The horror genre in gaming has steadily evolved over the past few decades. Starting with text-based games, evolving into rudimentary 3D adventures like Alone in the darkand then evolve into big-budget, technically amazing games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, the horror genre continues to grow year after year. But every now and then, a daring new horror experience slips through the cracks, and the Convicted series is certainly an example of that.
The two, released in 2005 and 2008 respectively, Convicted games were first-person horror titles that became instant cult classics. Heavily inspired by gritty, groundbreaking horror films like Saw, sevenand Silence of the lambsthe Convicted series emphasizes gore, suspense and realistic horror. With a perfectly gruesome visual style and some truly unique mechanics, the Convicted series still holds up, although a remaster of both games wouldn’t hurt.
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The first game in the series, Convicted: criminal origin, released in 2005 for the Xbox 360 and a year later for PC. Developed by Monolith, the studio now best known for its Middle Earth: Shadow spell, Convicted: criminal origin puts players in the shoes of Ethan Thomas, a CSI agent tasked with tracking down a man known as Serial Killer X, who framed him for murder. In this job, Ethan ventures into a series of “condemned” condominiums, where violence awaits around every corner.
The real appeal of Convicted: criminal origin is its realism and visceral character. From a technical perspective, Convicted: criminal origin captures the thrilling atmosphere perfectly, with realistic lighting systems forcing the player to actually use their flashlight to navigate the environment. The genius of this system is only further emphasized by the game’s surprisingly complex AI. During Convicted, players will face a variety of human enemies, all of which pose a significant threat and are capable of killing the player in just a few hits. Players must use stealth and all the tools at their disposal to defeat their enemies as the AI is easily able to flank the player and overwhelm them.
The brutal realism of Convicted: criminal origin is further enhanced through the game’s combat system. Using a first-person perspective, players are forced to rely on melee combat for survival, and can even rip pipes and other weapons from their environment. This often leads to incredibly intense combat, with players scrambling to find a weapon in the environment, while being hunted by violent, ruthless enemies. The player can also occasionally find firearms, although the ammunition is extremely limited. In a particularly unique choice, both the player and the enemy AI can be killed with just one bullet, adding another layer of hard realism to the game.
As a CSI agent, the player can also investigate various crime scenes everywhere Convicted: criminal origin. These crime scenes act as environmental puzzles and instruct the player to collect evidence from his environment, including fingerprints, blood samples and fibers. Players will also have to occasionally inspect a body and record their various wounds and cuts.
In 2008, a direct sequel called Convicted 2: Bloodshot released on Xbox 360 and PS3. For the largest part, Convicted 2 plays quite similar to its predecessor, with an emphasis still on distance melee combat. However, Convicted 2 introduced a new hand-to-hand combat system where players could use their fists to brutally defeat their opponents. Convicted 2 also added bloody environment finishes, allowing players to ram their opponents’ heads into walls or floors.
Despite favorable reviews for both entries, the Convicted series has nearly fallen into oblivion in the decade since its last release. although Convicted contains some of the most impressive atmospheric suspense in any horror game series, and had a truly unique approach to first-person combat, not many today’s gamers have played them, and with the second game limited to just PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s unlikely anyone would go back now. So, with that in mind, remasters of both Convicted games should be high on Sega’s priority list.
Convicted: criminal origin and Convicted 2: Bloodshot are available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
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