My feelings on The Demon Rush
Oskar Angelmark's hard difficulty run
Verifier Responses
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's a very well-optimized run that also counts as an improvement over the current 360 run (it was determined there's not enough differences between versions to make them separate categories).
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Very good run, I can't imagine it being improved much more at this point without any major skips being found. Good job saving the limited ammo to quickly kill the few people
that need to be killed, and the 'poke' attack for any of the rest, which definitely hurts much more than stardard attacks. Also, very quick with all of the investigation
scenes.
As for the PC vs. console separation, I'm just about always on the side of considering PC runs separate. For this game I think it really comes down to the ease of aiming with
a mouse vs. joystick. Plus, on the console version you had to hold in the left joystick to sprint, which I always thought was insanely awkward. Must be so much easier to just
have a key bound to sprint.
Individual Level Notes:
1 - Not much more can be done with this stage as far as I can see, the runner pretty much never stopped moving the entire time. Quickly killed the two men at the end that cause
the final door to open.
2 - Great use of the tazer to block the chasing enemies behind while using the sledge to break the lock. Almost didn't see him turn on the elevator fuse box in the basement he
did it so fast. Fantastic that the one guy's dead body got stuck in the elevator door :-P Great job tazing the guy with the shotgun near the photo room, enemies with guns are
easily one of the biggest dangers on this difficulty.
3 - Once again, running pretty much the whole time so I can't see any ways of really improving this. I expected him to turn and grab the shotgun off the enemy right before the
second fire axe door after chopping it down, but he opted not to, probably wouldn't have mattered because no other enemies really needed to be killed from then on, just a few
tazed.
4 - Convenient that a tazer blast pretty much always kills the crawling enemies, helps save the limited ammo. Always enjoyable when he tazes an enemy to steal their weapon and
then just leaves them standing weaponless behind him. Very quick getting to the two steam valves after the shovel sparks the fire. Again, quickly kills the shotgun weilding
enemy near the final train car area. Its a good thing enemies are content with leaving Ethan alone as he investigates things in neighboring rooms
Very nearly dies to the
sledge enemy while in the subway car after taunting him, not that it makes a difference in the long run. With such little health its good that the guy with a revolver near the
end is a terrible shot, haha.
5 - Beautiful shot on the enemy with the shotgun running by after getting to the lower level. Other than that, a solid stage.
6 - Really short stage, killed the enemies under the bridge very quickly to get the gate open
7 - A shame that the guy with the axe that chops down the door can't be tazed or killed right away, he runs so far so fast :-P How did that guy get in the area with the
computer? Good thing Rosa is invincible, haha. Of course, she also walks incredibly slow to the door she needs to unlock. Very quick kills to clear the final room.
8 - Wow, that enemy at the door by the second sighting of the lunch lady really took a beating. Killed her quite fast though, don't think I ever had a shotgun for that fight.
The rifle from the playground (?!) makes short work of everyone. I swear that one time on the xbox version of the game, I ran through the pool and got to the ladder before the
fight scene started, and it skipped the whole thing. I was never able to recreate it, nor was Insipid able to in his run, however :-/
9 - For once the game actually lets you walk a good distance while talking on your phone! That kick glitch is so strange, I wonder why it's just this stage that it works in?
Maybe I'm forgetting something, but is there any particular reason to go to the basement first, considering you have to go back there to the mirror later? I didn't think it
mattered what order you got the clues in. Great call on the crowbar to get the guns out of the locker. And a fantastic job getting SKX stuck in that corner, kind of funny how
when VanHorn hits you, you just teleport to the top of the stairs, haha.
10/1 - Great job running again, I think this is the only time in the entire run that he actually blocks some attacks! Haha. Its also great how the enemies often get caught up
fighting each other when they are trying to hit him.
10/2 - Once again, about as quick killing the first wave of enemies as I can imagine, took a couple of hits, but in the end probably only a couple of seconds could be shaved
off. The final checkpoint segment cut off a bit of the last regular enemy being killed, just a wierd time for it to checkpoint, might want to look at that. Fire axe poke FTW!
Also, just an FYI, control for this stage technically ends at the gun shot in the trunk, for whomever ends up timing it.
that need to be killed, and the 'poke' attack for any of the rest, which definitely hurts much more than stardard attacks. Also, very quick with all of the investigation
scenes.
As for the PC vs. console separation, I'm just about always on the side of considering PC runs separate. For this game I think it really comes down to the ease of aiming with
a mouse vs. joystick. Plus, on the console version you had to hold in the left joystick to sprint, which I always thought was insanely awkward. Must be so much easier to just
have a key bound to sprint.
Individual Level Notes:
1 - Not much more can be done with this stage as far as I can see, the runner pretty much never stopped moving the entire time. Quickly killed the two men at the end that cause
the final door to open.
2 - Great use of the tazer to block the chasing enemies behind while using the sledge to break the lock. Almost didn't see him turn on the elevator fuse box in the basement he
did it so fast. Fantastic that the one guy's dead body got stuck in the elevator door :-P Great job tazing the guy with the shotgun near the photo room, enemies with guns are
easily one of the biggest dangers on this difficulty.
3 - Once again, running pretty much the whole time so I can't see any ways of really improving this. I expected him to turn and grab the shotgun off the enemy right before the
second fire axe door after chopping it down, but he opted not to, probably wouldn't have mattered because no other enemies really needed to be killed from then on, just a few
tazed.
4 - Convenient that a tazer blast pretty much always kills the crawling enemies, helps save the limited ammo. Always enjoyable when he tazes an enemy to steal their weapon and
then just leaves them standing weaponless behind him. Very quick getting to the two steam valves after the shovel sparks the fire. Again, quickly kills the shotgun weilding
enemy near the final train car area. Its a good thing enemies are content with leaving Ethan alone as he investigates things in neighboring rooms
sledge enemy while in the subway car after taunting him, not that it makes a difference in the long run. With such little health its good that the guy with a revolver near the
end is a terrible shot, haha.
5 - Beautiful shot on the enemy with the shotgun running by after getting to the lower level. Other than that, a solid stage.
6 - Really short stage, killed the enemies under the bridge very quickly to get the gate open
7 - A shame that the guy with the axe that chops down the door can't be tazed or killed right away, he runs so far so fast :-P How did that guy get in the area with the
computer? Good thing Rosa is invincible, haha. Of course, she also walks incredibly slow to the door she needs to unlock. Very quick kills to clear the final room.
8 - Wow, that enemy at the door by the second sighting of the lunch lady really took a beating. Killed her quite fast though, don't think I ever had a shotgun for that fight.
The rifle from the playground (?!) makes short work of everyone. I swear that one time on the xbox version of the game, I ran through the pool and got to the ladder before the
fight scene started, and it skipped the whole thing. I was never able to recreate it, nor was Insipid able to in his run, however :-/
9 - For once the game actually lets you walk a good distance while talking on your phone! That kick glitch is so strange, I wonder why it's just this stage that it works in?
Maybe I'm forgetting something, but is there any particular reason to go to the basement first, considering you have to go back there to the mirror later? I didn't think it
mattered what order you got the clues in. Great call on the crowbar to get the guns out of the locker. And a fantastic job getting SKX stuck in that corner, kind of funny how
when VanHorn hits you, you just teleport to the top of the stairs, haha.
10/1 - Great job running again, I think this is the only time in the entire run that he actually blocks some attacks! Haha. Its also great how the enemies often get caught up
fighting each other when they are trying to hit him.
10/2 - Once again, about as quick killing the first wave of enemies as I can imagine, took a couple of hits, but in the end probably only a couple of seconds could be shaved
off. The final checkpoint segment cut off a bit of the last regular enemy being killed, just a wierd time for it to checkpoint, might want to look at that. Fire axe poke FTW!
Also, just an FYI, control for this stage technically ends at the gun shot in the trunk, for whomever ends up timing it.
Quote:
To answer a question asked by (redacted) earlier: You can't go into the basement until you first get all of the hidden clues written on the walls and furniture. One of these clues is in a locked room on the second floor whose only entrance is through the ceiling.
My official review below:
Condemned: Criminal Origins for PC - Verification Review
Bottom line: Easy accept. I have some issues with treating this on the same level as a console run, and I HATE that the runner used so many completely unnecessary segments, but the run can barely be improved from my standpoint.
In depth:
First and foremost: 88 segments is absolutely ridiculous. PC game runners need to get this shit under control, immediately.
No audio/video issues about which to complain. No continuity issues.
Level 1:
Ugh, GOD it sucks having to watch this intro again. I sympathize for the runner if he had to do this segment more than once (which is terribly likely). Same goes for when he had to run any of the segments with long intros.
Seriously, watch how the NPC's just waddle around at maximum "moping" speed. Ughhh. And also, what is UP with Officer Becker's face?
Anyway. Blah blah, crime scene, blah blah. Whoa! Nice trick canceling the cinema by running against the door to the next room! I checked to see if this was possible on the console: it was. Therefore, this is not a reason for separate categories. Good find by the runner.
