Simply fun gameplay makes up for lack of story and direction.
Well. It's good.
It took time to get used to the fact that you don't grow levels in your skills as fast as you do in the demo, so you shouldn't expect to jump into the game and be leaping tall buildings in a single bound and throwing trucks at people five minutes in.
Still, it doesn't take THAT long to level - so before you've even taken out the first kingpin, assuming you don't do it right away - you'll likely have leveled plenty.
And thats a good thing too.
Though it's advisable to take out the kingpins lieutenants before you go for him, you CAN go straight to em - provided you know where to find em anyway.
It's a pretty open-ended game and hand holding is limited. Your pretty much plopped into the game and aside from a couple message boxes telling you to grab a vehicle and go for the first supply point, it's.. Yeah. Just real open.
The announcer guy will grate on you though.
And sometimes he'll say irrelevant things.
Like - thats quite an ascension there, agent! - And you only jumped a few feet off the ground.
Also, the music.. Ehhh... Well, it's not really my thing. Too technoish.
But that mightn't bother you, it just grates on me.
Custom soundtracks would've been nice.
Of course I could just play music over it through the 360's music player, but it's not the same as just hopping in a car and hearing your own music blaring instead of that hogwash.
The graphics. I like the graphics.
I'm sure there'll be plenty of people taking time of Gears of War or something like that who'll think it's trash - it mightn't be realistic but it's heavily stylized and it looks great in my opinion.
Like a comic book or some such.
The Co-op is perhaps this games saving grace.
Who wouldn't want a big open world to roam around in with a partner?
Another player makes it a whole lot better.
But still, if what I've heard from others is accurate it's one of - if not the best thing about the game. I mean, how many other games of an open ended nature allow you to play with a friend?
I know I would've liked to have torn up the city with another player in Saints Row - or stuff around in GTA: San Andreas with someone else, whether stuffing around means blowing stuff up or kickin' back in a bar and playing some pool - it'd be nice to experience something like this with a friend - or foe.
Anyway, Crackdown gets the thumbs up from me.
