by Jermz678

I have not played the first Crackdown enough to be able to compare them.

Crackdown 2 is an open world action game, supporting up to 4 players in co-op or 16 players in multiplayer. It was released on July 6, 2010 exclusively for the Xbox 360, and was developed by Ruffian Games. Being three years since the original, does this sequel draw people back into the great Pacific City, or make them want to stay away?

Story

The story is…honestly I don’t really know much about it, because Crackdown 2 doesn’t offer it freely. In the beginning, you get a cutscene explaining about the Freaks, infected humans who only come out at night. Slowly but surely they are taking over the city. Apparently there is a terrorist group call the Cell, run by Catalina Thorne, who not only wiped out the Agent Program, but spread the infection. They believe that the Agency has a cure, but won’t give it to the people. It took the Agency years to get its Agent Program up and running again, and now they have you, a super human clone, an agent whose only objective is to obey the Agency. During the game your goal is to rid Pacific City of these enemies of peace by any means necessary. Ruffian games released 5 short videos prior to its release, and I strongly suggest you watch them. It helps explain what is going on so you aren’t left in the dark. Other than the first cutscene and those movies, the story is only told to you by listening to the 52 recordings spread around the city.

Gameplay

While not doing anything necessarily wrong, gameplay is not always at its best. I guess I should explain.

Moving around, jumping, climbing, all feels fine. There are hundreds of buildings to scale, and once you have your agility leveled up all they way the tallest areas in the game are accessible to you. There were a few times where the ledge detection seemed a little off, but it didn’t happen often enough to get me frustrated.

The shooting is easy enough, but its hindered at times by the lock-on system. You hold Left trigger to lock on, and then with the right stick you can choose various body parts to shoot. There are many times where it won’t lock on to what you want it to. There can be three enemies with turrets firing right at your face, and you will lock on to their vehicle. Switching between targets is just releasing and pressing again on the left trigger, so eventually the reticle will land on your opponent of choice. The variety of weapons is satisfying, with a couple unique guns and grenades thrown in for variety. The UV shotgun (my favorite) is an excellent weapon of choice against the freaks, as it blows multiple away at once. The Harpoon sends your enemies flying into walls, vehicles or concrete. An interesting grenade is the mag, which by throwing onto 2 objects, connects them with a string of light. There is a lot of creative things that can done with this device, and is a great tool for just messing around.

Driving is a mixed bag. The agency vehicles all seem to control well, while every other car drives like shit. To be honest though, I’m not sure why you would want anything other than the 6 vehicles the Agency has to offer. They have added Helicopters this time around, and while you don’t get to unlock them till you reach level 5 in your driving skills, you can always go to the Agency Tower and pick one up there. I guess the main problem with the vehicles is that you don’t really need them. You get around the city just fine on your own two feet. I wish there were some missions or something that made you need to use a vehicle.

Melee is very basic. Hit B to hit. Hold B to pick up something. The hand combat doesn’t flow very well, and the agent is constantly missing his target. When you are using an item, such as a traffic sign, the melee works better because it has more reach. Just swing it around and you”re bound to hit someone.

The missions are very repetitive as the game has you do the same objective 9 times. Activate a light beacon, and then defend it against the freaks. Now these did get harder as the game progressed, but the fact that they didn’t change it up at all screams laziness. Besides these story missions, there are 25 strongholds to overcome, and 25 freak breaches to destroy. Then you have the foot and car races, both of which have leaderboards so you can see you how you are doing compared to your friends. And everyone knows about the orbs. Oh, orbs. How many races did I fail because I had to have you? There are 500 agility orbs, 300 hidden orbs, 80 online only orbs, and 60 renegade orbs (orbs that you have to chase down, either on foot or in a vehicle). That a lot of stuff to collect, and the game helps you find them buy giving you a sensor. Hitting up on the dpad will show you if you are in close range to an orb, each being a different color. It’s a helpful and welcome addition to the game.

Crackdown 2 has a minimal leveling up system in place. You have 5 abilities: Agility, Strength, Firearms, Explosives, and Driving. The latter 4 are leveled up by using that ability. Agility is increased by collecting agility orbs and doing foot races. You can reach level 5 in each, and each level makes your character not only look different, but become a better Agent by unlocking items or giving him better abilities. For example, when you have Agility up to the max, you are leaping 50 ft. in the air and can glide around the city. This system works great, and really lets you decide what you want to be. As your leader says, “Skills for kills, agent. Skills for kills.”

Multiplayer

There is 4 player co-op for the main game, online only. There are no restrictions, so you can go and do whatever you want. I wish they would have added a waypoint marker, because if you aren’t communicating well, you can lose each other pretty easily.

There is also competitive multiplayer, which supports up to 16 players, and has three modes. Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, and Rocket Tag. This last one is a fun and unique game. There is one orb, and whoever holds it is getting points. The only weapon is a rocket launcher, so everyone is chasing this one person down with rockets. Your character can do everything he can in the single player, like climb, glide, or ground pound. There is lock-on, but while it fixes the camera on your opponent, you have to move the reticle onto your enemy to get a well placed shot. The thing that I liked about the multiplayer the most is the way it uses the city as the map. Each map is a sectioned off piece of Pacific City, so if you know the city well, the multiplayer will make you feel right at home.

Graphics and Sound Design

The game isn’t pretty, but I like the design. Colors are used freely, really bringing the city to life. It’s cellshaded, which some may have a problem with. My brother came over, saw the game, and said “This looks like crap.” Take that as you will. The character designs are simplistic, but with so many enemies on screen at a time, it’s easy to overlook this. Freaks look deformed and ugly, and their sizes vary. As the game progresses, you are introduced to more Freaks, each with special attacks. The Cell are much less exciting to look at, but their vehicles are interesting. They have normal cars and buses that they have covered in armor and mounted guns on. You will see Agency PeaceKeepers on the street, and they are your typical cop. The city itself I think is very well designed. While it is the same city from the first game, they have changed it some to show how much destruction has been going on. There is a pretty good draw distance, and I didn’t notice much pop up at all. Explosions are noticeably ugly. At times there were framerate drops, but it didn’t seem to happen very often, and it didn’t hurt the experience. Your character starts off looking like a guy in a suit, but at the end he looks like an armored bad-ass. There are 4 colors to choose from, unless you have the code which unlocks 4 more. Who doesn’t want a gold agent?

The Agency guy who talks to you can pretty helpful, but eventually you’ll get tired of hearing him saying the same things over and over. Other than him, the only other people you hear are on the recordings you find, and they all do a fine job with their delivery. Guns have a nice sound to them, and explosions are nice and loud. The Freaks have the typical zombie noises, but it works. The cell don’t really say much. I’m sure I heard music, but it didn’t make an impression because I can’t remember it. You should probably play your own.

Overall/Conclusion

This game isn’t for everyone. I love the way it lets you do what you want, when you want, but for some that won’t be enough. Ruffian games could have handled their story telling better, and its a shame because I feel the story could have been pretty interesting. While it has its ups and downs, the game is ultimately a blast to play, and with your friends online it’s even better. If you like collecting things while blowing shit up, then give it a shot.