Gotta love the f-bomb again around 7:30. Ah, I miss running this game. Wait, no, no I don't.
At around 8 minutes, the runner seems to have stepped just a tad further than he needed to trigger the next scripted event.
God, this game is nothing but scripted scares. I played through FEAR and FEAR 2 not too long ago. I'm officially sick of Monolith style horror.
Woot@ninja high-kicking the glass window. One thing that is unfair about this version as opposed to the console version is that it is WAY easier to do the "poke" move than in the console version. In the console, it's like you have to hit the attack button WHILE pushing down on the control stick WHILE pulling the control stick downwards. This is just one of many examples of how the controls in the Xbox version are assssss. I still think it's a little unfair to treat this run as being in the same category as the console version because of this kind of control issue (and many, many other control issues), but I'm not going to argue about this.
Nice finish in the last area. The runner was able to get the thugs where he wanted them a little better than I was.
The plot in this game really baffles me. He's running for his LIFE from the FEDS for the entire game because ... a criminal took his gun and shot two officers with it?
Do they REALLY think ETHAN did that? And would they really make Ethan top priority on the wanted lists for the death of two people when there's a serial killer around who has at least nine to his own name??? Stupid.
Level 2:
Man. Speaking of obnoxious intros.
Wow, that was the quickest crowbar grab of all time. Would put the Half-Life runners to shame.
So much of this run looks identical to my Xbox run, gotta say. That's not really the runner's fault. All Mario Brothers runs are going to look the same too. It's just too bad there is no room for different strategies in this linear-fest.
A little trouble killing the thug at around 8 minutes, eh? Yeah I think I had trouble too.
Okay, that glitch at about 9 minutes is awesome. Wall clipping ftw.
I will hand the runner this: much quicker, more polished way to deal with the room with the shotgun! Also, the runner got lucky in that the camera was not waaay out of focus at the outset, like it was for me.
I wish I could have used guns in my run (were it not for them godawful controls again). The shotgun is doing a fine job in this run, though, and it had JUST enough bullets to reach the end.
Level 3:
I love how Ethan walks down the stairs like either a geriatric or a phobic, using every single tiny step. Gotta' let the game do its dumb little scene at the bottom.
Good job NOT missing that second guy with the taser like I did in my run. Though, based on the fact that I didn't actually have to hit him in my run to continue, I kind of wonder if it would have been quicker and yet still safe enough to ignore that guy. The runner has plenty of health left at the end of the level, after all.
This is a good example of extra segments that REALLY aren't needed. He's doing the exact same stuff I was doing in my run, but I did it one sitting. And it only took like a couple days of practice.
Gotta' love how that last guy can take a metal handrail to the face so well. Once again, you have to let monolith do its stupid little scene. I'm a bitter person.
Level 4:
What's with that beeping at the beginning? Was it doing that on my run??
Oh that taser. What a godsend. I like how after you use it on the guy under the ladder, Ethan climbs up the ladder with his hand in the wrong place. Luckily for him, there was another, invisible ladder right above the visible one.
At 3 minutes I had to ask: from where on earth did Ethan get these ridiculous gadgets? I wish I could say something more about the first six minutes, but it's kind of just my run all over again but with guns.
Whoa, hey, did he even turn that crank?? I assume he hit it super fast, but that is DEFINITELY something you can't do on the console. You have to sit there and wait for like three or four seconds before you can hit the prompt.
Nice job avoiding the fights between 6:30 and around 7:10. I could never get away from this on the console version.
Ummmmmmm ... so where the hell are those people that are supposed to attack after you shut off the fire????? They show up every time without fail in the console version.
Very interesting decision to skip the fights at 9:30. Never tried that. As always: when in doubt, assume you can skip it.
Holy crap@that hit he took at 11:15! Geez, that was certainly death defying.
I love Rosa's characterization of the Burnside area. Class tension, much? I also love her distinctions between "nasty people" and "beyond-nasty people." Quite clever, that one.
Taser and more skipped fights to end. How the hell did that guy NOT hit you with any of his bullets? Oh well, you got away with it somehow. Nice.
Level 5:
Yes, Ethan, maybe you HAVE gone crazy. That would certainly have made for a far more interesting plot.
See, again there was no need for that first segment. Nothing dangerous even happened, aside from tasering that first guy. Practicing for this apart from the second segment makes no sense.
Lol @ 3:45. As I said in my own comments, even serial killing girls run like sissy fairies.
Hmm. The segment at 4:45 seems to have saved the runner from being hit by that mannequin he tasered. Wow, those guys at 5:00 won't chase you down? That's cool.
Awww, we didn't get to see the mannequins cornering you. That was always one of the cooler dream sequences in the game. But yeah, it was unnecessary.
I like how the guy at 7:00 was apparently just tapping at the boards with a BB gun before breaking into the room ... God, I wish "poke" was easier to do on console.
Uh, the matchmaker scene. God, the procedural crap in this game is so annoying when during a speedrun ... God, I also wish "shooting" was easier to do on console.
You know, Ethan's voice in the first game was sooooo much better than his voice in the second game. Too bad Monolith thought it would be so bad ass if he sounded like every other video game hero ever when they made Bloodshot.
Pretty much perfect execution.
Level 6:
Lol. "What is this city coming to?" Okay, that's a pretty fair reaction, I'd say.
Wow that magnum is hardcore.
Finally, a level that's as short as what is accomplished plotwise. DAMNIT I WISH GUNS WEREN'T SO LAME ON THE CONSOLE VERSION!
Once again, the alleyway seems to be slicked up with oil grease. I don't think there's a dumpster in the universe with wheels that work as they're supposed to.
Hey, Officer Becker! Someone resurrected you from the dead!!! Welcome back! This level is so easy.
Level 7:
That little rat scene looks PRETTY lame when you actually just try to run through it.
Okay, am I the only person who didn't expect Rosa to look like that when you finally got to see her? LMBO. Images of your NECK were redacted. Makes no sense right? Wait until you see the second game's pathetic attempt at explaining this. Oh my god it is SO lame.
Too bad the super taser doesn't really work as well as the regular one. By the way, why doesn't Ethan have to reset his taser after he uses it?
Okay, at 4:00, everybody watch how long it takes Rosa to get friggin kidnapped. What a helpless person. I think she saw Serial Killer X in the hallway and made a running start before she jumped in ecstasy into his arms.
At 5:00, welcome to one of the MANY physical evidence scenes that goes completely unexplained in this game.
So what exactly goes on in these run down places? It's like a virtual "thug economy." With little thug husbands and thug wives taking care of their thug children, trying to pay for their thug cardboard box to live in by working as a thug bookshelf protector.
Another pointless evidence scene at 6:30.
Hidden loading scene as we wait on the elevator. This actually takes the same amount of time as on the console version.
UGH I hated this part. The thugs can shoot you THROUGH THE FRIGGIN FLOOR. So, our runner wisely decides to kill them all before going up. But, I'm going to count this as time wasted, because I was able to get past it without killing them and I wasn't even segmenting the level. He really should have skipped killing those guys. He could have reloaded from the checkpoint and gotten through this part without dying if he really set his mind to it. I know he's running this on a harder difficulty, but if I could do it on the console version in one sitting, then he could do it while segmenting on the PC version.
God that beeping is so annoying now that I've noticed it.
I love that Serial Killer X had to force Rosa to use the internet for him. What a noob. Anyway, I guess Rosa's little romantic liason with Serial Killer X didn't go as planned.
WTF??? How did that dude get in the computer room???? AWESOME GLITCH SIGHTING!!! Lol. What a pussy. One kick to the gut and that little tantrum is over with.
Ugh. These real time scenes are going to be an ever growing problem for Newer Console speedruns, methinks. OH MY GOD! Rosa was kidnapped again!! Oh wait, no, she made it to the receptionist desk without incident. She was just hobbling.
At 13:00. How convenient for us to be split up into the "safe" half of the archives and the "thug infested" half. Either that or Rosa learned how to defend herself from all her time cohorting with Serial Killer X.
Lol@14:00. That's right folks. When you take a 2x4 to the back of the head, you should just keep on going. That's what Jesus would have wanted. Congrats to the runner for resisting the urge to turn around and lay the smackdown on that clown.
Hmm, was that a miss with the super taser at 14:15? Lol at 14:30. Clearly the thugs couldn't decide who would get the pleasure of taking buckshot to the face first. Having not run this game in awhile, I kind of forget: How are you keeping contact with Rosa at this point? Is there just a hole in the ceiling every five feet? Talk about "how convenient."
Seriously, the super taser seems to seriously KILL those little guys. I'd rather take a proton pack than that thing.
Nice. Better route than mine at 15:00. Good find.
Wait, so the school has been closed for five years? Yet the TEACHER was still there for Carl Anderson to torture? Errr, k.
Nice job laying waste in the final room. It wasn't too hard for me either, if I remember correctly. Hey, you copied me by beating on Rosa! Now that's just uncalled for.
Level 8:
From across the street? You mean that cramped alley running longways from the school between those crow infested warehouses? Yeah, what a coinkidink.
