Crackdown

Crackdown is somewhat of a conundrum. A game that was first blown off as nothing but an easy way to get in on the Halo 3 beta has exploded into a wildly popular free-roam, sandbox game drawing inevitable comparisons to Grand Theft Auto and the "other" GTA spin-off for the Xbox 360, Saints Row. Amidst which, it's been able to hold its own ground quite successfully. It's also an extremely fun way to do absolutely nothing - as long as you enjoy doing nothing in particular. But once you start actually completing missions and progressing though the "story," it becomes quickly apparent that the game is very shallow and you'll find yourself with little else to do but run down pedestrians once all the gangsters are wiped out.

The basic premise of Crackdown is that you're a cop in a city that's been overwhelmed by violent gangs. Your job is to clean up the city. It's a pretty simple concept. Something akin to True Crime actually. Run around, "commandeer" cars (remember, you're a cop so it's not hi-jacking), and take down the bad guys. What sets Crackdown apart is that you're not some run of the mill cop, but you already knew that of course. Instead you've been biogenetically enhanced using questionable techniques to make you something of a superhuman. In the end you'll be jumping several stories high, picking up and throwing small cars at your enemies, shooting with greater accuracy, generating bigger explosions, driving faster, and surviving falls of a few hundred feet.

Crackdown is built on the "sandbox" free-roam formula that made games like Grand Theft Auto so popular. You'll leave the Agency Headquarters in the center of the city and walk into a war-zone free to do almost whatever you like - as long as it's outside, and involves cars, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, or killing lots of people - gangs or otherwise. Really that's about it. There is really no depth to Crackdown. What's amazing is that it's easy to spend an hour or two scaling the sides of massive skyscrapers, blowing up Russian troop transports, throwing cars at groups of gang members, performing impossible aerial stunts in cars, sniping people from several hundred feet up, shooting the tires out of cars whizzing by on the freeway and watch them careen wildly out of control. As long as you get a kick out of causing chaos and destruction, you'll have a good time.

On the flip side of all this random, do nothing, destruction, is that there actually is a story here (though very loose and non-linear) with actual objectives and missions. In short, you're supposed to locate and kill gang leaders. Take down the lower bosses first and you'll weaken the more difficult Kingpin's defenses. Each mission is straight forward and not subject to any time restrictions. Just walk (or jump, or drive) into a boss location and take down the boss any way you can. Once they're out of the way, that area will become significantly quieter and nearly devoid of gang activity. Clear out all the bosses and eventually the Kingpin of a district (there are three districts) and you'll reclaim that part of the city making it a peaceful oasis for the citizens of Pacific City.

If you haven't guessed it already, the very thing that you're supposed to do in Crackdown, is the very thing that removes the funest elements of the game. Clearing out a district means eliminating all Agency sanctioned chaos that was so fun before. Without bad guys to blow-up you're left with everyday citizens. And although the Agency gives you a little leeway for people that get killed in the crossfire, it won't take much before your fellow cops have had enough of your reckless behavior and turn on you. Killing innocents also has a negative effect on your skill progression. Kill too many people and you'll start losing points.

No big deal though, right? Just don't save your progression. Cause chaos. Lose skill points. Reload. Repeat.

No, sorry, it doesn't work that way. Crackdown employs an auto-save that saves when you collect a hidden orb, knock-off a gang leader, enter a supply point, or die; and no way to turn it off. And there's the real conundrum. With games like GTA or Saints Row, or even Oblivion and Fable, you were free to do as you pleased without impeding your character's progress. Crackdown believes that no matter what, there should be consequences for your actions.

As long as you're causing havoc that involves killing gangsters, as well as the occasional civilian or fellow officer, your point progression will balance out. So long as a gang exists in a territory you can be free to run amok. Say sayounara to a gang and you say good-bye to chaos.

Crackdown handles pretty well, though it's not free from quirks. Picking up items and entering vehicles is generally easy but it's not uncommon for your character to be in the "wrong" place and not have the option available. Aiming is aided by a target lock by holding down the left trigger. While locked on, you're also presented with some options for precision shooting (head, arms, torso, legs), though it's rarely necessary. However, it is fun to shoot the gun out of someone's hand then run up and punch them for strength points early on. Jumping and scaling buildings is simple and intuitive. You even have the old skool ability of changing your direction in mid-air.

I've heard complaints about how that cars handle but frankly I've never had a issue with it. There's a pretty good variety of cars and each handles and performs differently so it's really a matter of finding a car you like. My preference has always been for the Agency SUV. Built like a brick with good speed and will drive over anything. Especially gang members, and cars, and mountains - yeah, like I said, anything.

Crackdown's multi-player is also a blast, but doesn't add any more depth or modes to the game. It essentially just turns it into a co-op with two super agents running around the same city causing mass hysteria. It is fairly well implemented in that if you can adjust your co-op settings for who's allowed to join any game in progress. So if you're playing solo and one of your friends happens to pop online and see you playing, they're free to join you as long as you say it OK.

Graphically, Crackdown's comic, cell-shading treatment works pretty well. Some elements seem overlooked though. It would have been nice if more of the environment got the same attention to detail. Sometimes it's easy to feel like you have this beautifully cell-shaded character stuck in the middle of an incomplete warehouse. That aside, the environments work. They may not look like much in the screen grabs, but they're definitely suitable and better than those screens make it look.

As for the audio, overall it's a winner. While you're driving you'll be rockin’ out to some great music that reflects the type of district you're in (although you can change it to whatever you like). Sound effects are all solid as should be expected these days. About the only other sounds you'll get is the voice in your head from your "friend" and intel man at the Agency. A voice reminiscent of the original Mission Impossible TV show ("Good morning, Mr. Hunt.") which matches the feel of the game perfectly. Unfortunately it can be a bit buggy at times and simply say the wrong thing (i.e. "That was quite an ascent, Agent", while standing on a road).

All in all, it'll be interesting to see how Crackdown survives this post release euphoria. Does it have enough value to stay strong over the long haul? Those that play straight through in a matter of a couple days will tell you no. Those that like to kill an hour by blowing **** up will tell, hell yeah. In the end what you're left with is GTA without all the mini games and story based missions. Except you can jump REALLY far - and yet, in some way, that makes up for it.