also rocked.
found physical pc version of this masterpiece back in may this year this game is masterpiece
Man what a classic. This was my favorite game before playing Dark Souls. Such a memorable experience
Homie popped out another straight banger keep it up my guy🤙
Preciate ya 🙏