5. Mannequin Room From Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned might not have been the most sensitive portrayal of homelessness in a modern American city, but that's probably not what developers Monolith Productions were really going for. Instead their mission was to create one of the most utterly, jaw-droppingly terrifying games in recent history, and at that, they very much succeeded. The two Condemned games weren't exactly critical or commercial smashes, which is a shame, because they were some pretty nifty little titles which didn't leave the mind very quickly after playing them. The first sees you playing as a police detective investigating a spate of killings, which requires you to venture into the seedier side of the fictional city of Metro. Played entirely through the first-person perspective, the level of immersion offered by Condemned: Criminal Origins certainly helped the numerous jump scares (usually thanks to the aforementioned homeless population of Metro frequently jumping out of the darkness at you) get heartbeats racing and reactions embarrassingly high-pitched and loud. The absolute worst moment, however, is when you enter the mannequin room. Oh God, the mannequin room. Remember the stone angels from Doctor Who? Imagine them, but a million times worse, whilst you're in an abandoned building with oppressive, terrifying music, slowly advancing on you whenever you turn your flickering flashlight away. Ugh.
