Unfortunately for fans of the series, details about the game have been kept under wraps (other than what was revealed in a "press only" trailer shown at a recent SEGA media event). To learn more about Bloodshot and what its future holds, we sat down with the team at SEGA and Monolith both. This is how the conversation went...
IGN: As an Xbox 360 launch title, Condemned was the first "next-gen" experience for a lot of people. With this generation well under way, however, games have improved quite a bit since then. With that in mind, how will Bloodshot be different technologically from the original?
Brian Legge, Lead Engineer: When we started development of Condemned: Criminal Origins, we had only a rough idea of what the 360 would be able to do. Developers have to play it safe when developing for a platform that is still being worked out. While we delivered the experience we wanted in the first Condemned, we knew we could push it further. Condemned 2: Bloodshot is about taking our tech and truly optimizing it for the platform, giving the designers a richer palette of tools to use. This enables them to create a better gameplay experience.
A large portion of time spent developing a first-generation game, particularly a launch window title, goes into building new technology to leverage the platform. For example, we implemented a resource streaming system for Condemned: Criminal Origins to take advantage of the 360's multiple CPUs. This allowed us to have levels larger than we could fit in memory. The tech worked very nicely, but it changed the way we built levels. It took the designers awhile to learn to push the system. Now that they have more experience and our tools are more mature, they'll be able to build more detailed environments and characters.
On the tech side, Bloodshot will sport a new shader system, a new environmental effect system and a new UI system. In addition, our bloom support is replaced by a new HDR (High Dynamic Range) functionality. The designers have a great deal of control over HDR and screen effect behavior, enabling them to create new and diverse visual effects. We have also made significant optimizations in CPU and memory use which allow us to better leverage the platform.
In addition to the tech challenges in Condemned: Criminal Origins, we had built many new gameplay systems, such as our melee combat system. With Bloodshot, we are starting with both a rich melee and ranged weapon system as a base. This allows the gameplay programmers to focus on diversifying the player combat options, such as throwing weapons and allowing players to perform combos. The forensics, as well, have been completely rewritten to give the player more control over the experience.
IGN: Arguably, Criminal Origin's best feature was its storyline. What's the plot this time around? Plus, since Ethan is back, does it mean that we'll find out what it was that happened to him in the bathroom at the end of the first game and how many months or years have passed since then?
Frank Rooke, Lead Game Designer: The story takes place about a year after the first game. Ethan has really bottomed out due to the bizarre events he experienced during that time and his inability to make sense of it all. He's a battered soul filled with anger, hatred and a smoldering drive to make someone pay for the pain he suffers.
Bloodshot will definitely answer many questions that were posed during the first game, but more importantly, players will connect with Ethan on a multitude of levels that will make resolutions more poignant. The first game was solely about fear and confusion, in Condemned 2, Ethan is back and playing by his own rules.
IGN: Will Greg Grunberg be reprising his role as Ethan or is Heroes such a huge show now that Officer Parkman is unavailable for comment?
IGN: Dave Hasle, Producer: Actually Greg Grunberg was interested in working with us on Condemned 2: Bloodshot. We were very happy with the voice-work he performed for us and it's kind of cool to say we "knew him when." We've taken a darker turn with Ethan and wanted to find a voice that better represented that "edgy darkness."
IGN: What's the most important new gameplay element you had to include for Condemned 2: Bloodshot?
Rooke: Condemned 2: Bloodshot is an entirely new game. This is not an enhancement or a 1.5 version in any respect. The most important gameplay element in Condemned 2: Bloodshot is not necessarily a single feature but a philosophy, a goal if you will, to add depth and variety to all facets of the game. This applies to combat, forensics, story, and other peripheral things the player can do.
For example, melee combat is now more than just swinging a pipe; the player can duke it out with fists, throw objects, crack heads open with bottles, ignite enemies with tasers, throw them headfirst into TV's and much more. In fact, the list of opportunities is huge and the AI will be right there to challenge the player, pushing him to experiment and utilize all these options in order to survive.
IGN: The first piece of character art that was released showed Ethan looking a shambles. However, it does appear as though he's holding multiple weapons. Will players be able to wield more than one hurtin' stick this time or is that just character art and we should take nothing from it?
Rooke: Ethan relies heavily on hand-to-hand fighting -- and he is damn good at it! It is possible for him to holster a firearm while holding a melee weapon or using his fists. How badass Ethan is, and in what way, will strictly be up to the player.
