Gems you almost missed

We all have them - games that we almost didn't play for one reason or another, but once we do we realize how less complete our gaming lives would have been if we did pass them over.  Games that spring to mind include Planescape:Torment, Psychonauts, and now Condemned: Criminal Origins.  I traded away an old copy of Dead Or Alive 4 for this game last week, and started playing it a few days ago.  To put it bluntly - I've never been as freaked out playing a video game since the times of Eternal Darkness on the GameCube.

Now, first off, I'm not usually into the horror survival games.  I played and enjoyed the first Resident Evil, but that series soon left me feeling "meh" and steering clear of the genre.  However, it's also not something I'll ignore either, and with the release of the second Condemned title recently, it got me thinking - if it was good enough to warrant a sequel, and one that quite a few people were excited about, it might be worth a look.  One thing led to another, and voila, useless game traded for it.

Horror survival games are made or lost on atmosphere.  If the developer can't convey a sense of dread, anticipation, and/or anxiety, it's a dud.  Fortunately, C:CO does it all in spades.  The graphics are still quite acceptable, even for a title that is a bit long in the tooth now since its release.  The sound design is spot on, with footsteps, screams, knocked over furnature, kicked bottles, you name it all making sounds that will get you jumping out of your seat.  Level design is linear, but not so much as I feel like a rat following a pre-defined maze towards the cheese.  As for the story, it made me think of the movie Se7en or Zodiac - you're an FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer.  Things go bad for you, but you have to take him down regardless.  It has me hooked. 

And then there's the combat.  A lot of games try to do hand-to-hand combat in a first-person perspective, but I haven't played one that does it as good, let alone better, than C:CO.  Unlike other FPS, you aren't running around with a near infinate supply of ammo for futuristic machine guns killing vastly underpowered enemies.  Instead, you're using the same 2x4 or lead pipe that the addicts are scrounging for as well.  Even more so, the AI of the enemies will have them search for weapons, or better weapons during a fight.  In one fight, I ripped a piece of rebar from the hands of one enemy (dropping my pistol - I wanted to save ammo), only to find myself jumped by another guy.  As I backpedal to take on the newcomer, the original guy picks up my own gun, and starts laying into me.  It was AWESOME.

So, long story short - if you haven't played this game, do yourself a favor.  Find a cheep copy, wait until a dark and stormy night (like last night near Philly), and pop it in.  Just warn your Mrs. that there'll be an increase in underwear going through the laundry.