Cut out "down" from "Crackdown"
"Crackdown" is addictive. I can't attribute it to a singular reason, but one of them has gotta be the brilliant way the developers integrated rpg elements into a free-roaming action game.
As an "enforcer" for "the Agency," you are tasked with taking out a series of gangs that have infected Pacific City. You are the product of an Agency experiment to create a super-soldier with hyper-fast evolutionary abilities. Shoot enemies to increase your accuracy or punch enemies to boost your strength. The whole concept is based on Lamarckian evolution; and though Lamarckism is a discredited scientific theory, this is a video game, so what the hell.
The tangible way in which you feel your character develop is like nothing I've ever experienced in a non-rpg. This is more Iron Man than Spider Man or Super Man. You start off as a regular Joe and gradually build yourself up to become superhuman. The best developmental path is "agility," which allows you to jump higher as you collect orbs that sit on top of roofs and skyscrapers. This creates an incredibly addictive incentive to explore higher and higher reaches of the city, and not just for the view.
What's remarkable about "Crackdown" is how enthralling the game is despite a laundry list of glaring faults. For starters, story is virtually non-existent in this game, as the sole mission is to eliminate the heads of a series of gangs. The story missions are limited solely to this purpose, and offer no variety apart from locations, enemy positions, and enemy arsenals. Moreover, the enemies themselves seem superhuman in their own way, able to rip away at your armor with bullets from the ground beneath a skyscraper, or when you're flying mid-air between rooftops. Finally, the camera sometimes pulls in too close in close quarters, creating some troublesome platforming issues.
Despite all this, I found "Crackdown" thoroughly entertaining. The exploration elements of the game encourage creative thinking while platforming, since there's usually more than one way to scale a skyscraper. If you can find a friend, the online multiplayer is a blast (too bad there's no split-screen).
In short, "Crackdown" is a game with a lot of faults, but if you look beneath the smog, you'll find lots of unfiltered fun and a city waiting to be explored.
