Crackdown is somewhat of a conundrum. A game that was first blown off
as nothing but an easy way to get in on the Halo 3 beta has exploded
into a wildly popular free-roam, sandbox game drawing inevitable
comparisons to Grand Theft Auto and the "other" GTA spin-off for the
Xbox 360, Saints Row. Amidst which, it's been able to hold its own
ground quite successfully. It's also an extremely fun way to do
absolutely nothing - as long as you enjoy doing nothing in particular.
But once you start actually completing missions and progressing though
the "story," it becomes quickly apparent that the game is very shallow
and you'll find yourself with little else to do but run down
pedestrians once all the gangsters are wiped out.
The basic premise of Crackdown is that you're a cop in a city that's
been overwhelmed by violent gangs. Your job is to clean up the city.
It's a pretty simple concept. Something akin to True Crime actually.
Run around, "commandeer" cars (remember, you're a cop so it's not
hi-jacking), and take down the bad guys. What sets Crackdown apart is
that you're not some run of the mill cop, but you already knew that of
course. Instead you've been biogenetically enhanced using questionable
techniques to make you something of a superhuman. In the end you'll be
jumping several stories high, picking up and throwing small cars at
your enemies, shooting with greater accuracy, generating bigger
explosions, driving faster, and surviving falls of a few hundred feet.
Crackdown is built on the "sandbox" free-roam formula that made games
like Grand Theft Auto so popular. You'll leave the Agency Headquarters
in the center of the city and walk into a war-zone free to do almost
whatever you like - as long as it's outside, and involves cars, jumping
from rooftop to rooftop, or killing lots of people - gangs or
otherwise. Really that's about it. There is really no depth to
Crackdown. What's amazing is that it's easy to spend an hour or two
scaling the sides of massive skyscrapers, blowing up Russian troop
transports, throwing cars at groups of gang members, performing
impossible aerial stunts in cars, sniping people from several hundred
feet up, shooting the tires out of cars whizzing by on the freeway and
watch them careen wildly out of control. As long as you get a kick out
of causing chaos and destruction, you'll have a good time.
On the flip side of all this random, do nothing, destruction, is that
there actually is a story here (though very loose and non-linear) with
actual objectives and missions. In short, you're supposed to locate and
kill gang leaders. Take down the lower bosses first and you'll weaken
the more difficult Kingpin's defenses. Each mission is straight forward
and not subject to any time restrictions. Just walk (or jump, or drive)
into a boss location and take down the boss any way you can. Once
they're out of the way, that area will become significantly quieter and
nearly devoid of gang activity. Clear out all the bosses and eventually
the Kingpin of a district (there are three districts) and you'll
reclaim that part of the city making it a peaceful oasis for the
citizens of Pacific City.
If you haven't guessed it already, the very thing that you're supposed
to do in Crackdown, is the very thing that removes the funest elements
of the game. Clearing out a district means eliminating all Agency
sanctioned chaos that was so fun before. Without bad guys to blow-up
you're left with everyday citizens. And although the Agency gives you a
little leeway for people that get killed in the crossfire, it won't
take much before your fellow cops have had enough of your reckless
behavior and turn on you. Killing innocents also has a negative effect
on your skill progression. Kill too many people and you'll start losing
points.
No big deal though, right? Just don't save your progression. Cause chaos. Lose skill points. Reload. Repeat.
No, sorry, it doesn't work that way. Crackdown employs an auto-save
that saves when you collect a hidden orb, knock-off a gang leader,
enter a supply point, or die; and no way to turn it off. And there's
the real conundrum. With games like GTA or Saints Row, or even Oblivion
and Fable, you were free to do as you pleased without impeding your
character's progress. Crackdown believes that no matter what, there
should be consequences for your actions.
As long as you're causing havoc that involves killing gangsters, as
well as the occasional civilian or fellow officer, your point
progression will balance out. So long as a gang exists in a territory
you can be free to run amok. Say sayounara to a gang and you say
good-bye to chaos.
Crackdown handles pretty well, though it's not free from quirks.
Picking up items and entering vehicles is generally easy but it's not
uncommon for your character to be in the "wrong" place and not have the
option available. Aiming is aided by a target lock by holding down the
left trigger. While locked on, you're also presented with some options
for precision shooting (head, arms, torso, legs), though it's rarely
necessary. However, it is fun to shoot the gun out of someone's hand
then run up and punch them for strength points early on. Jumping and
scaling buildings is simple and intuitive. You even have the old skool
ability of changing your direction in mid-air.
I've heard complaints about how that cars handle but frankly I've never
had a issue with it. There's a pretty good variety of cars and each
handles and performs differently so it's really a matter of finding a
car you like. My preference has always been for the Agency SUV. Built
like a brick with good speed and will drive over anything. Especially
gang members, and cars, and mountains - yeah, like I said, anything.
Crackdown's multi-player is also a blast, but doesn't add any more
depth or modes to the game. It essentially just turns it into a co-op
with two super agents running around the same city causing mass
hysteria. It is fairly well implemented in that if you can adjust your
co-op settings for who's allowed to join any game in progress. So if
you're playing solo and one of your friends happens to pop online and
see you playing, they're free to join you as long as you say it OK.
Graphically, Crackdown's comic, cell-shading treatment works pretty
well. Some elements seem overlooked though. It would have been nice if
more of the environment got the same attention to detail. Sometimes
it's easy to feel like you have this beautifully cell-shaded character
stuck in the middle of an incomplete warehouse. That aside, the
environments work. They may not look like much in the screen grabs, but
they're definitely suitable and better than those screens make it look.
As for the audio, overall it's a winner. While you're driving you'll be
rockin’ out to some great music that reflects the type of
district you're in (although you can change it to whatever you like).
Sound effects are all solid as should be expected these days. About the
only other sounds you'll get is the voice in your head from your
"friend" and intel man at the Agency. A voice reminiscent of the
original Mission Impossible TV show ("Good morning, Mr. Hunt.") which
matches the feel of the game perfectly. Unfortunately it can be a bit
buggy at times and simply say the wrong thing (i.e. "That was quite an
ascent, Agent", while standing on a road).
All in all, it'll be interesting to see how Crackdown survives this
post release euphoria. Does it have enough value to stay strong over
the long haul? Those that play straight through in a matter of a couple
days will tell you no. Those that like to kill an hour by blowing ****
up will tell, hell yeah. In the end what you're left with is GTA
without all the mini games and story based missions. Except you can
jump REALLY far - and yet, in some way, that makes up for it.
