Crackdown

Overview

Crackdown is a open world third-person action game developed by Realtime Worlds and David Jones (one of the creators of Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings ) exclusively for the Xbox 360 and released on February 23, 2007. Crackdown's pre-order bonus (and later, all inclusive bonus) granted players access to the multiplayer beta for Halo 3. Crackdown is a sandbox game, which lets players take control of a super-powered ' Agent' working for the Agency and roam about Pacific City, a metropolis comprised of three main regions. The player's goal in Crackdown is to take down three different criminal organizations that each operate in a separate region. Each organization has multiple lieutenants and other minor bosses that can be taken down in any order. You may take down the gang's Kingpin at any time, although killing lieutenants drastically lowers the firepower and abilities of the Kingpin's guards. Getting to some of these bosses requires planning and navigation of large buildings or objects. As a superhuman, the agent has specific abilities that grow through experience, these abilities include Agility, Strength, Driving, Explosives and Firearms.

Gameplay

Crackdown puts much focus on verticality for defeating enemies, traversal, and accomplishing other goals. There are even two buttons on the controller assigned to jumping. Although there are side missions, the game’s main focus is direct conflict with gang members and – later in the game – mutants. Enemies are defeated by using abilities as you see fit. It is entirely possible to beat the game using agility paired with only one other ability: strength, explosives, or firearms. However, improving all abilities is encouraged so that the agent has “skills for kills.”

The player starts in the center region owned by the Agency. The Agency building was once a hotel, but has been converted to a headquarters to deal with the crime surge. It remains the tallest building in the city . The basement features a garage from which you may take stored vehicles. In the beginning of the game, you may only exit through the tunnel leading to Los Muertos territory. The tunnels to the other two gang territories will unlock as you gather intel about those factions by visiting their respective regions. The player can unlock supply points across the city to enable fast travel between them. These spots are also used to store and retrieve weapons, restock ammunition, and respawn after death. The player is free to defeat gang members, complete side missions, find collectibles, and explore the map in any order he or she chooses.

Cooperative Play

Crackdown does not have drop-in multiplayer for cooperative gameplay. A host player must start the game through a lobby and choose to make the lobby open for matchmaking or private for invite only. System link games can also be created. Cooperative gameplay is the same as single player. Progression against the gangs follows the host only, so the second player’s single player progress will not be affected. However, all experience earned for abilities in cooperative play will carry over for both players into their single player game. Agility orbs and hidden orbs will only be seen by a player if they have not collected that specific orb. In other words, you do not see the other player’s orbs, just your own. Orb collection progress also carries back over to single player for both players.

Abilities

Abilities are the means by which you traverse, interact, and survive in Crackdown. The rating for each of the abilities controls the proficiency of your agent. An ability’s rating is increased by gaining experience from an action relevant to that ability. This is mostly done by your method of killing enemies but other actions, such as races and stunts, will also result in added experience points. The rating of an ability is represented by stars next to the appropriate symbol on your HUD. Your experience points are represented by numbers 00 through 99 as well as a progress bar for numerical increases. After 99, the ability’s rating increases by one star and the experience counter loops. Killing civilians or Peacekeepers will decrease experience points from the progress bar, but will not decrease your rating or the numerical counter to the next rating. When you die and must regenerate, you will also lose experience points from the progress bar but not numerical counter. Unless you play in Keys to the City mode, abilities will max out at a four star rating.

Agility

The agility ability controls your agent’s maximum running and swimming speeds, maximum jumping height and distance, and physical appearance. Agility is one of two abilities that affect your agent’s appearance. Each rating increase will change the appearance of the Agency armor your agent wears. Experience points are earned by collecting agility orbs and hidden orbs, by killing enemies from an elevated position or while in mid-air, and by setting record rooftop race times. Agility is the only ability that you will not lose experience from when harming innocents or by death.

