None More Black

Ian:     The moment we've all been waiting for...Here we go, plenty for
        everybody...here you are.
David:   I never thought I'd see...I never thought I'd live to see the day.
Ian:     What do you think?
Derek:   Is this the test pressing?
Ian:     No, this is it, yes, that's right...
David:   This is "Smell The Glove" by Spinal Tap....
Ian:     That's "Smell The Glove" that's, that's the jacket cover, it's
        going out across the country in every store.
David:   This is the compromise we made...this is the compromise you made?
Ian:     Yes.
Derek:   Is it going to say anything here, or here along the spine?
David:   It's not going to say anything?
Ian:     No, it's not going to say anything.
Nigel:   It's going to be like this, all black...
Ian:     No, it's going to be that simple, beautiful, classic!
Viv:     Does look a little bit like, you know, black leather...
Derek:   You can see yourself in... both sides.
David:   I feel so bad, I feel so bad about this...
Nigel:   It's like a black mirror.
David:   Well, I think it looks like death...it looks like mourning.  I mean it looks...
Ian:     David, David, every, every movie, in every cinema is about death;
        death sells!
Nigel:   I think he's right, there is something about this, that's that's
        so black, it's like; "How much more black could this be?"
        and the answer is: "None, none... more black."

Played some more Condemned 2 last night, and after about an hour or so I felt compelled to turn it off and stick it back in the GameFly envelope, to be returned and never seen again. It's not a bad game, it's just so relentlessly bleak and dark and there's only so much I can take. The game's first few levels are so black that your flashlight barely makes an impression; I felt like I was developing glaucoma.

There's also that slight but glaring plot hole, which happens to be the same one as in the previous game, namely: you're a detective, investigating various grotesque homocides, and yet the game's actual mechanic is about you violently and savagely beating other people to death with your own bare hands (and blunt objects).

I did make it far enough into the game to see what the new CSI business is all about, and it's much improved over the first game; I'm not a forensics expert, of course, and so I apparently did get a few things wrong, but I appreciate the incorporation of "interpretation" - it's not just that you're looking for clues, it's that you are trying to figure out what they mean. Granted, this really only took up about 5% of my playtime, and often times my investigation was hampered by yet another crazy man beating me with a stick, but still: they heard the problems and they fixed them.

Still, though - I'm not sure I'm that passionate about the franchise anymore. The first game was legitimately creepy (especially the department store level); this game is just morbid, and there's a distinct difference. Creepiness is enticing; morbidity is just depressing.