Lol, the dream sequences in this game are so see through.
Nice! Caught "Big Edna" in the old disappearing act. One problem with the run I have here is that there was not any need to kill all of the guys at about 1:30. He killed four of these little scrappers whereas I only killed two and tasered a third.
That guy at 2:35 is pretty tough for being a 90 pound skinless crack addict who lives in a dilapidated school 24/7. I remember having to smack him up a few times in my run as well. Good job tasering through some unnecessary foes at around 3 minutes. I think I did about the same thing except I killed the first guy in order to get a gun, since I hadn't been collecting every shotgun along the way.
Oh boy, it's time to fight Big Edna. I actually like it when there are far fewer bosses in a game than levels. Though, they could have made Edna a tad harder to kill. What on earth is her story? She's not a serial killer? She's not working there now that the school is closed, either. So ... is she a meat chopping enthusiast?
Ah, no butcher knife?
Good job not putting away that camera on accident... like I did. Guh. Hey, it's Mr. Tibbits's arm! I guess Tibbets vs. Torturer didn't end up being the Hector-Achilles showdown I was hoping for.
Wha, whaaaat?? But, that .. that's MY CHARACTER lying dead on the floor at 5:45!!! ZOMG!1!!1!!1! -Yeah, not scary Monolith. And what the hell is that "Hate" guy doing there? Seducing you?
Okay, I've gotta know how he opened that gate at 6:25 so early. I tried what the runner does here myself with seemingly no luck. Also, at this point, I'd like to ask a question that I keep forgetting to ask: How is the game any different on hard??? It looks identical.
At 7:45. Ready for the most overrated scare scene ever? Seriously, who doesn't see this coming? Though, seriously terrific voice acting. By the way, apparently the Torturer's self-defense style is "bend over and take it." On a related note, how was this "the victim killing himself" anyway, Mr. Torturer? Sure looks like he bled to death hiding in a friggin locker. Sounds like legitimate murder to me.
At 10:50. Here is where dragonGod said it was possible to reach the near ladder in the pool before any thugs drop into the room. But, this runner was not able to duplicate this glitch, either. Well, that makes me feel better, anyway. By the way, why is everyone attacking you in this game? They sure seem to get along with EACH OTHER well enough. Also, they seem to leave their uzi's sitting around in high school swimming pools for no apparent reason.
Hmm, seems like there were more thugs here than in my run. Hard mode?
I have no idea what's going on at 12:20. This part of the game makes no sense. It's just yet another dream sequence I guess. I suppose the idea is that you're being thrown about the room, telepathically. How telepathetic. End level.
Level 9:
Yep. They're still chasing Ethan for killing those two cops for absolutely no imaginable reason.
That kicking glitch is a really good find. Did the runner come up with it himself? I had never heard of it until this run. Looks funny too, so added bonus. It
looks more like you're sliding through the air.
At 3:30 ish the runner sees the boards disappear. For some reason the runner didn't notice that I recorded the same thing happening in my run. Lol
Damn that guy sure BOOKED up them stairs. Didn't Monolith do any product testing on this game to make sure people couldn't reach the NPC's that run from the player?
You know, I always thought the guys were jumping into the house with limited randomness. I guess it's always the same place, judging from the runner's positioning. Geez were there this many guys when I did the run? Or is this another effect of hard mode?
Why didn't Carl Anderson just do what Ethan is doing? You know, fight BACK with the fire poker? Ahh, I love watching Ethan's stupid little plan fail. Yeah Ethan, put the blood on your face too ... cuz, you know, he's going to be able to see your face from the door. Also, huddle yourself over a fire poker instead of just hiding behind the door. Man, Serial Killer X is STILL climbing those stairs? I could cook a pizza in that time. And Ethan was able to change clothes, put blood on his face, and take Carl's position on top of a fire poker, and he's an indecisive loser.
Holy crap @ 11:45. Yeah, THAT strategy is definitely not possible without a gun. Brilliant idea man.
Wow. Serial Killer X must have learned to eat shotgun at some point. I would have thought that shotgun would do way more damage to him than this. It doesn't help anything that you had to finish him off with the butt of the gun. This game was clearly meant to be based on melee, I think. Anyway, it only took the runner about 35 seconds to win this fight whereas it took me something like 1:05. And yes, it is quite hysterical that you are transported back to the stairs.
Level 10:
Ugh. Yes, Mr. X. You've been using me. And, you're eccentric. Got it.
So what is going the f*ck on here??? I mean REALLY. Oh, okay, thanks old man for the assist. Don't tug on his shoulder too hard, because we wouldn't want him to hurt his little self. So, is the Hate possessing Mr. X? God, who cares.
Hey, the fire isn't ruining your resolution! That's good. An unwanted side effect of recording on standard definition with my DVD player.
Good fighting throughout! Why are sooo many thugs hanging out in this apple orchard for crying out loud? Is it "criminals' woodstock" or something?
Runner gets to the barn. And there he is. "The Hate." The "one" who is "causing all this." Yeah, figure that out. And why is "The Hate" covered in crap that can be ripped out? Great plan for running a fight club, there Sephiroth. Just stick a pull string down your spine! And don't forget to replace your mouth with a cheese grater.
Blah blah. Kill Mr. X in the car trunk. I like that Ethan is at least acting like a regular human being at this point. That is, until Condemned: Bloodshot. Ughhhh. "That's me. Ethan Thomas. Drunk. Tired. And pissed off." UGGGGHHHHHHHHH that was the exact moment I knew I was going to hate Bloodshot. Seriously, f*ck that stupid game.
And yeah yeah, I get that "The Hate" might be symbolic. But, that's pretty weak. The WHOLE THING should be symbolic, or in Ethan's head. Just when you think the game might even go the insanity route, Rosa has to come in with her super lame "cult" explanation. Almost as lame as when they did that in Silent Hill.
So... how did Ethan exonerate himself exactly? Couldn't have been anything new that happened in the tenth level. Ethan killed a bunch of nameless thugs, again, and then mutilated a fictional villain. Mr. X was driven away by Vanhorn. And Vanhorn sure didn't stick around for the police. I guess Ethan just really sold his story this time. Maybe he coughed up some tears to gain some sympathy.
Monolith is fascinated with people who vomit without warning.
THE END.
Definite accept.
The runner obviously benefited a LOT from the added precision of mouse control, as he chased down just about every relevant gun in the game. And, I'd have to say that doing so paid off pretty handily. But beyond that, the runner also fixed some of my mistakes and found some nice routes/fighting techniques, like when he fought Serial Killer X, when he ran through the library, when he fought the gauntlet in the 9th level, and when he skipped past the schoolyard fight.
The biggest problem I have with the run is the over-segmentation. I would commend the runner for blowing me away with his skill if he had run each level individually and completely in one sitting, but instead ... 88 segments? I'd say no less than like 20 of those were completely unnecessary, and that's being conservative. PC gamers should not use segmentation as a crutch to push out nearly all risk of failure on a given section.
Obviously, it's unfair to lump that all on this particular runner, since so many PC runners have done this in the past and established kind of a tradition. But, partly because this run stands to replace my own, I find it a bit frustrating that super long levels which have frustrating combat sequences and sometimes unpredictable AI (certainly not always, but more than not at all), can be reduced to five super short segments with only particularized instances of randomness.
Part of the problem is unique to this game: it really doesn't make sense to run this game in a single segment, because the game forces you out of continuous play at the end of each level. So, unless you want to run a game that forces you to manipulate menus between levels, it is way more natural to segment this kind of game at least once per level. Plus, it raises continuity issues since it's easier to splice a game if you have to go to the menu to select the next level. So, it's kind of like MY run was the single segment equivalent for this game and this was the multi segment equivalent.
Anyway, none of that is to say that the run is bad. I can think of very few ways to improve this run, if any, and that's a huge credit to the runner. As I said before, this is a pretty simple accept.
My official review below:
Condemned: Criminal Origins for PC - Verification Review
Bottom line: Easy accept. I have some issues with treating this on the same level as a console run, and I HATE that the runner used so many completely unnecessary segments, but the run can barely be improved from my standpoint.
In depth:
First and foremost: 88 segments is absolutely ridiculous. PC game runners need to get this shit under control, immediately.
No audio/video issues about which to complain. No continuity issues.
Level 1:
Ugh, GOD it sucks having to watch this intro again. I sympathize for the runner if he had to do this segment more than once (which is terribly likely). Same goes for when he had to run any of the segments with long intros.
Seriously, watch how the NPC's just waddle around at maximum "moping" speed. Ughhh. And also, what is UP with Officer Becker's face?
Anyway. Blah blah, crime scene, blah blah. Whoa! Nice trick canceling the cinema by running against the door to the next room! I checked to see if this was possible on the console: it was. Therefore, this is not a reason for separate categories. Good find by the runner.
Gotta love the f-bomb again around 7:30. Ah, I miss running this game. Wait, no, no I don't.
At around 8 minutes, the runner seems to have stepped just a tad further than he needed to trigger the next scripted event.
