Review: Crackdown 2
Game: Crackdown 2
Format: Xbox 360
Developer: Ruffian Games
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
In the wild days of 2007, a little game named Crackdown was released on Xbox 360. This open world third person action game cast you in the role of a genetically enhanced super cop, out to clean the mean streets of Pacific City. Developed by Realtime Worlds, founded by the creator of Grand Theft Auto; Dave Jones, the game was padded up with exclusive access to the downloadable Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta, which boosted sales considerably.
Unfortunately some people only bought the game for the aforementioned Beta access and didn’t even bother playing the game itself. I say that it’s unfortunate because the original Crackdown was a real gem that deserved more respect than it got. At E3 2009 Microsoft made the surprise announcement that a Crackdown sequel was coming, made by a different team and without any Halo Beta to prop it up.
First, to set the scene. As part of an elite police force, The Agency, you take the role of a genetically enhanced super cop out to clean up the streets once more. Ten years have passed since the events of the first Crackdown; after clearing out the three major gangs, the Agency accidentally exposed the city to a virus that mutates the majority of the population into monsters known as The Freaks.
A number of the more rebellious citizens have banded together to form an anti-government gang called The Cell. The Cell, armed with military weapons, defend the streets during the day while the Freaks swarm the streets at night, attacking both The Agency and The Cell. Your mission is to defeat The Cell, destroy The Freaks, and bring the city back under Agency control.
In order to retake control of the city you must achieve two objectives; firstly you must take down Cell’s strongholds, which is achieved by storming in and killing everyone in the surrounding area then summoning a helicopter to secure the area; secondly you must activate generators, which are usually near Cell strongholds, in order to power Ultra violet light bombs that need to be detonated inside of Freak nests below the city. In both instances you generally have to stand your ground against increasingly stronger waves of enemies.
- Once again you patrol the streets of Pacific City
To complete the main campaign you need to detonate 9 UV Bombs that are spread out over the three main islands that make up Pacific City. While clearing out all 27 Cell strongholds is not required, it does make activating the generators that power the bombs a whole lot easier. Some may criticise the game for being too repetitive, but I genuinely feel that they are missing the point. The story and the missions are not important in this game – the whole point of Crackdown 2 is to become a super powered bully and trample those that get in your way.
While you have a licence to kill criminals, the Agency frowns on the murder of innocent civilians. If you should kill an excessive amount of civilians then the Agency will turn on you for a short while, or at least until they kill you. Accidentally killing civilians is an issue that existed with the first game, particularly when you became more powerful and unlocked more abilities.
Each agent has five key skills that will upgrade as you progress through the game; Agility, Strength, Shooting, Explosive, and Driving. As you level up your appearance changes; more powered up characters become larger and more muscular, with more threatening looking armour. All of these skills, apart from agility, can be increased simply by performing their corresponding action – so for instance, killing an enemy by shooting them will boost your shooting experience, while punching them to death will boost your strength. In order to boost your agility skill, which determines how high you jump and how fast you can run, you need to collect glowing green orbs that are located all around the city.
Orb collection was a key gameplay component in the original Crackdown, and it returns bigger and better than before. As well as the 500 green agility orbs, and 300 blue hidden orbs, there are 15 purple driving orbs that you have to chase down in your car, and 30 renegade agility orbs that run away from you. The 500 green orbs are pretty much all in plain sight, but most of them are out of your reach and can only be collected periodically once you level up.
- Orb hunting is key to increasing your agility
Each skill technically has six levels to fill up, although you stop unlocking new abilities once you reach the fifth level. When you level up you unlock new abilities and weapons, each more deadlier than the last. Of special note is the glide suit, which is unlocked at reaching level 5 agility, that allows you to glide when jumping from great heights. Although the controls are poorly explained, after some practice it is easy enough to pick up.
As someone that spent a lot of time playing the first Crackdown, the sequel feels very familiar. On the most superficial level the game takes place in the same city with only a few minor aesthetic changes, such as demolished buildings that had once been gang strongholds. Obviously this makes complete sense when you consider the story, but it may give some people the feeling that this is little more than Crackdown 1.5 rather than a full blown sequel.
This feeling of familiarity is compounded by the fact that the way in which you progress through the game, namely the collection of orbs and killing wave after wave of nameless foes, is exactly the same. Not that there is anything wrong with that, because the orb hunting in Crackdown was brilliant fun; it was genuinely rewarding to level up and increase the outlandish stunts you would be able to perform, and the prospect of getting bigger, faster, and stronger was all the incentive I ever needed.
- The Glide Suit is the best way to travel around quickly.
