I got the game from a SEGA promo bundle or something. Decided to try it...and I fell in love. So much so that I recommended it to my friends and had them play it as well.

Allow me to point out a very crucial detail about Condemned and that is...it's an old game. The port isn't perfect. You will have to follow the guide over at pcgamingwiki in order to uncap your fps and acquire some missing sound files. After that, you're good to go. Play on hard, as everything below that difficulty is kind of a joke lol.

While the story may not be everyone's thing, it definitely has its charm. Personally, I hate getting spoiled about anything, soo all I'll say is, it was enjoyable for me, hopefully it is for you too :)

Combat system (for the most part) is amazing! I can't stop praising it. Combined with an insanely good sound design, this is kind of the definition of a good action horror game. I say horror... but in reality you're mostly just beating the shii out of hobos & junkies lol. With an axe. Or a pipe. Or...whatever else you can find, really.

Expect a lot of melee fights, as this is no game where you magically find ammo for your gun from fallen enemies. No, no. Here, you get an average of 6 bullets. That's it. Use them wisely, you never know where the next hobo is hiding or if he's got a gun.
Pro tip: Conserve ammo for gun fights and enjoy the 1 on 1s the game has to offer. You do have a taser, but..it does feel like a cheat. I'm definitely guilty of abusing it, though with how many encounters the game throws at you, I think it's a decent alternative of dealing with them crazy hobos from time to time :p

You will find yourself in melee situations like 90% of the time, though chapter 6 does throw quite the organized bandit group at you. They all have guns, so using the taser then is absolutely justified. Other than that, you can have a lot of fun with melee and that should be your preferred style of play. It's how you'll get the most out of the game :)

I also have to mention, the AI for Condemned is soo good. I was lowkey impressed when I first noticed that the game doesn't just throw some guy at you and expect you to whoop his aah so you can pass an invisible check and be on your way to the next. No, the enemies in this game are smarter than that. They will hide, they will ambush you and sometimes even work in groups, which left me speechless. Peak game design for 2005.

TL;DR Condemned: Criminal Origins is a masterpiece. Grab on sale and you won't regret it. Game was ahead of its time, get past the visuals and I guarantee you'll end up impressed. Personally I'd love to see a remaster at some point (better sooner than later), but I'd happily trade that for a port of its sequel, Bloodshot any day!