God, this game is nothing but scripted scares. I played through FEAR and FEAR 2 not too long ago. I'm officially sick of Monolith style horror.
Woot@ninja high-kicking the glass window. One thing that is unfair about this version as opposed to the console version is that it is WAY easier to do the "poke" move than in the console version. In the console, it's like you have to hit the attack button WHILE pushing down on the control stick WHILE pulling the control stick downwards. This is just one of many examples of how the controls in the Xbox version are assssss. I still think it's a little unfair to treat this run as being in the same category as the console version because of this kind of control issue (and many, many other control issues), but I'm not going to argue about this.
Nice finish in the last area. The runner was able to get the thugs where he wanted them a little better than I was.
The plot in this game really baffles me. He's running for his LIFE from the FEDS for the entire game because ... a criminal took his gun and shot two officers with it?
Do they REALLY think ETHAN did that? And would they really make Ethan top priority on the wanted lists for the death of two people when there's a serial killer around who has at least nine to his own name??? Stupid.
Level 2:
Man. Speaking of obnoxious intros.
Wow, that was the quickest crowbar grab of all time. Would put the Half-Life runners to shame.
So much of this run looks identical to my Xbox run, gotta say. That's not really the runner's fault. All Mario Brothers runs are going to look the same too. It's just too bad there is no room for different strategies in this linear-fest.
A little trouble killing the thug at around 8 minutes, eh? Yeah I think I had trouble too.
Okay, that glitch at about 9 minutes is awesome. Wall clipping ftw.
I will hand the runner this: much quicker, more polished way to deal with the room with the shotgun! Also, the runner got lucky in that the camera was not waaay out of focus at the outset, like it was for me.
I wish I could have used guns in my run (were it not for them godawful controls again). The shotgun is doing a fine job in this run, though, and it had JUST enough bullets to reach the end.
Level 3:
I love how Ethan walks down the stairs like either a geriatric or a phobic, using every single tiny step. Gotta' let the game do its dumb little scene at the bottom.
Good job NOT missing that second guy with the taser like I did in my run. Though, based on the fact that I didn't actually have to hit him in my run to continue, I kind of wonder if it would have been quicker and yet still safe enough to ignore that guy. The runner has plenty of health left at the end of the level, after all.
This is a good example of extra segments that REALLY aren't needed. He's doing the exact same stuff I was doing in my run, but I did it one sitting. And it only took like a couple days of practice.
Gotta' love how that last guy can take a metal handrail to the face so well. Once again, you have to let monolith do its stupid little scene. I'm a bitter person.
Level 4:
What's with that beeping at the beginning? Was it doing that on my run??
Oh that taser. What a godsend. I like how after you use it on the guy under the ladder, Ethan climbs up the ladder with his hand in the wrong place. Luckily for him, there was another, invisible ladder right above the visible one.
At 3 minutes I had to ask: from where on earth did Ethan get these ridiculous gadgets? I wish I could say something more about the first six minutes, but it's kind of just my run all over again but with guns.
Whoa, hey, did he even turn that crank?? I assume he hit it super fast, but that is DEFINITELY something you can't do on the console. You have to sit there and wait for like three or four seconds before you can hit the prompt.
Nice job avoiding the fights between 6:30 and around 7:10. I could never get away from this on the console version.
Ummmmmmm ... so where the hell are those people that are supposed to attack after you shut off the fire????? They show up every time without fail in the console version.
Very interesting decision to skip the fights at 9:30. Never tried that. As always: when in doubt, assume you can skip it.
Holy crap@that hit he took at 11:15! Geez, that was certainly death defying.
I love Rosa's characterization of the Burnside area. Class tension, much? I also love her distinctions between "nasty people" and "beyond-nasty people." Quite clever, that one.
Taser and more skipped fights to end. How the hell did that guy NOT hit you with any of his bullets? Oh well, you got away with it somehow. Nice.
Level 5:
Yes, Ethan, maybe you HAVE gone crazy. That would certainly have made for a far more interesting plot.
See, again there was no need for that first segment. Nothing dangerous even happened, aside from tasering that first guy. Practicing for this apart from the second segment makes no sense.
Lol @ 3:45. As I said in my own comments, even serial killing girls run like sissy fairies.
Hmm. The segment at 4:45 seems to have saved the runner from being hit by that mannequin he tasered. Wow, those guys at 5:00 won't chase you down? That's cool.
Awww, we didn't get to see the mannequins cornering you. That was always one of the cooler dream sequences in the game. But yeah, it was unnecessary.
I like how the guy at 7:00 was apparently just tapping at the boards with a BB gun before breaking into the room ... God, I wish "poke" was easier to do on console.
Uh, the matchmaker scene. God, the procedural crap in this game is so annoying when during a speedrun ... God, I also wish "shooting" was easier to do on console.
You know, Ethan's voice in the first game was sooooo much better than his voice in the second game. Too bad Monolith thought it would be so bad ass if he sounded like every other video game hero ever when they made Bloodshot.
Pretty much perfect execution.
Level 6:
Lol. "What is this city coming to?" Okay, that's a pretty fair reaction, I'd say.
Wow that magnum is hardcore.
Finally, a level that's as short as what is accomplished plotwise. DAMNIT I WISH GUNS WEREN'T SO LAME ON THE CONSOLE VERSION!
Once again, the alleyway seems to be slicked up with oil grease. I don't think there's a dumpster in the universe with wheels that work as they're supposed to.
Hey, Officer Becker! Someone resurrected you from the dead!!! Welcome back! This level is so easy.
Level 7:
That little rat scene looks PRETTY lame when you actually just try to run through it.
Okay, am I the only person who didn't expect Rosa to look like that when you finally got to see her? LMBO. Images of your NECK were redacted. Makes no sense right? Wait until you see the second game's pathetic attempt at explaining this. Oh my god it is SO lame.
Too bad the super taser doesn't really work as well as the regular one. By the way, why doesn't Ethan have to reset his taser after he uses it?
Okay, at 4:00, everybody watch how long it takes Rosa to get friggin kidnapped. What a helpless person. I think she saw Serial Killer X in the hallway and made a running start before she jumped in ecstasy into his arms.
At 5:00, welcome to one of the MANY physical evidence scenes that goes completely unexplained in this game.
So what exactly goes on in these run down places? It's like a virtual "thug economy." With little thug husbands and thug wives taking care of their thug children, trying to pay for their thug cardboard box to live in by working as a thug bookshelf protector.
Another pointless evidence scene at 6:30.
Hidden loading scene as we wait on the elevator. This actually takes the same amount of time as on the console version.
UGH I hated this part. The thugs can shoot you THROUGH THE FRIGGIN FLOOR. So, our runner wisely decides to kill them all before going up. But, I'm going to count this as time wasted, because I was able to get past it without killing them and I wasn't even segmenting the level. He really should have skipped killing those guys. He could have reloaded from the checkpoint and gotten through this part without dying if he really set his mind to it. I know he's running this on a harder difficulty, but if I could do it on the console version in one sitting, then he could do it while segmenting on the PC version.
God that beeping is so annoying now that I've noticed it.
I love that Serial Killer X had to force Rosa to use the internet for him. What a noob. Anyway, I guess Rosa's little romantic liason with Serial Killer X didn't go as planned.
WTF??? How did that dude get in the computer room???? AWESOME GLITCH SIGHTING!!! Lol. What a pussy. One kick to the gut and that little tantrum is over with.
Ugh. These real time scenes are going to be an ever growing problem for Newer Console speedruns, methinks. OH MY GOD! Rosa was kidnapped again!! Oh wait, no, she made it to the receptionist desk without incident. She was just hobbling.
At 13:00. How convenient for us to be split up into the "safe" half of the archives and the "thug infested" half. Either that or Rosa learned how to defend herself from all her time cohorting with Serial Killer X.
Lol@14:00. That's right folks. When you take a 2x4 to the back of the head, you should just keep on going. That's what Jesus would have wanted. Congrats to the runner for resisting the urge to turn around and lay the smackdown on that clown.
Hmm, was that a miss with the super taser at 14:15? Lol at 14:30. Clearly the thugs couldn't decide who would get the pleasure of taking buckshot to the face first. Having not run this game in awhile, I kind of forget: How are you keeping contact with Rosa at this point? Is there just a hole in the ceiling every five feet? Talk about "how convenient."
Seriously, the super taser seems to seriously KILL those little guys. I'd rather take a proton pack than that thing.
Nice. Better route than mine at 15:00. Good find.
Wait, so the school has been closed for five years? Yet the TEACHER was still there for Carl Anderson to torture? Errr, k.
Nice job laying waste in the final room. It wasn't too hard for me either, if I remember correctly. Hey, you copied me by beating on Rosa! Now that's just uncalled for.
Level 8:
From across the street? You mean that cramped alley running longways from the school between those crow infested warehouses? Yeah, what a coinkidink.
Lol, the dream sequences in this game are so see through.
Nice! Caught "Big Edna" in the old disappearing act. One problem with the run I have here is that there was not any need to kill all of the guys at about 1:30. He killed four of these little scrappers whereas I only killed two and tasered a third.