In terms of story, the sequel has a more detailed story than the original, although that really is not saying much. Events are fleshed out in 52 collectible audio diaries that are located around the city, and the game actually features an opening cut scene, and ending cut scene. The original Crackdown actually had no story whatsoever beyond ‘the streets are in control of the gangs, go take them out agent!’; rather than having a set in stone story, the gameplay experience was more fluid; after being given a list of targets, it was up to you to decide who to take out first.
Each gang lieutenant was responsible for certain aspects of their own gang, be it recruitment, combat training, or vehicles. By killing a lieutenant you would remove that ability from the gang, thusly weakening the gang as well as boosting your own skills, until you were in a position to take out the head of the gang. It was a great feature in the original, a real innovation, but unfortunately it does not return in the sequel.
While you can choose to take our your targets, and detonate your bombs, in any order you please, the enemies you face in the locations furthest from your starting point are so difficult – often armed with homing missile launchers that obliterate you in seconds – that you will need to level up a great deal before even thinking about taking them on.
As well as the orbs, audio diaries, Cell strongholds, and UV bombs, there are a number of side missions to occupy your time. Road races and rooftop races (the former taking place on the streets in cars while the latter takes place on foot) return along with Freak Breaches and sky diving missions. Freak Breaches, as the name suggests, has an army of Freaks breaking through the surface for you to fight off until back up turns up to bomb the hell out of them. Sky diving missions can be a little frustrating, if only because the controls are very sensitive, but offer up huge agility experience as a reward for completing them.
- 4 Player online Multiplayer is brilliant. Fact.
As fun as playing the game solo is, the best bit about Crackdown 2 is the drop in/drop out 4 player online mutliplayer. Players can choose to work together to take out The Cell and The Freaks, collect orbs (including mutliplayer orbs that are only available online), race, or simply raise hell around the city. In a slightly disappointing move, if you join another player’s game and capture a stronghold, that stronghold will only be marked as captured in the host’s game.
As with every new 360 game these days, Crackdown 2 has a host of unlockable Avatar items, including an Agent Uniform, as well as generic things like a baseball cap. Several avatar items on the list tease two future packs of downloadable content, so you know that the game is going to get some new content after awhile.
Where the first Crackdown excelled was its creative use of achievements, frequently dishing them out for tasks that took a lot of grinding, as well as simpler tasks. Crackdown 2 continues this trend, with some genuinely creative achievements that task you with doing things that you would not normally do, such as driving an agency vehicle off a ramp and in to the path of an agency helicopter, which is exactly what an achievement should be.
Amusingly the Agency handler will announce that you have unlocked your achievement, commenting on how great a feat it was. At least, it is amusing the first few times you hear him say it. After the 10th time of hearing him say “that was an excellent achievement” I kind of wished that he would stop just shut up and leave me alone.
Review Round-Up
Graphics: 4/5 Crackdown’s signature cell shaded visual style returns, and while some of the characters lack appear to detail, the game features one of the most impressive looking and far reaching skylines in any game I have ever played. When standing on top of the Agency Tower you can literally see every part of the three islands.
Sound: 3/5 There is really only one voice actor in this game – the Agency Handler who is constantly giving you tips for success. The citizens only scream, while the Freaks roar, and the Cell yell incoherently whenever they see you. While the game features licensed tracks to listen to on your car radio none of them are particularly memorable.
Story: 2/5 In comparison to the original Crackdown this game has an epic storyline. However, when compared to other games the story could be called minimal at best. Beyond a short opening and closing cut scene, the only other story elements are relayed through 52 collectible audio diaries that fill in some of the back story.
Gameplay: 4/5 There is a wealth of gameplay types in this game, from racing,to running and gunning, to sky diving. However, the best part of the game is the orb collection, which is more like a platforming puzzle game than anything else. While some orbs are very easy to reach, some are incredibly difficult to reach but offer up big rewards. Chuck in 4 player online multiplayer and this game has pretty much everything you could want in terms of gameplay.
Longevity: 4/5 If you rush through the story missions, avoiding orb collection, stronghold capturing, multiplayer, and side missions then it will probably take you about 8 or so hours to complete the game. However, if you plan on doing that then you are a mental that hates fun. Getting online with 3 other friends is a blast (literally) and could keep the game in your disk tray for a long time to come.
[starreview tpl=16]
Overall: 4 Renegade Agility Orbs out of 5
Crackdown 2 is a worthy successor to one of the most original and interesting games on the Xbox 360. While some could criticise it for sticking to the formula too much, it offers up several new gameplay modes and an addictive bombastic multiplayer mode. If you loved the first Crackdown then there is really no reason not to pick up the sequel.
- Luke Mears
