Condemned Combat Tips

Not since last year's smash hit Chronicles of Riddick™: Escape from Butcher Bay on Xbox® has combat been so grotesquely visceral as to make you feel like you've just escaped a wild fistfight. Soon-to-be-released Condemned: Criminal Origins™, an Xbox 360™ launch title from Washington development studio Monolith, takes the Riddick-style one-on-one melee action to a whole new brutal level.

Even the intro screen will scare the bejeezus out of you.

You play as FBI agent Ethan Thomas, an investigator who is out on assignment gathering forensic evidence on a series of brutal murders. While at the crime scene, all hell breaks loose and you are separated from your team, only to get framed for the murder of your fellow officers. You are quickly overrun by scores of savage drug addicts, homeless derelicts, and enraged psychopaths. Outmanned and outgunned, you must use any means necessary to stay alive while trying to collect the clues that will prove your innocence.

We spent some hours skulking in the worst parts of town. After bloodying our fists with various makeshift weapons, we have some advice for newbies on the force. Read on for some lifesaving combat tips.

The Long Arm of Justice
The mean streets of Condemned are populated with unsavory characters that stop at nothing to take you down. As you creep from room to rat-infested room, you encounter rabid, drugged out squatters who think nothing of crushing your skull with a 2x4. You have to show 'em who's boss, and since firearms and ammo are in short supply you'll need to get your knuckles dirty in melee combat.

Nearly every wooden or metal object in the environment is useful. Simply approach an electrical box, a pile of unused plumbing, or loose board nearby. If an object can be weaponized, you are prompted to pick it up with a press of the A button. If you're already holding a weapon, you'll see comparative statistics in the upper right of the screen. As a general rule, lighter weapons do less damage but are easy to wield whereas heavier armaments require some lead time but are devastatingly powerful. Try each one on for size and learn to use what's readily available. Rare items like the fire axe, sledgehammer, and crowbar are worth holding onto for extended periods since they can be used to smash doors, break locks, and pry open safes in addition to bludgeoning your foes. But their power comes at a movement cost, so be prepared to act quickly.

Give him the shocker!

Block and Counter
Your enemies in Condemned are the dregs of humanity, but they're not stupid. In other words, they don't sit still as you attempt to remove their heads from their shoulders with a bent piece of rebar. They duck, dodge, retreat, counter-attack, or lunge at you without warning. To minimize your exposure to bodily harm, you must learn to master a few crucial skills to make it out of the ghetto alive.

Block attacks by tugging the left trigger. Depending on the size and weight of your equipped weapon, it takes a slightly different length of time to swing your implement into defensive position. A split second can make the difference between a successful block and a skull-splitting concussion, so time your blocks to counter your aggressor's attack. If done properly, you'll knock your opponent off balance for a second or two. In that short window of opportunity, you must quickly decide to either counter-attack, steal his weapon, or retreat—otherwise he'll regain composure and take another swing at you.

You also have at your disposal a Taser gun which is capable of incapacitating foes for several seconds. While your target is busy twitching you can pry the weapon from his hands and use it on him (a very handy tactic when he's got a gun and you don't) or you can simply hack away while he's vulnerable, though there's a chance he'll regain motor functions before you take him down.

Take 'em down before they grab a weapon.

Yo! Bum Rush the Show
It's not uncommon that you'll surprise the creeps wandering the halls and alleyways, and they'll be briefly unarmed. You can either sit back and watch them rip pipes from the walls (it's oddly fascinating), or you can beat them to the punch, bum rush them, and take them down before they have a chance to attack you. Think of it as a "pre-emptive strike" in the interest of self preservation. This tactic is especially useful in situations when more than one thug will ambush you, often from behind.

A wise man once said, "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day." Get used to hitting the sprint button (left analog button) and high-tailing it to and from a fight. If you're taking your lumps, you might want to retreat, find some health packs, and then return for round two.

Your enemies are equal opportunity muggers. During a scuffle it's not uncommon for one goon to accidentally strike another. When this happens, they'll duke it out. Sit back and watch the action and take on the winner, or clock them both while they're distracted—it's your choice.

You'll need to keep on your toes the entire time you're nosing around inside the abandoned locations in Condemned: Criminal Origins. Always check the environment for weapons, clues, or those pesky dead birds and metal fragments. You never quite know when you'll stumble across something useful. Keep checking back for more coverage on this violent thriller including gameplay previews and Xbox 360 spotlights.

Article by Franklin Beans

• Monolith
• SEGA®