In a recent Major Nelson podcast, Xbox Live’s director of programming, Larry Hryb said, "I'm here to tell you on behalf of the community, I want -- we need -- another Crackdown... That’s all I'm going to say, so you don’t have to confirm or deny anything. I'm just saying we want it."
To which Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer replied, "Yes, Crackdown's one of my favorites. I'll leave it at that."
The story points out the first Crackdown sold 1.5 million--far more than I realized, though a large percentage of that was surely aided by the inclusion of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta. But it shouldn't have been, because Crackdown is awesome on its own merits! Leaping over a tall building and punching a dude into the sky...well, doesn't that concept sell itself?
I'm not sure what original developer Realtime Worlds' availability is looking like, since they're still finishing up their new multiplayer version of All Points Bulletin. For whoever might make this potential sequel, here's a list we just conjured of things that need to improve.
- Better driving. Driving wasn't great in the first game, and it became irrelevant as soon as you got the ability to climb up and jump over buildings more quickly. Give us a reason to want to drive.
- Come up with a storyline. The paper-thin narrative in the first game wasn't enough to keep me going on its own, and it missed some obvious opportunities for drama. Some kind of story context between missions would help flesh out the world.
- More activities. Let's get something else to do in between tracking down and killing all the crime bosses. Collecting agility orbs was a good start, but not enough on its own.
- Make the boss fights more distinctive. Give the bosses more distinctive arenas and abilities so you don't feel like you're killing the same character two dozen times in a row.
Crackdown got a ton of things right the first time around, so with a few improvements like these, the sequel could be truly great.
What would you do to make a better Crackdown?