Crackdown

Similar to GTA creator Dave Jones’ roots,Crackdown is an open world, third person hybrid of all the great things we love about video games.

It has your typical sandbox style game play and manages to mix it up a bit with some platforming and RPG elements.

One minute I’m cruising through Pacific City at 100 miles an hour, barrel rolling my way over ramps, and running over members of the Russian Mob.

The next I find myself closing my eyes, praying I make the next rooftop building jump to pick up that pesky Agility Orb to level up my skills.

These are the kind of situations you’ll find yourself in when playing through Real Time Worlds’ surprisingly original Crackdown title.

Welcome to GTA With RPG Elements!

The RPG elements are very basic and do not adopt enough from the genre to call this a true RPG game. If you’re not a fan of RPG games do not fear thatCrackdown will be a turn off.

Performing certain skills such as jumping, shooting, driving and throwing objects eventually levels up your characters experience in the specific areas similar to that of Oblivion. Leveling your skills typically involves collecting orbs, doing stunts or performing the skill on enemy gang members.

As you progress through the game you will start to evolve into a super hero-like hunter with a desire to drive down all the evil doers of the world. You possess super human strength, leap tall buildings in a “single bound,” increased firearm accuracy and gain insane driving skills.

Unlike similar games confined to driving, running, and swimming, Crackdownseemingly adds a whole new dimension to this over saturated genre: scaling buildings. You can scale any building in the game where the height will greatly depend on your agility skill.

The Plot

Game storyline is the biggest disappointment in Crackdown compared to the standards set by its predecessors. Crackdown’s story is virtually non-existent. You’re a superhuman lab experiment designed to purge the streets of Pacific City from three different gangs. That about wraps it up in a nutshell.

Cut scenes are limited to mission briefings which pop up whenever you have entered in close proximity to a gang boss. Thats basically it for plot; no character development unless, of course, you count the Charlie’s Angels-esque narrator’s comments on your improvement.

From the outset of the game, the whole world is open to you, and you can pick and choose which gangs you want to take over first. Agency Supply Points will help you travel further across the different islands. In addition, to supplying your ammunition, the Supply Points will allow you to instantly transport to any of the other Supply Points you have unlocked.

Co-Operation!

Crackdown has a seamless integration when it comes to co-operative play. This is a great feature that has appeared in many new Xbox 360 titles such asGears of War. At any point in the game, whether you’re stuck on a hard mission, or feel like playing with a friend, you can do so by simply opening the Xbox Guide and inviting someone from your friends list.

Your buddy may be working on a completely different mission but they’re still able to jump directly into your game to assist in co-op fun.

Overall

Crackdown is a surprisingly good game which will keep you entertained for many long hours. Its story can be rather short and uninteresting, but there is still plenty of compelling content in there to keep you coming back for more.

It is a game that truly innovates on the open-ended sandbox genre. Crackdownis one of the best examples of “go anywhere, do anything” game play. It has a great set of unique achievements which will increase your incentive explore all the different aspects of the game.

It is safe to say that Crackdown will make an excellent addition to any 360 gamers’ collection.