That guy at 2:35 is pretty tough for being a 90 pound skinless crack addict who lives in a dilapidated school 24/7. I remember having to smack him up a few times in my run as well. Good job tasering through some unnecessary foes at around 3 minutes. I think I did about the same thing except I killed the first guy in order to get a gun, since I hadn't been collecting every shotgun along the way.
Oh boy, it's time to fight Big Edna. I actually like it when there are far fewer bosses in a game than levels. Though, they could have made Edna a tad harder to kill. What on earth is her story? She's not a serial killer? She's not working there now that the school is closed, either. So ... is she a meat chopping enthusiast?
Ah, no butcher knife?
Good job not putting away that camera on accident... like I did. Guh. Hey, it's Mr. Tibbits's arm! I guess Tibbets vs. Torturer didn't end up being the Hector-Achilles showdown I was hoping for.
Wha, whaaaat?? But, that .. that's MY CHARACTER lying dead on the floor at 5:45!!! ZOMG!1!!1!!1! -Yeah, not scary Monolith. And what the hell is that "Hate" guy doing there? Seducing you?
Okay, I've gotta know how he opened that gate at 6:25 so early. I tried what the runner does here myself with seemingly no luck. Also, at this point, I'd like to ask a question that I keep forgetting to ask: How is the game any different on hard??? It looks identical.
At 7:45. Ready for the most overrated scare scene ever? Seriously, who doesn't see this coming? Though, seriously terrific voice acting. By the way, apparently the Torturer's self-defense style is "bend over and take it." On a related note, how was this "the victim killing himself" anyway, Mr. Torturer? Sure looks like he bled to death hiding in a friggin locker. Sounds like legitimate murder to me.
At 10:50. Here is where dragonGod said it was possible to reach the near ladder in the pool before any thugs drop into the room. But, this runner was not able to duplicate this glitch, either. Well, that makes me feel better, anyway. By the way, why is everyone attacking you in this game? They sure seem to get along with EACH OTHER well enough. Also, they seem to leave their uzi's sitting around in high school swimming pools for no apparent reason.
Hmm, seems like there were more thugs here than in my run. Hard mode?
I have no idea what's going on at 12:20. This part of the game makes no sense. It's just yet another dream sequence I guess. I suppose the idea is that you're being thrown about the room, telepathically. How telepathetic. End level.
Level 9:
Yep. They're still chasing Ethan for killing those two cops for absolutely no imaginable reason.
That kicking glitch is a really good find. Did the runner come up with it himself? I had never heard of it until this run. Looks funny too, so added bonus. It
looks more like you're sliding through the air.
At 3:30 ish the runner sees the boards disappear. For some reason the runner didn't notice that I recorded the same thing happening in my run. Lol
Damn that guy sure BOOKED up them stairs. Didn't Monolith do any product testing on this game to make sure people couldn't reach the NPC's that run from the player?
You know, I always thought the guys were jumping into the house with limited randomness. I guess it's always the same place, judging from the runner's positioning. Geez were there this many guys when I did the run? Or is this another effect of hard mode?
Why didn't Carl Anderson just do what Ethan is doing? You know, fight BACK with the fire poker? Ahh, I love watching Ethan's stupid little plan fail. Yeah Ethan, put the blood on your face too ... cuz, you know, he's going to be able to see your face from the door. Also, huddle yourself over a fire poker instead of just hiding behind the door. Man, Serial Killer X is STILL climbing those stairs? I could cook a pizza in that time. And Ethan was able to change clothes, put blood on his face, and take Carl's position on top of a fire poker, and he's an indecisive loser.
Holy crap @ 11:45. Yeah, THAT strategy is definitely not possible without a gun. Brilliant idea man.
Wow. Serial Killer X must have learned to eat shotgun at some point. I would have thought that shotgun would do way more damage to him than this. It doesn't help anything that you had to finish him off with the butt of the gun. This game was clearly meant to be based on melee, I think. Anyway, it only took the runner about 35 seconds to win this fight whereas it took me something like 1:05. And yes, it is quite hysterical that you are transported back to the stairs.
Level 10:
Ugh. Yes, Mr. X. You've been using me. And, you're eccentric. Got it.
So what is going the f*ck on here??? I mean REALLY. Oh, okay, thanks old man for the assist. Don't tug on his shoulder too hard, because we wouldn't want him to hurt his little self. So, is the Hate possessing Mr. X? God, who cares.
Hey, the fire isn't ruining your resolution! That's good. An unwanted side effect of recording on standard definition with my DVD player.
Good fighting throughout! Why are sooo many thugs hanging out in this apple orchard for crying out loud? Is it "criminals' woodstock" or something?
Runner gets to the barn. And there he is. "The Hate." The "one" who is "causing all this." Yeah, figure that out. And why is "The Hate" covered in crap that can be ripped out? Great plan for running a fight club, there Sephiroth. Just stick a pull string down your spine! And don't forget to replace your mouth with a cheese grater.
Blah blah. Kill Mr. X in the car trunk. I like that Ethan is at least acting like a regular human being at this point. That is, until Condemned: Bloodshot. Ughhhh. "That's me. Ethan Thomas. Drunk. Tired. And pissed off." UGGGGHHHHHHHHH that was the exact moment I knew I was going to hate Bloodshot. Seriously, f*ck that stupid game.
And yeah yeah, I get that "The Hate" might be symbolic. But, that's pretty weak. The WHOLE THING should be symbolic, or in Ethan's head. Just when you think the game might even go the insanity route, Rosa has to come in with her super lame "cult" explanation. Almost as lame as when they did that in Silent Hill.
So... how did Ethan exonerate himself exactly? Couldn't have been anything new that happened in the tenth level. Ethan killed a bunch of nameless thugs, again, and then mutilated a fictional villain. Mr. X was driven away by Vanhorn. And Vanhorn sure didn't stick around for the police. I guess Ethan just really sold his story this time. Maybe he coughed up some tears to gain some sympathy.
Monolith is fascinated with people who vomit without warning.
THE END.
Definite accept.
The runner obviously benefited a LOT from the added precision of mouse control, as he chased down just about every relevant gun in the game. And, I'd have to say that doing so paid off pretty handily. But beyond that, the runner also fixed some of my mistakes and found some nice routes/fighting techniques, like when he fought Serial Killer X, when he ran through the library, when he fought the gauntlet in the 9th level, and when he skipped past the schoolyard fight.
The biggest problem I have with the run is the over-segmentation. I would commend the runner for blowing me away with his skill if he had run each level individually and completely in one sitting, but instead ... 88 segments? I'd say no less than like 20 of those were completely unnecessary, and that's being conservative. PC gamers should not use segmentation as a crutch to push out nearly all risk of failure on a given section.
Obviously, it's unfair to lump that all on this particular runner, since so many PC runners have done this in the past and established kind of a tradition. But, partly because this run stands to replace my own, I find it a bit frustrating that super long levels which have frustrating combat sequences and sometimes unpredictable AI (certainly not always, but more than not at all), can be reduced to five super short segments with only particularized instances of randomness.
Part of the problem is unique to this game: it really doesn't make sense to run this game in a single segment, because the game forces you out of continuous play at the end of each level. So, unless you want to run a game that forces you to manipulate menus between levels, it is way more natural to segment this kind of game at least once per level. Plus, it raises continuity issues since it's easier to splice a game if you have to go to the menu to select the next level. So, it's kind of like MY run was the single segment equivalent for this game and this was the multi segment equivalent.
Anyway, none of that is to say that the run is bad. I can think of very few ways to improve this run, if any, and that's a huge credit to the runner. As I said before, this is a pretty simple accept.
Quote:
Condemned: Criminal Origins (Hard; PC)
Believe it or not, the gaming lawyer’s back, and this time with this…FPS…survival horror…forensic science mix of a game. Those things are somewhat interesting on their own, but will it blend? …meh…to a certain extent. I liked this game when I played it. It’s not amazing, but it’s an interesting ride.
This run contains 88 segments…yeah…I think that’s pretty much every checkpoint. As such, I’m just going to go by levels…
Chapter 1
We start with a very dramatic slide show. No really, it’s just a slide show with dramatic music behind it. We’re quickly introduced to Thomas, the main character, member of the FBI, who needs to be told to crouch under the police tape. The guy Tom’s with, Old-Crotchety Geezer, complains a lot…
So, as the first chapter is a tutorial level, this is going to be rather monotonous for speed running, but it’s gotta be done. We’re introduced to Lt. Rosa via Tom’s cell phone. Apparently, the FBI has this amazing magical equipment that automatically knows exactly which forensic tool Tom needs for that situation…so…yeah…
This game likes throwing a lot of random sounds at you. Anyway, the characters smell someone smoking, and they figure it’s time to whip out the guns and start killing people!
My GOD Tom moves so damned SLOW…I forgot that. Still, the runner’s doing a very good job with the headshots it’d seem, dropping two addicts with one shot each. Tom loses his gun though and now has to huff around this decrepit building weaponless.
