Our second hum-sniffing, building-bounding romp in Crackdown 2's ridiculous Pacific City will differ from the first, not only because creator Ruffian Games has rebuilt the open-world metropolitan playground, but also because of glorious addition of "freaks"--mutants who go bump in the night (and apparently like to kill guys when they're not busy bumping).
This addition of mutants--and the decade-long span between the two titles--leaves some unanswered question. The good news is that Ruffian appears to be up to the task of answerin'. Company senior designer Ed Campbell and notable comic duder Alex Ronald (Lobo, Judge Dredd) have teamed up to create a cartoon mini-series that seeks to bridge the gap between the two games, as well as address the Freaks' origin story and several other questions that you may or may not have depending on how seriously you're taking the games' respective stories. The first episode, Home Truths, is available for your viewing pleasure just below this text crap. You'll notice that it's quite violent, and sports some hip art.
Machima has the exclusive on the cartoons, according to a recent Microsoft press release, which also revealed the grim series' release schedule. Expect a new episode in just a few days, and three more in June. Each of these will eventually trickle down to Xbox LIVE Marketplace as a free download, it seems. The first is available over the service right now if you'd rather watch it on your 40-plus inch monster.
Crackdown 2 hits July 6th, 2010 which just so happens to be the one-year anniversary of Croatia electing its first female Prime minister, Jadranka Kosor. The more you know!