onolith’s Condemned: Criminal Origins was one of the launch titles for the fledgling Xbox 360, introducing players to Ethan Thomas and his slow descent into madness. While the game was a great introduction to the power of the console—particularly in the sound department—it was relatively short and easy. Monolith was fully aware of this going into the sequel, pointing out that the first game was a popular rental and vowing that the sequel would offer significantly more meat.

In Condemned, the player investigated grisly crime scenes for clues and processed evidence while on the hunt for a serial killer. To further complicate things, Metro City was suffering the effects of a mysterious phenomenon that killed birds and—more troubling—caused humans to act psychotically. One of the criticisms about the game was that the forensics sections were too easy and featured too much hand-holding. Rather than have to methodically scour a site for evidence, players were told to look for specific things in relatively small locations.

While the actual detective work may have been lacking, the combat system was generally a success. Players fought a variety of hobos, tramps and homeless thugs, with decidedly strong AI. Enemies feinted attacks and charged from all sides, yelling. While the game did feature gunplay, ammunition was limited so players had to rely on their fists or by wielding makeshift weapons such as pipes and planks.

Condemned 2 builds upon those two pillars—the forensics work and combat—in what appear to be sensible and exciting ways. First, players won’t necessarily have to wade through every crime scene or situation. Monolith says that about 80 percent of those scenarios will be optional, so players more interested in helping enemies swallow their teeth won’t get bogged down in that aspect of the game. If you did enjoy that aspect of the first game, expect to see a revamped system that adds the right mixture of variety and difficulty.

This time around, players will have to make more of their own decisions during their investigations. We got a demonstration of the new system, and it does look significantly more sophisticated. The demo began with a body in a room, lying prone, with a bloody smear near one shoeless foot. The first goal was to identify the body. To get a positive ID, Ethan had to find three identifying characteristics. First, he grabbed his digital camera and snapped a picture of the man’s clothes. A menu of possible options opened up, giving a correct answer—a blue uniform—along with some fake ones—like a ratty sweatshirt. Next, he took a picture of the victim’s face, which launched another series of multiple-choice answers. After answering it correctly, Ethan zoomed in and took a photo of a police badge clutched in the victim’s hand. It was smeared with blood, but he could make out the number 46.

With that information, Ethan called his contact for further assistance. After taking a close-up of the victim’s face for confirmation, he was told to find a cause of death. A quick scan of the body showed a gunshot wound on his back, which looked like an exit wound. Next, we had to determine if the body had been moved. The body was on a tile floor, and the pool of blood near its feet made it tough to say for certain. After examining the nearby carpet with a UV light, it was obvious that it had absorbed a trail of blood. Looking at it more closely indicated that the victim had crawled away from the initial attack after being mortally wounded.