I never really liked the original Crackdown on Xbox 360; it was hyped as an open-world “sandbox” style of game (think Grand Theft Auto) but with a super-futuristic genetically-altered “Agent” under your control, meaning lots of explosions, super-human abilities and other goodness.
But it bored me. I could never understand the accolades it collected, simply because it was extremely repetitive and had an annoying control method that ultimately led to frustration. Visually it looked okay, but never really convinced me that I was bringing angry genetically-altered justice to a living, breathing Pacific City in the same way that GTA IV immersed you in the seedy side of Liberty City, even when you weren’t on a mission.
So a sequel with three-years-worth of development on the original theme has the potential to be a far more enjoyable game, doesn’t it?
Sure does, but with Crackdown 2, that hasn’t quite proven to be the case.
Instead they have taken the time-honoured “Can’t Be Arsed Doing Anything Original, So Just Took The First Game And Threw Zombies At It” approach and, umm, threw zombies at it.
Okay, so they call them “Freaks” here, but the net effect is the same; hoards of ugly, deformed cannon-fodder descend on the streets of Pacific City at nightfall begging to be reduced to a bloody pulp by your ever-increasing arsenal. Okay, so that’s fun for a while… but it’s still a lazy way out.
On the up side, the graphics are way better and they have tightened up the controls a bit, but the game still demands more accuracy from the player than the controls allow.
Still it’s good for a few hours mindless fun, and the ability to team up with other players online and bring hot lead-justice to the streets is vastly entertaining.
Rated: R16
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Also Available on: n/a
Rating: 3.5/5
If you loved the original you won’t be disappointed, but if you were hoping for big improvements…
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