The Electronic Software Rating Board (ESRB) had a field day with Manhunt 2 and its ultra-violent, blood-soaked gameplay—just wait until they get a load of Condemned 2: Bloodshot. Monolith's sequel will take a seat next to Rockstar's adult-only political poster child as one of the most visceral, in-your-face experiences around. Abhorred as much as we were enthralled, Condemned 2: Bloodshot had us wanting more after an in-depth demonstration.
Something pretty awful has happened to former FBI investigator Ethan Thomas and it's your job to find out exactly what that is through the course of Condemned 2. A year has passed since the first game and Ethan's former partner has gone missing; at the beginning of the game he's called up to help in with the search. Of course, there's much more going on than just a simple disappearance. Ethan gets drawn into a criminal conspiracy that ends up testing his sanity.
Condemned 2 consists of two gameplay elements: combat and forensics. Unfortunately, we only had time to check out the combat system, leaving the dearth of new forensics tools for another preview. What we saw of the game, though, has us confident it'll deliver on Monolith's promise of surpassing the intensity of the original.
Our time with Condemned 2 started in its first level, a back alley littered with garbage and a drunk bum. Ethan watched as the bum was harassed by another man, angered at the vagrant for drinking his nondescript bottle of booze. Halfway through the exchange, the man noticed Ethan and shouted an expletive. A new emotional response system will allow you to react to situations such as this one by means of a time-sensitive button press; in short, jam on the button shown on-screen before the timer runs down and Ethan will react. In this case, Ethan flipped the guy off which triggered a fight.
On Xbox 360, you can pull punches using the left and right triggers. Holding down both triggers allows you to block. Alternating jabs between blocking the unknown man's attacks, Ethan was able to quickly take him down. New finishing moves, such as snapping the man's neck, should provide well-deserved lessons to prideful enemies. Even more brutal is the ability to break enemies' limb. In one part of the demonstration, we watch in horror as Ethan snapped back a criminal's arm. With the arm broken the guy writhed in pain, leaving Ethan free to finish him off.
You won't be limited to fisticuffs in the game; in fact, Condemned 2 promises just under a dozen firearms and a slew of interactive objects to wield in combat. Expect to see standards like a pistol and shotgun, as well as more unique weapons like a sub-gun and crossbow. It's now possible to throw whatever weapon Ethan holds in his hands, so chucking an unloaded shotgun for a bit of damage is an option if you desire. While it's more satisfying to blow off an enemy's face, to each their own.
Interacting with the surrounding environment will likely provide the best kills. A particularly cruel death involved tearing a pipe from a wall and exposing an open flame; next, Ethan grabbed an enemy and forced him into the flame until he was (human) toast. Most of what you'll see in the game's environments can be interacted with on some level, which Monolith touts as a vast improvement over the first game.
