'totally down on crack'
 Developer: RealTime Worlds
Publisher: Microsoft
Category: : Action
Multiplayer: : 1-2 (Xbox Live)
Official Site
Platform: X-Box 360
EXTRA: : includes DLC, 800MS points
Might look like: /
Date posted: 25 June 2007
Written By: Ian
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Riot Act !
The premise of Crackdown is simple: in the future, various gangs have gained control over the world's cities, and the police, corrupt and inefficient, have become powerless to stop them.
In Pacific City a new tactic is tried, a genetically engineered cop with superpowers, able to single-handedly take on the gangs and their notorious leaders.
Basically, from here on in, the game is sandbox in nature, but even more so than GTA, as there is no forced mission structure.
Its up to you to go take out the leaders, in any order you choose.
In reality, it is strategically preferable to take out some before you take out others, yet the freedom Crackdown gives you is still amazing, even when compared to other examples in the genre.
Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom !
Whilst it would be silly to take on the final island first, you can do so if you want. This actually isn't too much of a problem thanks to the almost RPG-esque way of honing your skills.
Basically, in a points-win-prizes style of gameplay, if you use a strength, you will gain experience in it, and you level up once a certain amount has been gained. Whilst you can obviously notice the difference (at level 1 strength you can tear doors from cars and throw them, but at level 5 you can pick up lorries and throw them) the most impressive aspect is the visual difference.
  
At level 1 strength you look pretty strong, but when you max out you are a hulking beast, with rippling muscles and a pumped frame.
The cars also change appearance too. The bland SUV turns into a monster truck with fire-spitting exhausts and tires the size of a normal car. This is the best part of the game, as you have to work to level your skills, but when you do, you really feel rewarded by your efforts.
The same when you take out the gangs. Whilst this can ultimately be done in 5-6 hours, getting all the achievements, especially the hidden and agility orbs, will take considerably more time, and by this time, you should be so engrossed in the game you can think of nothing else better to do than go orb-hunting, racing or just killing to level your stats!
And whilst the game does give you freedom, it helps to keep you in the game. If you try to play bad-cop, killing civilians, this actually negates your stats, losing you experience, and eventually police hit-squads will appear in huge numbers to take you down.
Death is thankfully not the end, as a new clone of you is made, thanks to the loose 'plot' the game has.
Thankfully, both the announcers and the gang leaders have a lot of character despite the short introductions, so killing endless gang bosses never seems either monotonous nor a chore.
  
Multiplayer
Whilst in the original release, the multiplayer was glitchy, and could lag badly, especially when players were separated, thanks to successive patches, the experience is now trouble free, whatever happens, which is great, as the game was designed with co-op in mind. Some of the achievements require you to be in co-op mode, whilst others, such as the new 'Psyche Out' achievement, are nigh-on impossible to achieve without a friend to help you out, such is the extreme difficulty of some of the gangs. Some of the new modes in the DLC are also great; you can go street-racing, hunt for new types of orbs, or go destroy each other with rockets (the most fun by far!).
Nothing beats going kicking other gangs like co-op, and some of my best experiences of 360 live so far have been doing the time trials with a friend, as it was rewarding, challenging, and hilarious at times, due to the over-the-top physics, the mad AI, and the occasional time when you accidentally either commit suicide or go on a teamkilling rampage!
Classy Content
In addition to what has already been mentioned, the DLC offers some intriguing new features.
There are new vehicles, the best of which is a dune buggy, which features the speed and mini-gun of the sports car, but can be freely aimed, but the aero-manoeuvrability of the SUV, meaning you can pull off some insane stunts (such as 3 front-flips, another new achievement).
There are also new guns, such as a massive mini-gun with a magazine size of 160, perfect for levelling fire-arms skills, and a harpoon launcher, which is a hilarious addition.
You can also reset all the gangs, which means you can go back and do co-op all over again, and a cheat mode, which is again mainly for laughs.
Its good to see that the dev team have had a fun time making the game, and let the end user have some of their fun, with manic jumps and strength that can see you kicking cars for 2-300 metres!
At 800 points, it also represents pretty good value for money, although the street racing is the majority of the exclusive content, and much of what is available can be got for free thanks to a slightly different download.
My advice would be to download the free pack first, and then pay if you like what you see (you almost certainly will!).
Conclusion
"Crackdown" is a great proposition despite the 6-7 hours it takes to mow down the various bosses.
If you give up after this time, you are missing out on the best bits of the game, charging round the city with a friend, blowing things up, killing in new and innovative ways.
You could almost say that the game, without achievements, would be pretty pointless; and in a way you would be right. But the achievements are satisfying, fun targets, especially with friends, and are really fun to get.
Orb hunting WILL take over your life, and you'll find that once you learn to love the game, you will easily put 50 hours into it, especially with the DLC.
That point is, I guess, the game's only negative, you do need to learn to love it, as unlike the Zeldas, Marios and Forzas of the world, you don't fall in love with it as soon as it hits the disk drive.
Even without the Halo 3 Beta, this is well worth the buy.
-Ian
Ratings
Manual:
<>85 % |
Graphics:
91% |
Music & Sfx:
65% |
GamePlay:
92% |
|
This game scores
on our 5-point Rating System
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