Only the finest in virtual crazed hobo fighting

So there's this game, called Condemned Criminal Origins, I just wrapped up the last achievement in it yesterday, that game is pretty good, but what I still don't understand, is why on Earth when the game came out, did every game critic in the universe wank himself raw over the combat system?

Sure it emphasizes melee combat, which is unusual for a shooter, sure it's more realistic than 99% of the shooter market, BUT that doesn't mean it's well implemented!

I played through the game twice, and I still didn't master the "block" system. You press block and your character brings his weapon up for a brief moment, and if you're lucky you block an incoming blow, but if you're unlucky you get the shit beaten out of you by violently crazed hobos! I found it far more effective to just sprint backwards, or fire my tazer, since the enemies have a wildly varied set of crazily effective attacks and you've just got the one blunt whack. There's literally no way to predict when the attack is actually coming, and if you're off by even a hair you take the hit full to the face. I don't get it, the enemies draw back if you block too long, so why can't you just hold the block button down? Is there anyone that can't maintain a defensive position after FBI training?

So basically if a "central" part of the combat system is broken, the whole fucking thing is pretty broken. That and the guy moves PISS slow for an FBI agent carrying almost no gear.

But those are my only two gripes, the story is interesting, the pacing is excellent, and some moments of the game made me nearly crap myself. It's a really good game, especially for ten bucks since it's old as dirt, but the combat system is not revolutionary in any stretch of the imagination. I mean this is SEGA and Monolith we're talking about.

Oh, it's short, and some of the achievements are piss awful fetch achievements, which considering you can't go back through areas of a level you've completed, are just tiresome, especially when the only guide available online isn't written in any goddamn order.

I really do wish more games would limit you to just the ammo you find in the gun and maybe a magazine or two that you can salvage from other guns of that type, it really makes you care about every shot. More FPS games should feature a "normal" guy as the protagonist, it makes things a lot more interesting in a sea of space marines in power armour that carry ten thousand rounds for 15 different kinds of weapons and run at 25 mph.

Definately a good way to spend a night or two, I don't regret renting it one bit.

Hal