A crack-ing game!
If you were to download the demo for Realtime Worlds' latest game, you would have to venture into Xbox Live's Shooter category. In reality, this game really is a whole lot more than shooting.
Taking the Grand Theft Auto 3 formula and taking the term "sandbox" to a whole new level comes Crackdown. A game in which you'll enter Pacific City, which is split into three regions each with its very own bloodthirsty gang. Your mission...kill the gangs. Throw in a mysterious agency who tells you who to assassinate and thats your plot.
Obviously, not a great amount of storytelling goes on here and theres certainly alot of missed opportunities for at least some intrigue, for instance who are the agency? Instead Crackdown is like a next gen tetris, no story, but a whole lot of fun.
The game also lacks side missions to add a little replay value, but with that being said there are 21 bosses in the game to kill, but the "go there, kill that" nature of these bosses is actually what you would expect of side missions in other games.
You have four skills; driving, strength, shooting and explosives that will increase in a RPG-like "level" up manner simply as you use them. Then you have agility, agility orbs which you must locate are dotted around Pacific City, run into them and up goes your agility. You'll want to do this as with agility maxed out you'll be jumping around rooftops and running at great speeds. Agility orbs are cleverly used in this game to get you on the rooftops, they give you a reason to explore the impressive city. Although you will very rarely get to go inside any buildings, understandable since it would have made for an enormous game size, but a few more indoor scenes would be nice.
The multiplayer is a little hit and miss. Its certainly not seamless with some joining/leaving issues but can be great fun leaping around buildings with a buddy. Although beware, you can kill each other in the game so playing with random people you don't know on XBL isn't recommended, theres nothing more frustrating than to be right near the end of completing a mission and then have you're "friend" blow you into 1000 pieces with a rocket launcher.
If you are looking at buying a superhero game this summer, look past the onslaught of poorly developed movie games and get Crackdown. Theres nothing more fun than jumping off Agency Tower at night, blowing up twenty gangsters with one grenade or doing all kindsa flips in a SUV.
Even without the Halo 3 beta which obviously increase sales, you should at least rent this game. Not to be missed.