Old guy meets up with Tom, but they’re in two different areas of the building, speaking through windows at each other. Tom’s like “I lost my gun” and Old guy’s like “Here, take this axe.” …yeah, kinda random, but we needed to know about melee weapons in this game since they are more prevalent than the guns. Tom also seemingly remember “Oh hey, I’ve got a taser,” which comes in handy.
You meet Crazy Murderer guy at the end of the chapter. He speaks nonsense (he’s crazy after all), kills Old guy and random cop guy, tosses you out what looks like a second or third story window onto a car below, and poof…end of the chapter.
Honestly, there’s not much to this chapter. The runner does well with the pathing, kills what he needs to, and is able to run through the chapter rather nicely.
Chapter 2
Tom wakes up. Kind of a surprise really, considering the end of Chapter 1, but hey…let’s roll with it. Wouldn’t be much of a game if the main character died 12 minutes into the game after all…
Tom comes to in his home on his sofa, still wearing his FBI jacket, and with a strange man sitting next to him. The man introduces himself as Vanhorn; a great friend of Tom’s father, and apparently the FBI wants to “question” Tom since the two dead guys were shot with Tom’s gun. Apparently the FBI and the police have already convicted Tom, and Vanhorn assures Tom that they will not listen to him, so Tom climbs out a window, grabs a shovel, and books it.
Rosa’s still on Tom’s side though, happily doing his instant lab work for him. Again, I really want to see where Tom is keeping all of these forensic tools… Vanhorn calls Tom and gives him the ole “trust your instincts” line and that’s about all we get from him.
Tom grabs a sledgehammer and pounds through a door, running past all sorts of enemies to get there. Vanhorn calls again…kinda rambling a bit, and says lots of things without reveling much in the way of information.
I can tell this run’s gonna be a lot of running past enemies and killing a specific few just to subdue them. Tom steals a shotgun from one of them because guns are cool. He finds a handprint that doesn’t give a hit from any database, and a lot of clippings from newspaper articles of cases Tom worked on. Tom then has a psychotic episode, but gets over it quickly.
Ya know...headshots are just so much fun with a shotgun…
And the chapter ends rather uneventfully. As I said, this run’s gonna be all about pathing, I can see this. The runner is showing he knows this game rather well, being able to get from point A to B smoothly enough.
Chapter 3
Tom SLOWLY moves down the stairs, takes some guy’s axe, and moves on, picking up a random handgun someone left behind that apparently only had like two bullets left in it. It’s okay though because Tom finds another fire axe. So…Tom has all of this forensic equipment on him at all times, but can only carry one weapon at a time, and he can’t take bullets from one gun and collets them to use in other guns…yeah…
Tom makes his way onto a subway train, following Crazy guy. Tom makes what I can only describe as the most epic taser shot I’ve ever seen from the back of a moving subway car, then falls off as Crazy guy beats open the train’s back window with a fire extinguisher.
Not much to this chapter…I’m sure it’s much harder than it looks though.
Chapter 4
Tom sure does lose his weapons a lot…and the shotgun has quite a long range in this game, but hey, guns are cool.
More faux forensic science time! Tom pulls out a ton of stuff from his magic bag of tricks and starts getting more information. Tom finds more weapons that help him unlock doors, takes more pictures, talks to Rosa, determines that the guy he’s following is, in fact, Crazy guy, and yeah…time to climb around in the…I dunno…boiler room a bit.
Oh? Your gate has an electronic numberpad lock on it? Nothing a shovel won’t fix…oh, and this crowbar had important evidence on it? That’s cool…Tom needs it as a weapon though, so oh well! After finding some mannequin parts, Tom has to go to a department store that’s been abandoned for…14 years…seriously? So, the police just let this place fall apart to the drug addicts…and no one’s done anything for 14 years…mkay…
Chapter ends with Tom finding…a door…even though I thought he was looking for a subway train...
Again, the runner’s path seems rather tight. He pretty much glides though the chapter.
Chapter 5
Oh…okay, Tom’s on a subway train. Didn’t see him get on that at the end of the chapter, but hey, I guess the game isn’t gonna force you to do every single thing.
Bart’s Department Store, apparently a colossal failure of a business, is completely run down, dark, and full of addicts. So…pretty much like every other level of the game. Ya know, I’m sure there’s an “outside” in this world…Tom should visit it more often…I mean, really, he’s seeing things…
So, this building has been condemned for 14 years…and there’s still unbroken glass windows around? I find this hard to believe…
I’m starting to think Tom just goes around collecting evidence and hasn’t ever actually done any lab work…despite his innate knowledge of how to use all his cool toys. It’s okay…Tom found some guns now. As previously stated; guns are cool.
“Rosa, I’m sure there’s a body down here, but the area’s flooded. I’ll never find it!” “It’s okay, Tom, use your technological MacGuffin thingy to find it.” “Oh! Of course. I didn’t think to use my technological MacGuffin thingy.” “I know. No one ever does until someone else tell them to.”
We find the dead body and find out it’s a serial killer posed in the exact way he killed his own victims. In other words, we have a serial killer who kills serial killers (So, like Dexter, only less likable and more insane…and evil…).
Tom gets out of the department store and that’s the end of the chapter.
Chapter 6
Crazy guy is named Serial Killer X for now…but I like Crazy guy better, so we’ll stick with that.
Unskippable cutscenes! And we get our next location, the city library…that’s also damaged due to fire…is everything in this city just closed and condemned? Hey look…it’s the OUTSIDE!! OMG! The sky! It burns!! Quick, get inside a dilapidated building!
And…yeah, that’s it. Not much to this chapter. Well played and planned.
Chapter 7
By now Tom is regularly seeing visions and horrible things…
But, you meet Rosa and she tells you the government is very interested in Tom due to hacks…er…abnormal x-rays. Rosa gives Tom a super taser and we’re off and walking again through another run down building. Rosa’s kidnapped off screen…even though she was RIGHT NEXT TO TOM…if this guy is a federal agent, I could be one…geez…
At this point…I mean, it’s just more of the same with a slightly different setting. This is a rundown, abandoned library and not some rundown, abandoned store or subway.
Tom finds Rosa and uses a conveniently placed computer to do a “remote analysis” of PHYSICAL EVIDENCE STORED IN HER LAB AT THE FBI. I get that we can’t wait days for results to come in…but my God, this is just silly. And besides that, we…OH MY GOD SOMEONE ATTACKING ROSA! And…she…doesn’t even notice or care as she sits at the terminal and does her sciency stuff…glitch anyone? Intentional by the runner or not, it’s damn funny…
So, we’re looking for Carl, a serial killer called the Torturer because Crazy guy wants him dead. Carl was ratted out by his old gym teacher, so we have to go to the basement to find the old teacher record to find what school this teacher taught at. So, we can ANALYZE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE FROM ANY COMPUTER, BUT WE CAN’T HACK INTO THE LIBRARY’S SYSTEMS TO FIND OLD SCHOOL RECORDS…sure, it’s on microfiche, but I’m surprised they just don’t have a system will all of the film on it…
Tom falls through a hole in the floor and ends up in like a cell for books…and now Tom’s being attacked by weird crawling creatures. Our heroes find what they’re looking for. Carl went to some school that, believe it or not, was closed five years ago. The police have let it been overrun because it’s “one of the worst parts of town.” Ya know, the police really suck in this town…Crazy guy overhears them and gets a head start.
The Chapter ends with a rather unfulfilling action scene. Still more smooth pathing and gameplay by the runner.
Chapter 8
Tom heads to this school and runs into Vanhorn…claiming it was a random encounter…right. At least Tom calls BS on that.
So, we find out that the gym teacher’s name is Sam. Sam’s facial tissue is found here…probably a bad sign…not sure WHY he was here, but okay…whatever. So, I guess you’re chasing the school cafeteria lunch lady around…I dunno, but it’s really the first big type enemy we’ve seen so I’m okay with this…of course, three shotgun blasts and she’s dead. So, that was unexciting really…this is “hard,” right?
Tom finds Sam’s arm hanging from a basketball hoop…kinda disturbing…more so than the vision of Creepy Demon guy…
Tom steps under the light and reaches the save haven…oh wait, wrong game…still, the enemies just leave him alone anyway.
Tom finds Sam in a locker. Sam’s…yeah, he’s not in a good way. In fact, he gives some info to Tom and promptly dies. We can’t have survivors in this game. Rosa finds a chemical MacGuffin and that points them to an apple orchard in some rural area…because…yeah…
Tom fights more shadow creatures from his mind and continues to head through this school. They had an indoor pool too…too bad this place got shut down. It’s quite the large building the city just gave up on.
Turns out there is no orchard currently in the city, but there WAS one that closed 10 years ago, because God forbid we go to a place that’s not been rundown and destroyed by deranged denizens.