Driving

The driving ability controls vehicle speeds and handling. Each rating increase also results in an additional stage of transformation to Agency vehicles. Experience points are earned by killing enemies with a vehicle (running them over), setting record vehicle race times, performing vehicle tricks (such as barrel rolls), by driving through stunt rings, and by collecting hidden orbs.

Explosives

The explosives ability controls the damage and blast radius of explosive weapons. Experience points are earned by killing enemies with explosive weapon types and by collecting hidden orbs.

Strength

The strength ability controls your agent’s maximum health, melee damage, distance and velocity of thrown objects, maximum lifting weight, and physical appearance. With each rating increase, an additional health bar is added and represented as a small box under the health bar. When the health bar depletes entirely, a reserve box will change color (to represent that it has been used) and the health bar will be full again. As health regenerates, the reserves will also be restored. Strength is one of two abilities that affect your agent’s appearance. Each increase causes a slight alteration to the head model and increases the size of the agent’s body. With a four star rating, you unlock a falling attack ability called “ ground pound.” The ground pound is performed by holding the melee button while in the air. The farther the fall, the more damage and radius the shock wave will be when you land. Experience points are earned by killing enemies with the ground pound, melee attacks, and thrown objects and by collecting hidden orbs.

Firearms

The firearms ability controls accuracy and targeting speed. Targeting speed is the time it takes to fully lock-on to an enemy. The smaller the circle is when locking on to an enemy, the more accurate shots will be. Experience points are earned by collecting hidden orbs and by killing enemies with non-explosive weapons. This can be by shooting them directly or by shooting explosive objects near them.

Collectibles

Agility Orbs

Across , there are 500 agility orbs. Agility orbs glow green and usually rest on top of buildings and other large structures. Collecting an agility orb will give you experience points for the agility ability. Additional miniature orbs above an agility orb indicates it is worth more agility experience points. Higher agility orbs will have more mini orbs above them. When close to an agility orb, you will hear a pulsing drone to alert you of its proximity.

Hidden Orbs

There are 300 hidden orbs in the game. Hidden orbs are blue and have a question mark in the middle. They are usually found in hard to reach locations as well as points of interest and many out of sight areas. Unlike an agility orb, collecting a hidden orb awards you experience towards all of your abilities instead of just one. Hidden orbs will make the same droning noise as agility orbs do when you are near them.

Gangs

There are three gangs for you to battle in Crackdown. They are Los Muertos, the Shai Gen, and the Volk. Los Muertos are presented as a Hispanic gang and are the easiest to deal with. The Volk, a Russian mob consisting of imported workers and previously unemployed mercenaries, are more difficult, primarily due to increased firepower. The Shai Gen are an Asian crime ring with vast resources and a collection of thugs with laughable American accents. Attacking members of a gang raises a heat meter for that faction. If the meter becomes full, then hit squads from that faction will be sent to your current location by vehicles until the meter has adequate cooldown time. Each gang has 7 leaders , including the kingpin. Each boss is a head of a certain division in the gang, such as munitions, recruiting, training, etc. By taking out one of the bosses, the entire gang is affected, and the kingpin becomes easier to defeat. Defeating certain bosses also has an effect on the game world, doing such things like making gang activity less dense. After defeating all of the bosses, a final showdown with a concentrated group of gang members is initiated at a specific location on the map. Defeating all gang members in that location eliminates the gang.

Defeating all of the gangs unlocks a new-game-plus mode, where you can defeat the bosses again and continue to boost your stats.

