MCT "Condemned 2: Bloodshot" for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by Sega.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune

"CONDEMNED 2: BLOODSHOT"
For: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
From: Monolith/WB Games/Sega
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, use of drugs and alcohol)

There are horror games, and there are first-person games, but there hasn't been another game remotely like "Condemned," which mixed the two in shockingly competent fashion when it arrived in late 2005. That it arguably was one of the most frightening games ever made didn't hurt, either.

Think a few folks are hungry for a sequel? You bet they are. Happily, "Condemned 2: Bloodshot" not only (mostly) matches its predecessor in tone, but blows it away in most major respects when it comes to actual gameplay.

While portions certainly fall into the first-person shooter bin, much of the action in the "Condemned" games finds you fighting with fists or blunt objects rather than guns. The original game handled this surprisingly well _ a feat, given how many games before it utterly failed _ by keeping things simple and focused on the sensation of actually being in a first-person fight for your life.

"Bloodshot" recaptures this sensation but also dramatically expands the arsenal, adding the ability to fight more defensively and respond with combos, special maneuvers and the occasional environment-aided finisher. The suddenly-loaded control scheme flirts with contrivance, and it arguably succumbs to it in the game's final level. But the steps forward vastly outnumber the steps backward, and Monolith gets major points for not breaking the whole system in the process of tweaking it so heavily.

Beyond survival, "Condemned's" gameplay consisted of a handful of humorously pedestrian detective missions that required almost zero intelligence to complete. "Bloodshot" brings back the detective portions, but it smartens them up exponentially and actually applies actual consequence to them this time. The better your detective work, the higher the reward, which results in special upgrades and additions to your arsenal.

With both chief gameplay ingredients seeing such significant improvements, "Bloodshot" almost can't help but be an inarguably better experience than its predecessor. All that remains is the arguable point of how the sequel's story and environments stack up to what the original delivered.

This, unfortunately, is where "Bloodshot" is at its shakiest. As suspenseful storytelling goes, it's first-rate, gifted with exceptionally good character building, healthy sprinklings of madness and a second-act twist many fans of the original will absolutely love. But the story dictates the design more than it did the first time, and that leads to a game that's more darkly mysterious than scary. You'll still jump, but anyone looking for a legendary scare (department store, anyone?) isn't likely to find it.

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© 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.