Chapter 8 comes to a close and none too soon really. I remember this game being a lot more fun and interesting…I probably didn’t think this hard about the actual environment…or the story…
Chapter 9
Vanhorn drives you to the orchard, claiming he needed to help Tom. “You seem to know a lot more about what’s happening that you’re letting on,” Oh really, Tom? Really? You’re just NOW figuring that out? Some investigator…Tom’s really like the FBI’s best gofer…
So, we start at this “orchard’ inside a rundown building. I know, shocking, right? Tom uses his forensic toys to find clues to a riddle that will come into play later. Tom finds stuff about him in this place like someone’s been following Tom’s career.
Again, I like how the place that has been abandoned for 10 years and filled with squatters and addicts still has fully intact windows they have no problem breaking to get to you. Anyway, this part is just an enemy rush…and by “rush” I mean, they kinda run at you one at a time so you can kill them rather easily despite this being “hard” because the runner knows exactly where to be.
So, they file Carl, but he’s dead. Killed himself after being tortured, just like he did to his victims. And right after that, Tom’s lab access is FINALLY cut off, with his superior saying “I don’t know what poor, innocent schmuck you’re chasing, but turn yourself in.” …yeah…cause we’re being reasonable and all.
Crazy guy shows up and Tom disguises himself as Carl to fool him and it actually works. Crazy guy takes like 4 shotgun blasts to the back and the face and gets beaten down with a broken shotgun before the battle finally ends with Tom getting laid out. Then Vanhorn shows up…and Crazy guy’s his nephew…awesome. Vanhorn tries to reason with Crazy guy, but Crazy guy’s kinda crazy…
Still more nice play. This whole chapter took me forever to beat, but the runner shows he knows pretty much exactly how to walk all over this level.
Chapter 10
Tom wakes up, and is face to face with Crazy guy, who declares he’s been using Tom all throughout his career. Crazy guy keeps talking when Tom looks up and sees some…thing crawling out of the ceiling. Vanhorn shows up and saves Tom (less one finger) and tells him to destroy “it” since “it” has been the cause of all the madness. If Tim Curry shows up in this, I swear…
So, now Tom’s outside and everything’s on fire, including his 2x4. Handy. Tom runs down a path towards his unknown destination, simply running away from the enemies chasing him and throwing stuff at him. Compared to the last level, the “puzzles” in this level are laughable.
Boards of fire may be awesome, but guns are cool…
We make it to the last room and…yeah, just more enemies. And then it’s time for the boss fight. This…demon thing with metal spikes coming out of it. Now, I know this doesn’t make a whole like of sense…so anyway, Tom keeps pounding on this thing and ripping its metal plating off because…the game told him to. Seriously, there’s no reason Tom should know this is how to defeat this creature, but…there it is…creature defeated, it’s onto the ending.
Well, first there’s a quick pit stop giving you the only real choice in the game to either kill Crazy guy or not. This is the ONLY thing that affects the ending you get, and it’s quicker just to shoot Crazy guy as soon as you get control, so we get the “bad” ending.
Final Thoughts
Video Quality’s good. I’ve not seen any signs of external cheating.
I take a small bit of issue with this run being EIGHTY-EIGHT segments though. That just seems completely extreme. I know it’s not the first run to do this…any maybe it’s not a bad thing per say. It’s just…I dunno.
Despite that, the runner plays this game extremely well, showing mastery of the PC controls and knowledge of the game itself. I have no idea if this could be done much faster at all, and I’m pretty darn sure it couldn’t be done significantly faster without major level skipping glitches being discovered.
Verdict: Easy ACCEPT.
Believe it or not, the gaming lawyer’s back, and this time with this…FPS…survival horror…forensic science mix of a game. Those things are somewhat interesting on their own, but will it blend? …meh…to a certain extent. I liked this game when I played it. It’s not amazing, but it’s an interesting ride.
This run contains 88 segments…yeah…I think that’s pretty much every checkpoint. As such, I’m just going to go by levels…
Chapter 1
We start with a very dramatic slide show. No really, it’s just a slide show with dramatic music behind it. We’re quickly introduced to Thomas, the main character, member of the FBI, who needs to be told to crouch under the police tape. The guy Tom’s with, Old-Crotchety Geezer, complains a lot…
So, as the first chapter is a tutorial level, this is going to be rather monotonous for speed running, but it’s gotta be done. We’re introduced to Lt. Rosa via Tom’s cell phone. Apparently, the FBI has this amazing magical equipment that automatically knows exactly which forensic tool Tom needs for that situation…so…yeah…
This game likes throwing a lot of random sounds at you. Anyway, the characters smell someone smoking, and they figure it’s time to whip out the guns and start killing people!
My GOD Tom moves so damned SLOW…I forgot that. Still, the runner’s doing a very good job with the headshots it’d seem, dropping two addicts with one shot each. Tom loses his gun though and now has to huff around this decrepit building weaponless.
Old guy meets up with Tom, but they’re in two different areas of the building, speaking through windows at each other. Tom’s like “I lost my gun” and Old guy’s like “Here, take this axe.” …yeah, kinda random, but we needed to know about melee weapons in this game since they are more prevalent than the guns. Tom also seemingly remember “Oh hey, I’ve got a taser,” which comes in handy.
You meet Crazy Murderer guy at the end of the chapter. He speaks nonsense (he’s crazy after all), kills Old guy and random cop guy, tosses you out what looks like a second or third story window onto a car below, and poof…end of the chapter.
Honestly, there’s not much to this chapter. The runner does well with the pathing, kills what he needs to, and is able to run through the chapter rather nicely.
Chapter 2
Tom wakes up. Kind of a surprise really, considering the end of Chapter 1, but hey…let’s roll with it. Wouldn’t be much of a game if the main character died 12 minutes into the game after all…
Tom comes to in his home on his sofa, still wearing his FBI jacket, and with a strange man sitting next to him. The man introduces himself as Vanhorn; a great friend of Tom’s father, and apparently the FBI wants to “question” Tom since the two dead guys were shot with Tom’s gun. Apparently the FBI and the police have already convicted Tom, and Vanhorn assures Tom that they will not listen to him, so Tom climbs out a window, grabs a shovel, and books it.
Rosa’s still on Tom’s side though, happily doing his instant lab work for him. Again, I really want to see where Tom is keeping all of these forensic tools… Vanhorn calls Tom and gives him the ole “trust your instincts” line and that’s about all we get from him.
Tom grabs a sledgehammer and pounds through a door, running past all sorts of enemies to get there. Vanhorn calls again…kinda rambling a bit, and says lots of things without reveling much in the way of information.
I can tell this run’s gonna be a lot of running past enemies and killing a specific few just to subdue them. Tom steals a shotgun from one of them because guns are cool. He finds a handprint that doesn’t give a hit from any database, and a lot of clippings from newspaper articles of cases Tom worked on. Tom then has a psychotic episode, but gets over it quickly.
Ya know...headshots are just so much fun with a shotgun…
And the chapter ends rather uneventfully. As I said, this run’s gonna be all about pathing, I can see this. The runner is showing he knows this game rather well, being able to get from point A to B smoothly enough.
Chapter 3
Tom SLOWLY moves down the stairs, takes some guy’s axe, and moves on, picking up a random handgun someone left behind that apparently only had like two bullets left in it. It’s okay though because Tom finds another fire axe. So…Tom has all of this forensic equipment on him at all times, but can only carry one weapon at a time, and he can’t take bullets from one gun and collets them to use in other guns…yeah…
Tom makes his way onto a subway train, following Crazy guy. Tom makes what I can only describe as the most epic taser shot I’ve ever seen from the back of a moving subway car, then falls off as Crazy guy beats open the train’s back window with a fire extinguisher.
Not much to this chapter…I’m sure it’s much harder than it looks though.
Chapter 4
Tom sure does lose his weapons a lot…and the shotgun has quite a long range in this game, but hey, guns are cool.
More faux forensic science time! Tom pulls out a ton of stuff from his magic bag of tricks and starts getting more information. Tom finds more weapons that help him unlock doors, takes more pictures, talks to Rosa, determines that the guy he’s following is, in fact, Crazy guy, and yeah…time to climb around in the…I dunno…boiler room a bit.
Oh? Your gate has an electronic numberpad lock on it? Nothing a shovel won’t fix…oh, and this crowbar had important evidence on it? That’s cool…Tom needs it as a weapon though, so oh well! After finding some mannequin parts, Tom has to go to a department store that’s been abandoned for…14 years…seriously? So, the police just let this place fall apart to the drug addicts…and no one’s done anything for 14 years…mkay…
Chapter ends with Tom finding…a door…even though I thought he was looking for a subway train...
Again, the runner’s path seems rather tight. He pretty much glides though the chapter.
Chapter 5
Oh…okay, Tom’s on a subway train. Didn’t see him get on that at the end of the chapter, but hey, I guess the game isn’t gonna force you to do every single thing.
Bart’s Department Store, apparently a colossal failure of a business, is completely run down, dark, and full of addicts. So…pretty much like every other level of the game. Ya know, I’m sure there’s an “outside” in this world…Tom should visit it more often…I mean, really, he’s seeing things…
So, this building has been condemned for 14 years…and there’s still unbroken glass windows around? I find this hard to believe…
I’m starting to think Tom just goes around collecting evidence and hasn’t ever actually done any lab work…despite his innate knowledge of how to use all his cool toys. It’s okay…Tom found some guns now. As previously stated; guns are cool.