Gang Bosses

• Los Muertos (control east side of Pacific City, known as 'La Mugre'):
• Rodrigo Alvarez - Physical Trainer; located at Sportiz Sports Complex
• Violetta Sanchez - Recruiter; located at El Castillo Apartments
• Juan Martinez - Information and Finances; located at Hillside Housing
• Jose Guerra - Drug Operator; located at Guerra's Nightclub
• Ramon Gonzalez - Gun Runner; located at Lighthouse
• Rafael Diaz - Vehicle Supplier; located at Easy Riders Garage
• Don Domingo Garcia (Kingpin); located at Villa
• Volk (control industrial area of Pacific City, known as 'The Den'):
• Natalya Gryzunova - Physical Trainer; located at Observatory
• Boris Mikhailov - Human Trafficker; located at Docks
• Igor Biragov - Vehicle Supplier; located at City Coaches
• Sergei Sovetnik - Cash Flow; located at Puregy Refinery
• Olga Romanova - Explosives Supplier; located at Mason's Quarry
• Viktor Rabotnikov - Weapon Supplier; located at Camp Johnson
• Vladmir Golyak (Kingpin); located at Exetron Oil Rig
• Shai-Gen (control the financial district):
• Mrs. Timbol - H.R. Director; located at Human Reality Inc.
• Dr. Baltazar Czernenko - Research Director; located at Institute of Research
• Melissa Fang-Yin - Intelligence Director; located at Knowledge Bank
• Colonel Axton Cowell - Defense Director; located at Central Point
• Thadeous Oakley - Press Release Director; located at Exhibition Center
• Vitaliy Rzeznik - Security Director; located at Insight Counter Services
• Zuang Lun Wang (Kingpin); located at The Tower

Vehicles

There are many vehicles in the game varying from garbage trucks, minivans, sportscars to baggage carriers. There are only a few Agency vehicles, but they are arguably the best vehicles in the game. Vehicles in your garage can be painted one of six different colors when selecting one to drive. The colors available are red, green, blue, purple, black, and Agency Standard.

Agency Vehicles

• Agency Supercar* - This is the fastest of all of the Agency vehicles. When driving into oncoming traffic it will launch the cars into the air without causing your speed to be decreased very much. Once your reach level 4 in your driving abilities it will have mounted machine guns when it transforms. These machine guns can be shot while driving, but can only shoot directly in front of the vehicle.
• Agency SUV* - This car is capable of climbing over virtually any object. This vehicle is also great for aerial stunts because it gets much more hang time and can be rotated relatively quickly while in the air. Once you reach level 4 in your driving ability you will be able to jump into the air by pressing the B button and you can even drive up walls by holding the B button down.
• Agency Truck* - This is a giant truck that has a slow acceleration, but once it is up to speed nothing can stop it. This vehicle is capable of smashing through an other vehicle without even slowing down. Once you reach level 4 in your driving ability you will gain a nitrous boost for the car to give it some extra speed, but it also becomes more powerful. The truck will now cause other vehicles to explode shortly after contact with the truck when going at a high speed.

Peacekeeper Vehicles

• Dispatch Vehicle* - This is the standard issue vehicle used by all Peacekeepers in the game.
• Agency Buggy* (DLC) - This vehicle is capable of climbing vertical surfaces and is even better than the Agency SUV for performing aerial stunts. It also has a chain gun on the front which can be aimed with the right stick. Though the Agent is highly exposed to oncoming enemy fire.
• Agency Race Car* (DLC)- This car is extremely fast which can only be rivaled by the Agency Supercar at level 4 driving ability. Though the handling and control of this vehicle is much more responsive and precise, which allows for dodging traffic to become relatively easy.
• Agency Armored Vehicle* (DLC) - Similar to the Agency Truck it is a bulky and powerful vehicle. It has a slow acceleration, but has a decent top speed. Though this vehicle has a mounted turret which can be aimed with the right stick and can fire homing missiles.

Los Muertos Vehicles

• Modified Hatchback*
• Modified Sportscar*
• Pony Car*
• Muscle Car*
• Modified Saloon*
• Modified Van*
• Slammed Pickup*
• Lowrider*

Volk Vehicles

• Luxury Saloon*
• Popular Saloon*
• Limousine*
• APC*
• Military SUV*
• SCUD Launcher
• Flatbed Tractor
• Military Truck

Shai-Gen Vehicles

• Sportscar*
• 6WD SUV*
• SUV*
• Limousine*
• Van
• Truck Cab

Civilian Vehicles

• Cabriolet*
• Sportscar*
• Coupe*
• Sports Pickup*
• Microcar*
• Luxury Sportscar*
• Baggage Carrier*
• Pickup*
• SUV*
• Tour Bus
• Ramp Truck
• Long-nose Cab
• Tractor Cab
• Garbage Truck
• Tow Truck
• Dump Truck
• Long-nose Box Truck
• Box Truck
• Large Box Truck
• Minivan
• Cargo Van
• Heavy Duty Van
• Classic Van
• Station Wagon
• 4D
• Sports
• Classic
• Sub-Compact
• 4D Hatchback

* Indicates that the vehicle may become available in the garage.

