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Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 10th April 2008
Multiplayer
One of the main flaws in the first Condemned game, of which there weren’t that many, was that the game didn’t offer up much in the way of longevity. There were a handful of unlockables to shoot for, but the singleplayer campaign was only just in the double digits as levels go and multiplayer was utterly absent.Again though, Monolith has taken this on board and adapted the scope of Condemned 2 to address these complaints. Hence, not only does the singleplayer have longer levels and more replayability thanks to the various hidden TVs and pieces of forensic evidence for the player to track down, but there’s also some multiplayer thrown in to the mix too.
Condemned 2: Bloodshot features a selection of four multiplayer game types, as well as an arena-based fight mode for quick-play games against the AI. The multiplayer modes are all pretty much standard though – deathmatch, team deathmatch, survival and a variant of capture the flag based around searching for evidence.
Unfortunately, the multiplayer games are all fairly samey and suffer from the same problem – namely that they aren’t the singleplayer game. That may sound like a bit of an unfair and stupid criticism, but let us elaborate.
Crime scenes are now much more interesting and involving
You see, in the singleplayer game fights are very fluid and involving. A thug will swear at you, feint, rip weapons from the environment, throw things and unleash very unexpected moves. You’ll parry one blow, knock the needlefreak on the noggin' and send him off-balance with a kick only to have him dodge the second blow and send you reeling with a trio of uppercuts as he gets back on his feet. It takes time to learn how to react to this and it’s a major strength of the singleplayer game.
In multiplayer however, you can pretty much guarantee that all you’ll get is man in a pig mask running straight up to you while swinging a pipe. It’s awkward, stiff looking and frustrating. The field of view isn’t well suited to fighting strafing players either, so you’re constantly loosing track of your assailant and it quickly becomes obvious that mastering the freight train sprint combo ensures victory in all levels.
The end result is a multiplayer experience which feels woefully at-odds with the delicately animated singleplayer and which doesn’t carry any of the subtlety on which the more lonely side of things depend. As such, the multiplayer modes make a decent distraction at times – and it is fun to go online and hand out a few tonnes of whupass – but not as good as you might hope.
Fight Club mode however makes up for this somewhat, offering players a series of different scenarios which they can hop into for some quick melee mayhem.
Rosa can give you direction and answer questions when needed
Fight Club offers six different scenarios, each of which has a different focus. Arena, for example, is a simple practice area – enemies keep coming and you can set a number of boundaries for yourself and the thugs. Riot Control on the other hand is very hands-off and players have to aid cops fighting below them by throwing bricks and using guns.
There are some definite strengths and weaknesses in the Fight Club mode and, while Arena is perhaps the best of the bunch, Deadly Daycare - which sees you fighting evil, explosive dolls, is more annoying than fun. As with most things though, the ability to upload scores to a leaderboard means there is going to be an attraction for those with a fiercely competitive side.
The main flaw of the Fight Club mode though is that it feels criminally undernourished and the selection of six arenas is barely enough to whet the appetitie. Again, it seems to be a case of the singleplayer eclipsing the other modes, which is either very good or very bad depending on how you look at it. Personally, I’m of the former opinion.