“Rosa, I’m sure there’s a body down here, but the area’s flooded. I’ll never find it!” “It’s okay, Tom, use your technological MacGuffin thingy to find it.” “Oh! Of course. I didn’t think to use my technological MacGuffin thingy.” “I know. No one ever does until someone else tell them to.”
We find the dead body and find out it’s a serial killer posed in the exact way he killed his own victims. In other words, we have a serial killer who kills serial killers (So, like Dexter, only less likable and more insane…and evil…).
Tom gets out of the department store and that’s the end of the chapter.
Chapter 6
Crazy guy is named Serial Killer X for now…but I like Crazy guy better, so we’ll stick with that.
Unskippable cutscenes! And we get our next location, the city library…that’s also damaged due to fire…is everything in this city just closed and condemned? Hey look…it’s the OUTSIDE!! OMG! The sky! It burns!! Quick, get inside a dilapidated building!
And…yeah, that’s it. Not much to this chapter. Well played and planned.
Chapter 7
By now Tom is regularly seeing visions and horrible things…
But, you meet Rosa and she tells you the government is very interested in Tom due to hacks…er…abnormal x-rays. Rosa gives Tom a super taser and we’re off and walking again through another run down building. Rosa’s kidnapped off screen…even though she was RIGHT NEXT TO TOM…if this guy is a federal agent, I could be one…geez…
At this point…I mean, it’s just more of the same with a slightly different setting. This is a rundown, abandoned library and not some rundown, abandoned store or subway.
Tom finds Rosa and uses a conveniently placed computer to do a “remote analysis” of PHYSICAL EVIDENCE STORED IN HER LAB AT THE FBI. I get that we can’t wait days for results to come in…but my God, this is just silly. And besides that, we…OH MY GOD SOMEONE ATTACKING ROSA! And…she…doesn’t even notice or care as she sits at the terminal and does her sciency stuff…glitch anyone? Intentional by the runner or not, it’s damn funny…
So, we’re looking for Carl, a serial killer called the Torturer because Crazy guy wants him dead. Carl was ratted out by his old gym teacher, so we have to go to the basement to find the old teacher record to find what school this teacher taught at. So, we can ANALYZE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE FROM ANY COMPUTER, BUT WE CAN’T HACK INTO THE LIBRARY’S SYSTEMS TO FIND OLD SCHOOL RECORDS…sure, it’s on microfiche, but I’m surprised they just don’t have a system will all of the film on it…
Tom falls through a hole in the floor and ends up in like a cell for books…and now Tom’s being attacked by weird crawling creatures. Our heroes find what they’re looking for. Carl went to some school that, believe it or not, was closed five years ago. The police have let it been overrun because it’s “one of the worst parts of town.” Ya know, the police really suck in this town…Crazy guy overhears them and gets a head start.
The Chapter ends with a rather unfulfilling action scene. Still more smooth pathing and gameplay by the runner.
Chapter 8
Tom heads to this school and runs into Vanhorn…claiming it was a random encounter…right. At least Tom calls BS on that.
So, we find out that the gym teacher’s name is Sam. Sam’s facial tissue is found here…probably a bad sign…not sure WHY he was here, but okay…whatever. So, I guess you’re chasing the school cafeteria lunch lady around…I dunno, but it’s really the first big type enemy we’ve seen so I’m okay with this…of course, three shotgun blasts and she’s dead. So, that was unexciting really…this is “hard,” right?
Tom finds Sam’s arm hanging from a basketball hoop…kinda disturbing…more so than the vision of Creepy Demon guy…
Tom steps under the light and reaches the save haven…oh wait, wrong game…still, the enemies just leave him alone anyway.
Tom finds Sam in a locker. Sam’s…yeah, he’s not in a good way. In fact, he gives some info to Tom and promptly dies. We can’t have survivors in this game. Rosa finds a chemical MacGuffin and that points them to an apple orchard in some rural area…because…yeah…
Tom fights more shadow creatures from his mind and continues to head through this school. They had an indoor pool too…too bad this place got shut down. It’s quite the large building the city just gave up on.
Turns out there is no orchard currently in the city, but there WAS one that closed 10 years ago, because God forbid we go to a place that’s not been rundown and destroyed by deranged denizens.
Chapter 8 comes to a close and none too soon really. I remember this game being a lot more fun and interesting…I probably didn’t think this hard about the actual environment…or the story…
Chapter 9
Vanhorn drives you to the orchard, claiming he needed to help Tom. “You seem to know a lot more about what’s happening that you’re letting on,” Oh really, Tom? Really? You’re just NOW figuring that out? Some investigator…Tom’s really like the FBI’s best gofer…
So, we start at this “orchard’ inside a rundown building. I know, shocking, right? Tom uses his forensic toys to find clues to a riddle that will come into play later. Tom finds stuff about him in this place like someone’s been following Tom’s career.
Again, I like how the place that has been abandoned for 10 years and filled with squatters and addicts still has fully intact windows they have no problem breaking to get to you. Anyway, this part is just an enemy rush…and by “rush” I mean, they kinda run at you one at a time so you can kill them rather easily despite this being “hard” because the runner knows exactly where to be.
So, they file Carl, but he’s dead. Killed himself after being tortured, just like he did to his victims. And right after that, Tom’s lab access is FINALLY cut off, with his superior saying “I don’t know what poor, innocent schmuck you’re chasing, but turn yourself in.” …yeah…cause we’re being reasonable and all.
Crazy guy shows up and Tom disguises himself as Carl to fool him and it actually works. Crazy guy takes like 4 shotgun blasts to the back and the face and gets beaten down with a broken shotgun before the battle finally ends with Tom getting laid out. Then Vanhorn shows up…and Crazy guy’s his nephew…awesome. Vanhorn tries to reason with Crazy guy, but Crazy guy’s kinda crazy…
Still more nice play. This whole chapter took me forever to beat, but the runner shows he knows pretty much exactly how to walk all over this level.
Chapter 10
Tom wakes up, and is face to face with Crazy guy, who declares he’s been using Tom all throughout his career. Crazy guy keeps talking when Tom looks up and sees some…thing crawling out of the ceiling. Vanhorn shows up and saves Tom (less one finger) and tells him to destroy “it” since “it” has been the cause of all the madness. If Tim Curry shows up in this, I swear…
So, now Tom’s outside and everything’s on fire, including his 2x4. Handy. Tom runs down a path towards his unknown destination, simply running away from the enemies chasing him and throwing stuff at him. Compared to the last level, the “puzzles” in this level are laughable.
Boards of fire may be awesome, but guns are cool…
We make it to the last room and…yeah, just more enemies. And then it’s time for the boss fight. This…demon thing with metal spikes coming out of it. Now, I know this doesn’t make a whole like of sense…so anyway, Tom keeps pounding on this thing and ripping its metal plating off because…the game told him to. Seriously, there’s no reason Tom should know this is how to defeat this creature, but…there it is…creature defeated, it’s onto the ending.
Well, first there’s a quick pit stop giving you the only real choice in the game to either kill Crazy guy or not. This is the ONLY thing that affects the ending you get, and it’s quicker just to shoot Crazy guy as soon as you get control, so we get the “bad” ending.
Final Thoughts
Video Quality’s good. I’ve not seen any signs of external cheating.
I take a small bit of issue with this run being EIGHTY-EIGHT segments though. That just seems completely extreme. I know it’s not the first run to do this…any maybe it’s not a bad thing per say. It’s just…I dunno.
Despite that, the runner plays this game extremely well, showing mastery of the PC controls and knowledge of the game itself. I have no idea if this could be done much faster at all, and I’m pretty darn sure it couldn’t be done significantly faster without major level skipping glitches being discovered.
Verdict: Easy ACCEPT.
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Verify comment:
The video and audio quality is good and I can not see any use of cheating.
This is a good run. The runner has use the weapons and the electric taser to kill or electrify the enemies. The route is well planned.
The 88 segments are OK for me. But of cutting this segments to one video file is not perfect for the video quality.
In the video file in part 7 with the situation of the computer room with Rosa was confused but I think it is ok. The small glitch in the part 9 with the door is accepted for me. This glitch do work of save progress and load progress and other user had also say of this glitch in other boards, not SDA. Verify = Accepted
The door glitch in level 9 can be also found on youtube.
The video and audio quality is good and I can not see any use of cheating.
This is a good run. The runner has use the weapons and the electric taser to kill or electrify the enemies. The route is well planned.
The 88 segments are OK for me. But of cutting this segments to one video file is not perfect for the video quality.
In the video file in part 7 with the situation of the computer room with Rosa was confused but I think it is ok. The small glitch in the part 9 with the door is accepted for me. This glitch do work of save progress and load progress and other user had also say of this glitch in other boards, not SDA. Verify = Accepted
The door glitch in level 9 can be also found on youtube.
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's a very well-optimized run that also counts as an improvement over the current 360 run (it was determined there's not enough differences between versions to make them separate categories).
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