Weapons

Pistols

• Colby 'Master'
• Smithers 'Punisher'
• Kokav "Diktat"

Shotguns

• Dempsey SO-6 "Stub"
• Dempsey 190 "Equalizer"

Sub-Machine Guns

• Ingalls X80 SMG
• Harman MP-50

Assault Rifles

• Colby EAR50 - Attached Scope
• Ingalls MG-60

Machine Guns

• Harlington HMG-90
• MZ360 "Minigun" - Requires short pause to begin firing.

Sniper Rifles

• Bastion SX900 "Longshot" - Bolt Action
• Bastion S600 "Longeye" - Semi Auto

Explosives

• Watson HE79 "Grenadier" - Semi Auto Grenade Launcher
• Watson HE99 "Hothead" - Single Shot Rocket Launcher
• Watson HE99-X "Firefly" - Semi Auto, Heatseeking Rocket Launcher
• (DLC) MSK Lobber - Homing Rocket Launcher/Minigun

Grenades

• Grenade - Default starting grenade
• Colby "Limpet Charge" - Remote Controlled Mine
• Shrapnel Grenade - Same as default grenade only with added shrapnel
• Cluster Grenade - Scatters small bombs
• (DLC) EX1 "Proximity Charge" - Proximity Mine

Miscellaneous

• (DLC) HLX "Harpoon" - Harpoon gun which sticks enemies to objects
• (DLC) VS1 Cloaking Device - Turns user invisible until shields are drained

Downloadable Content

After the launch, Crackdown received two downloadable content packs, one for free, the Free-for-All Pack, and one costing 800 Microsoft points, that was called Getting' Busy Bonus Pack.

Free-for-All Pack

The free-for-all pack featured several new modes and features:

• Keys to the City: A cheat mode, which loads a separate city to start from a clean slate and be able to fully exploit and customize your experience, alone or with a friend through co-op. Saving/loading, leaderboards, and achievements are disabled. This mode added some new things such as a super strength and super agility mode for more power. Other examples of the cheats are the ability to spawn a selection of vehicles and object, including explosive drums.

The full list of options from the Keys to the City mode:

• God Mode – Toggle on/off
• Fast Skill Development – Toggle on/off
• Change Agility Skill – Set 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4
• Change Driving Skill – Set 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4
• Change Explosives Skill – Set 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4
• Change Strength Skill – Set 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4
• Change Firearms Skill – Set 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4
• Super Agent Agility – Toggle on/off
• Super Agent Strength – Toggle on/off
• Infinite Ammo – Toggle on/off
• Supply Point – All Weapons – Toggle on/off
• Enable All Supply Points – Toggle on/off
• Vehicle Impounding – Toggle on/off
• Spawn Agency Supercar – Single Activation
• Spawn Agency SUV – Single Activation
• Spawn Agency Truck Cab – Single Activation
• Spawn Agency Buggy – Single Activation
• Spawn Agency Race Car – Single Activation
• Spawn Agency Armored Car – Single Activation
• Spawn Ramp Truck – Single Activation
• Spawn Explosive Barrel – Single Activation
• Change Time of Day – Set to Dawn, Day, Dusk, or Night
• Freeze Time of Day – Toggle on/off
• Empty Streets – Toggle on/off
• Launch All Hit Squads – Single Activation
• Launch Agency Enforcers – Single Activation

• Vehicle Impounding: This mode allows players to collect their preferred vehicles in the color they want, and an achievement can be unlocked by collecting all cars.
• Co-op trophy sequences: Special trophies are displayed at the end of each mini-game for co-op
• Psychotic Mission Trials: This adds the ability to beat all bosses in a time trial fashion on the highest difficulty mode, which are also ranked on the leaderboards. An achievement is available when all bosses are defeated in this mode.