IGN: How about weapon types? What's coming back and what's new? Can we expect more gun or blade items?
Hasle: There are definitely fond memories with some of the weapons in Condemned: Criminal Origins. The pipe for example, will definitely be coming back, along with several other favorites. We've greatly expanded our weapons to now include thrown weapons, such as bottles or a billiards ball; as well as increased the number of general weapons and mission-specific weapons to be found.
IGN: Will detective work play an important role in Bloodshot or is the gameplay headed in a different direction?
Rooke: The concept of forensic detective work along with crazy melee brutality we feel creates a unique combination that defines the Condemned universe. In the first game forensics was, more or less, a vehicle to tell the story. However, in Condemned 2: Bloodshot, we've completely reworked the system from the ground up letting the player explore his or her forensic prowess.
With that being said, many forensic opportunities are not mandatory but serve to aid the player in piecing the mystery together. In other words, if a player desires a more combat oriented experience and does not want to be bogged down by the more cerebral nature of detective work, then they are free to do so.
IGN: One of the biggest complaints about the first game was that enemy variety and behavior had pretty much peaked halfway through the game. How will enemies and their AI be handled here?
Matthew Rice, Software Engineer: Condemned 2 will certainly up the ante in terms of AI variety. Building on the foundation of Criminal Origins, we are able to add many new level specific AI types. Remember the creepy mannequins in the Department Store? They were essentially the normal bum AI with a variation on the animation set. In Condemned 2: Bloodshot our thematic levels will be completely unique and are going to have wholly new AI types.
The expanded melee combat system lends itself nicely to many specific behaviors that will take the player much longer to explore and master.
IGN: What sort of environments can we expect to see this time around and will they be more interactive than before? Can you give us any examples?
Courtney Evans, Lead World Artist: The environments will be significantly more interactive and varied than before, although they will always be true to the original Condemned atmosphere featuring the sense of decay and ruin that comes from abandoned places. We are adding other kinds of locations, such as an abandoned ship yard... but we are definitely going to make them Condemned style, so don't expect the Love Boat or anything. We'll also have a few classic urban exploration style levels -- for these we are adding a whole new layer of effects to really make them distinctive.
As far as interactivity goes, we are absolutely adding more, but again we are going to do it the Condemned way. This means if there's a TV in the environment, you can't go up to it and turn it on... but you can grab a crazy junkie and smash his head into the screen (which is way better, really -- watching TV is bad for you.) Of course, at the same time you have to watch out for said junkie, who may pick the TV up and chuck it at your head. We're also trying to make the environment in general more responsive to being hit with weapons, with a broader range of effects and more use of dynamic, moving lights.
We're taking some new technologies and using them our own way. We're planning to open up the environments more, visually, so for example you see skyscrapers downtown or bridges in the distance, to get more of a sense of the city the main character inhabits.
IGN: Multiplayer has been mentioned as one of the new features. Is this a cop vs. bad guys sort of thing complete with death matches and similar modes, or is it a co-op setup ala Gears of War?:
IGN: Tarl Raney, Associate Producer, Multiplayer: Yes, Bloodshot will feature a robust multiplayer component [with deathmatch and similar elements, but no co-op]. We are working on several gameplay modes that will allow players to bring some of the trademark single player elements into a brutal multiplayer environment but we'll have more on that later.
IGN: I have to ask. What was with the 970 achievement points in the original? Whatever happened to those extra 30 points?
Rooke: Well, that was a minor goof on our part... We wanted to save 30 points for future content but unintentionally maxed out on the number of achievements for the game. We were left with no way to make up the missing thirty points. If nothing else this error has turned into a great conversation piece!
IGN: Will it support the full 1000 points this time AND Home trophies?
Hasle: You bet!
IGN: What kind of presence can we expect to Condemned 2: Bloodshot to have at E3?
Hasle: We'll be showing Condemned 2: Bloodshot behind closed doors.
IGN: Any parting comments for fans?
Hasle: We're very excited to unveil Condemned 2: Bloodshot. A lot of the ideas and dreams that have been with us since Condemned: Criminal Origins are coming to life. It's been awesome to have the support of a publisher as big as SEGA. Together, we share the desire to make this game as good as it can possibly be in every conceivable way.