Sega Announces Condemned: Criminal Origins Sequel

Sega has announced that a sequel to its ultra-violent first-person-hobo-clobbering game Condemned: Criminal Origins is in the works.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot will feature the return of former FBI agent Ethan Thomas, who has been left a broken drifter by the events of his past. Called back to duty to track down his missing partner, Thomas will employ new forensic tools, and new levels of up-close-and-personal violence, to unravel the mystery of his missing partner, and of the crumbling world around him.

First released in 2005, the original Condemned: Criminal Origins was developed by Monolith and focused on hyper-kinetic first-person action, with a heavy dose of survival/horror. Unlike most first-person-perspective games, Condemned: Criminal Originals revolved primarily around melee combat; firearms were available but rare, and players were forced to progress through most of the game by using nearby objects, or their bare hands, to pummel opponents into submission.

The conclusion of the game implied strongly that a sequel would follow; middling sales, however, and it's well-earned (and audience-limiting) M-rating raised questions over whether a follow-up would ever see the light.

Few details have been released, although Sega did say the game would have a multiplayer component, which the original lacked. Condemned 2: Bloodshot is currently slated for release in "early 2008," on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.