Getting' Busy Bonus Pack (800 points)

This pack added several vehicles and modes:

The Agency Patrol Buggy

• Agency Patrol Buggy: A dune buggy that can drive over anything, even up walls. There's also a machine gun and an insane amount of control in-air for awesome stunts.
• Agency Pursuit Vehicle: A race car with just one seat and a ridiculously powerful engine.
• Agency Armored Vehicle: This enormous vehicle is essentially a tank. The player is completely safe while inside.

New modes were added as well:

• Street Racing: This adds in 6 races, which can be raced with 12 contestants, two of which are human. Because this is Crackdown, it allows players to win by any means necessary: Create a road block, shoot at gas tanks or just slam opponents of the road.
• Max-Agility Rooftop Races: Adds 9 new races, allowing the player and a companion to test their skills in races that cross the city rooftops.
• Stockpile: In this mode, the player (with or without a friend) needs to collect the game specific orbs as fast as possible.
• Checkpoint Chase: In this mode the player and his friend need to get to a random location as quickly as possible and try to beat each other to it. The catch is that the points are only displayed on the tracker, not on the mini map, which makes the challenge even tougher.
• Rocket Tag: This modes sets the player and his friend up against each other. One is armed with a rocket launcher, one with just a pistol. The player with the pistol needs to avoid being caught in the blast of the rocket for 60 seconds in order to win.

Five new weapons were added as well:

• MSK Lobber: This shoots mini homing rockets.
• HRX 'Harpoon': With the HRX Harpoon, players can pin their opponents to the wall, literally.
• MZ360 'Mini-Gun': The ultimate fast-firing weapon in the game. The only disadvantage it has is that the barrel needs to spin up before bullets can be fired.
• EX1 'Proximity Charge': This charge can be attached to any surface and will explode when approached.
• VS1 'Cloaking Device': This device allows the player to cloak, which gives certain advantages when trying to defeat certain enemies. The device is fueled by the suit armor of the player, so when the cloak is run out, the player is extremely vulnerable.

Soundtrack

Crackdown has a massive 105 songs in its track list. Each criminal organization plays its own selection of music deemed relevant to the faction. For example, Los Muertos gang vehicles default to music with Spanish lyrics/artists. In addition to the radio during gameplay, the entire soundtrack list for the game can be accessed and listened to through the main menu via the audio options. Alphabetically by artist, the soundtrack is:

