As a preface to this article I want everyone who isn't familiar with Condemned to know that this game has absolutely...positively...no relation to the abysmal flick that our fearless leader Josh Tyler saw fit (in his infinite wisdom) to bestow with the lowest possible rating. Now without furhter ado:

To this day I maintain that Condemned: Criminal Origins, a launch game for the Xbox 360, is the scariest game I have every played. I’m talking genuinely terrified. There were at least a dozen times during the course of that game where I stood before a dark room and said aloud, “Oh, F*** that. Absolutely not. No.” I’m also being completely honest when I say that I’m no longer comfortable in department stores due to the large supply of mannequins.

For this reason, it may come as a shock that I am super-freaking psyched that Sega is going to be releasing a sequel entitled, Condemned 2: Bloodshot.

From the Press Release:

“Players will assume the identity of Ethan Thomas, the former Serial Crimes Unit investigator, who's been called back to duty to track down his missing partner. As Ethan, players will engage in visceral combat using a variety of firearms, blunt instruments and an all-new fighting system complete with defensive and offensive combo chains. To help track the killer and solve the mysteries behind Condemned 2: Bloodshot, players will crack open an all-new set of high-tech forensic tools. Using wits and brute strength, murders can be solved in a number of different ways to keep players guessing throughout each suspenseful investigation.”

Developer of the original, Monolith, is back onboard for the sequel. So that’s already one good bit of news. The second bit of good news is that they are going to be expanding the series into the online landscape. Now this is really only good news if Monolith takes the high road and decides not to just tack on some mindless hack and slash affair. Hopefully the games forensic elements will be implemented. If it ends up being a game of wits where players are tracking each other down using high tech equipment, this could really be awesome.