You Tools!

Dear Yahoo, Google, MSN et al

I DON'T WANT ANY INTERNET TOOLBARS (thank you very much)!

Please, please, please stop trying to include them in every piece of software I attempt to install (especially as the 'default' option).

If I want one, I'll ask.

Thanks

PS - It also makes part of my job, supporting non-technical sorts, more difficult because they don't understand where it's come from or why they want/need it...

The light at the end of the dark corridor?

...and that would be a very dark corridor infested with pipe-wielding zombie-like nutters looking to bludgeon the life out of me, just because they can (personally I blame the parents).

It's all ok... everyone can relax... I've found my gaming mojo again (right where I left it) and I have 'Condemned: Criminal Origins' to thank for that!

It's an almost straight-forward story: FBI investigator framed for the murder of two policemen, on the run trying to clear his name by tracking down the serial killer who was really responsible. Throw in a strange, supposedly helpful, figure who has the habit of turning up in the most unlikely places, a trusted lab technician that doesn't mind getting her hands dirty and a whole host of dark places in which everything has just one thing on their mind (or what's left of it)... to beat you to death with whatever they can grab, and you've got quite a gripping and very tense game.

I can't really say too much about the story without spoiling some of the twists in the plot, but it's a solid crime/thriller story with believable (within the context of the game) twists; though you're likely to see most of them coming if you've ever played or watched something similar.

The combat is scarily good... with the emphasis quite clearly on melee combat using whatever is to hand: bits of metal piping, wood, conduit, locker doors, fire axes etc... everything feels like it has some weight to it. Pick up a sledge hammer and you know it's going to take a bit of work to hit anything with it... but when you do, you know it's going to hurt (big time). With the tougher 1-on-1 fights it can get a little repetitive (block, hit, step back, rinse and repeat) though thankfully there weren't many of these. Firearms are few and far between, especially at the start of the game, with no ammo boxes (anywhere in the game) and the ability to only carry one weapon at a time, I often found myself desperately beating something to the ground with the butt of whatever gun I was using after it ran out of bullets. This makes you really careful about when you shoot because every shot counts. It makes for a fantastic dynamic in the game, especially when the enemies start to come think and fast. One of the nice (and essential) touches to the lack of ammo is the need/ability to check how many bullets are left in the gun rather than having an ammo counter showing on the screen... just one more step into the immersion that games should, in my opinion, provide.

I've heard some complaints that the game is a little short. Personally I think it's just the right length... any more and you risk it running out of new ways to scare the pants off you and become repetitive. I'd much rather have a shorter, high quality game with a half-decent story than 100 levels of 'Generic FPS IX'. My one big hope is that they decide to make a sequel... there were a few un-answered questions I'd like to look into.

The only part of the game I felt could have done with a little more attention was the forensic investigation. The range of tools is great but you can't use them all the time, only when you are prompted. I can understand why this is necessary because if it didn't, you could end up wandering round some of the larger levels for hours (and hours) looking for clues and it would have made maintaining the tense atmosphere difficult... but I think you could have kept the visual prompts for the key areas and still allowed the use of the tools elsewhere, maybe with non-essential evidence to collect or some side-missions involving other (linked or not) crimes. I think it would have made it feel more like you were playing a 'proper' investigator.

One final comment... while it's obvious that this was designed for consoles (one button for all the forensic tools?), it seems that Monolith have taken the time to make sure they've catered for the PC users with every setting you could need and support for a huge range of configurations. Take note Ubisoft, this is how it should be done!