• A1 People – Black Ice
• A1 People – Crash
• A1 People – Evel Knievel
• A1 People – Rhythm Machine
• Absynthesis – Crawl (Instrumental Mix)
• Albrecht – Drowned Under Influence
• Albrecht Kunze – Monochrom Juno
• Amon Tobin – El Wraith
• Amon Tobin – Escape
• Amon Tobin –
• Amon Tobin – Rosies
• Amon Tobin – Sultan Drops
• Aphrodite – Boomtown
• Aphrodite –
• Atlas Plug – Around The World
• Atlas Plug – Get Rolled On
• Atlas Plug – Halfway Til Bliss
• Atlas Plug – Rule The World
• Atlas Plug – The Ace, The Only
• Auto Aggression – iir filter 3
• Auto Aggression – Tempel 3
• Celldweller – Afraid This Time
• Celldweller – Fadeaway
• Celldweller – Frozen
• Celldweller – So Sorry To Say
• Celldweller – The Last Firstborn
• Control Machete – Andamos Armados
• Control Machete – Asi Son Mis Das
• Control Machete – Bandera
• Control Machete – Bien Bien
• Control Machete – Comprendes Mendes?
• Control Machete – Danzon
• Control Machete – El Genio Del Dub
• Control Machete – El Son Divo
• Control Machete – Grin-Gosano
• Control Machete – Humanos Mexicanos
• Control Machete – Si Senior
• Control Machete – Toda La Casa
• Curve – Get Me Through This
• Curve – In Disguise
• Daniel Lenz – Demolition Down
• Daniel Lenz – Massive Mellow
• Daniel Lenz – Push
• Daniel Lenz – Scarey Cherry
• Daniel Lenz – The Krystal
• Daniel Lenz Psykohed – To The Line
• Deadly Avenger – Wild Chillies
• Dieselboy – Barrier Break
• Dismantled – Breed To Death
• Dismantled – The Swarm (Daedal Remix)
• DJ Accucrack – Freak Flag
• DJ Krush – Gokurakucho Ron a/k/a Paradise Bird Theory featuring Sunja Lee
• DJ Krush – Sonic Traveler featuring Tunda Ayanyem
• DJ Krush – Tokino Tabiji
• DJ Krush – Trihedron featuring Opus
• DJ Krush and Mr. Lif – Nosferatu with Mr. Lif
• DJ Krush and Shinichi Kinoshita – Beyond Raging Waves with Shin’ichi Kinoshita
• DJ Krush, Tatsuki and Tobias Wilner – Decks-Athron with Tatsuki
• DJ Vadim – Something To Feel?
• DJ Zinc – Voodoo
• FC Kahuna – Glitterball
• Flesh Field – Uprising
• Freak XXI – P.I.N.
• Hybrid – Higher Than A Skyscraper
• Hybrid – Higher Than A Skyscraper (Orb’s Towers of Babel remix)
• Hybrid – Higher Than A Skyscraper (Twitch & Sweat remix)
• Julian Beeston – Android Rock
• Julian Beeston – Internal Intrigue
• Kinky – Do You Like It?
• Kinky – Ejerico No. 16
• Kinky – Mas
• Kinky – Mirando De Lado
• Kinky – The Headphonist (Gil Vocal)
• Korn Flake – Reife Fruchte
• Korn Flake – TV Wanna Be
• Kultur Shock –
• mind.in.a.box – Questions (Scorch Mix)
• Molotov – Apocalypshit
• Molotov – El Mundo
• Molotov – Here We Kum
• Molotov – Karmara
• Molotov – Molotov Cocktail Party
• Molotov – Nero
• Molotov – No Manches Mi Vida
• Molotov – Parasito
• Molotov – Polkas Palabras
• Molotov – Step Off
• OmTheory – Bad Em
• OmTheory – Lost Relevancy
• OmTheory – Slickster
• Robert Miles – Release Me
• Robert Miles and Trilok Gurtu – Inductive
• Shiznaptic – Dead Inside
• Shiznaptic – The Cell
• Stromkern – Can’t Believe
• Stromkern – Slow Cascade
• Supercruizer – Jetstream
• Sussan – Bade
• The Drawbacks – Peligro Minus
• The Drawbacks – Yes For An Answer
• Tobin – Cat People
• Toby Mac – Extreme Days
• Toby Mac – Get This Party Started
• Toby Mac – Momentum
• Toby Mac – Yours

Xbox 360 Game Installation

Crackdown previously could not be installed on the Xbox 360 HDD when the NXE was launched. A title update was released in November 2009 that allows the title to be installed. Its install size is 6.1 GB.

Games On Demand

Crackdown is now available to download on the Xbox 360 using the Games on Demand service. It is not available in Germany, Japan and Korea.

Sales and Promotion

Crackdown was released on February 23, 2007. With the game buyers would receive a beta invite to Halo 3. It was the top selling game of the month (sold 427,000 copies) and it can be assumed that its success had to do a great deal with the Halo 3 beta promotion. Though many critics ended up complementing the game and it in itself became a popular game. So the Halo 3 beta was a blessing not to help just sell a couple hundred thousand copies, but to make gamers realize that this was a great sandbox game.