I just started my third playthrough of Condemned 2: Bloodshot on PS3 and decided to give the unlockable FPS mode a try. My second time through I skipped this mode, because I thought having guns at your disposal the whole time would detract from the fun. That says a lot about Condemned 2's melee combat, because I love guns in my games. Like every game. Like my favorite Onimusha characters use guns. But I enjoyed the original experience of Condemned 2 enough to do it all over again on the exact same setting. And the second time through was just as much fun, but I realize now that I should've checked out FPS mode before starting a new game.

I've only made it through the first level on FPS mode so far and it's way more fun than I expected. The difficulty is ramped up to compensate for your unlimited ammo-filled guns, so it's not the unbalanced frag-fest I thought it'd be. Sure, it's a lot easier to take down regular dudes, but the black slime creatures come at you pretty fast and if you don't shoot them quickly (like with your first two rounds) it's game over.

This lead me to toss my pistol aside on the rooftop section of the level so I could take out the slime guys faster. That was a huge mistake, since the gun fell off the roof and there was no way back down to get it. Once inside the hospital area, I found the bums extremely difficult to kill with melee weapons and the hospital suffering from a severe lack of firepower. After a few frustrating deaths I made it through, only to get completely destroyed at the slime-covered end of the level. I had to restart from the beginning, my strategy had failed me--and that's awesome!

FPS mode really changes the gameplay of Condemned 2 without eliminating the creepy atmosphere and sense of urgency you feel when facing off with enemies. In some cases I'm finding myself at less of an advantage with a gun and getting more freaked out due to the heightened difficulty. The lack of a reload button also helps to keep the horror element intact and prevents you from taking full advantage of your unlimited ammo and spraying rounds all over the place.

Condemned 2 is such a great game and I thought I'd experienced all it had to offer, I'm really excited to have discovered a new way to play it. I sure could go for a Condemned 3 though Monolith & Sega, and like an Ethan Thomas action figure. HIT ME BACK Y'ALL!

I'm sure a lot of people have known about this for years, but I just stumbled across it yesterday and it blew my mind. This is an official, retail released X-Men conversion for Quake 1 (entirely new game that uses the Quake resources saved on your hard-drive), circa 1997. And it's freaking insane! This has to be one of the most awesomely bad crossovers of all time.

I don't want to spoil how awesome this is, so watch the gameplay video first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIx7efqvf4

That's right, this game doesn't have you play as an X-Man, instead it requires you to shoot all your favorite X-Men in the face! And that's the game, you just kill hundreds of Cyclops', Psylocke's, Rogue's, Storm's, Angel's, Wolverine's, Beast's, Gambit's, & Bishop's over and over again (and there might've been something about weapon parts). But don't worry, they're CLONES! Evil clones made by Apocalypse. Yes, my favorite X-Men villain, Apocalypse (where did he find all those X-Men costumes!?). This is all hilarious today, but seriously, how many children did this game scar for life? I can imagine myself sobbing in my parents arms, confessing that I just killed Cyclops.

Ruined childhoods aside, this game would be my dream come true if you played as Cable, he's my fav, and he's Apocalypse's sworn enemy so it'd make total sense. Instead you play as some robot made by Magneto, but still, I love that your goal is to prevent the Age Of Apocalypse. Also, the weapons look pretty cool and they morph out of your robot hands which makes them double cool. So while this game is a completely bizarre mash-up that received average reviews, it's a must-play for me as an obsessed Apocalypse (& Cable) fanboy.

If you're like me and you have to experience this crazy game for yourself, you're in luck (sort of). The game's creator has made it available for free download on his site and the original Quake is now a freeware title as well (so you don't have to break any laws), although it's not as easy as a simple download to get these games running on a modern PC. You can also read the cool story of how this Quake conversion came about, from one modder messing around with X-Men skins, to an officially Marvel-licensed retail release.

I'm still trying to figure out how to run the game myself, but here's the link for anyone who's interested: http://www.zerogravity.com.au/portfolio0601.php