10 Survival Horror Video Games You Must Play Before Halloween

While its sequel took the franchise into a more fantastical and supernatural direction, the original Condemned: Criminal Origins was a real, gritty first-person brawler that took inspiration from iconic crime-horror movies like Se7en.

Eschewing conventional first-person shooting mechanics in favour of a system where players were encouraged to take on enemies with their fists or whatever they could find lying around the world, the game boasted a visceral and extremely brutal combat system.

The horror wasn't only in the action however, and Criminal Origins actually had more moments of quiet than you'd usually expect from a big blockbuster release. Allowing players to survey areas at their own pace, it wasn't just jump scares that waited for you behind every corner, but psychological tricks that liked to mess with you rather than get all in your face.

It's a shame that the franchise never received the love it deserved, because a remastered edition of the underrated title would have only improved on the impeccable atmosphere of the original game. Still, the Xbox 360 version still holds up pretty well, and is just waiting to be discovered by those who weren't lucky enough to catch it during the last generation.