Crackdown 2 (Date Tbd)

Well other reviews are out and Crackdown 2 did not fair too well. It didn't suffer either, but lets face it 7.0-7.5 is not the desired rating any developer wants. So why did I rate it higher than those esteemed and well-to-do critics? Easy: its a damn good game. Its not mediocre, its not bland, and its an awesome follow-on to an amazing title.So to start off, we'll cover the basics of the game for those who don't know and then hit some of the power buttons that got pushed by others who played this game.Crackdown 2 takes place in a very San Francisco-esque city called Pacific City. It is a sequel, so it takes place in the same city as the first, but 10 years have passed since the first and the city has become overrun with genetic zombie-like "freaks" and a gang called "the Cell". Much to my appreciation, the scenery certainly looks like it has seen better days and in some places, the devestation has made the city completely unrecognizeable from the first Crackdown.In Crackdown, you are a genetically enhanced super-soldier known as an "Agent". Your mission in the first Crackdown was basically to use you super powers and clean-up the streets, eliminating the Gang control in the city (there were no genetic "freaks" in the first Crackdown). The addictive fun that caught on with the first Crackdown was that although the storyline was weak, the game was completely open from the start. Go anywhere, do anything. Fortunately, the studio has kept with that theme and once again, you can go anywhere you want in the game, right from the start. Also, when you control a super-solider who literally jumps almost 50 feet in the air, going anywhere is extremely fun. But if jumping isn't your thing, you can always steal a car or just pick it up and start bashing heads with it. Oh, and the other addictive pice to the game was collecting "orbs" hidden throughout the city to help upgrade your character. So Crackdown in a nutshell is ironically a gameplay that's all about freedom (despite the "Agency" your character works for trying to establish a totalitarian order of government).On to the aspects of the game:- First, it can be a little repetetive. But it is far less so than the first Crackdown which had no real storyline, and your only objective was to eliminate 15 crime bosses. There's more bad guy lairs to assault, more bad guys to fight, more objectives to meet (not to mention more types of objectives than just "kill that guy"), more orbs to catch, more orb types, more races, more vehicles, more weapons, hell - just more of everything. That cuts the repetitiveness down a LOT. Sure, most of your time is spent jumping from rooftop to rooftop, lobbing rockets at baddies while you hunt for Agility orbs or chase Renegade orbs, but there's just a LOT to do in this game. For anyone to say its just an upgraded version of the original Crackdown is pretty insulting to the developers. Its not another "go-kill-the-next-boss" game, there's a lot of work that was spent into making this its own game with the same dynamic of "go anywhere, do anything". Oh yeah - they also actually put a storyline in this game, so there's something else nobody mentioned. The story is accessed by retrieving hidden audio logs in various areas, and putting it together in a very BioShock type of way, minus the British accents. The bottom line is that this game just has a level of playability that games like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead are missing.- Second, the graphics aren't super amazing. But lets take a closer look, they completely revamped the original map to give us something reminescent of the first game, but still new enough to be different. Playing this game after the first one really feels like 10 years have passed in Pacific City. A lot of the freaks look alike (like in any zombie-type game) but there's a respectable amount of variance for the massive volume of them.- Third, multiplayer is entirely under-rated on this game. Ever want to play a game where anyone can be anywhere doing anything at anytime? This is it. Join a friend's game, have 3 friends join yours, just join a stranger's game, or just let some strangers join you. Anyone can be anywhere at any given time, doesn't matter what someone else is doing. That's the beauty of this game. Oh and with the new download content, you can all get in a rediculously armed helicopter and kick-ass EVERYWHERE.- Fourth, everyone has knocked Crackdown 2 as a repeat event. Let me re-iterate: ITS NOT. The city layout may be familiar (but still different) and you are still a super bad-ass with awesome guns and abilities - but its a brand new game. For everything that's in this game, including the awesome multiplayer madness, to give anything less than 9.0 is insulting. Its not perfect, it has some flaws, and can even get a little repetetive after 6 straight hours of playing without a break - but its still addictive fun for any gamer that can play "M" rated games. I think what everyone seemed to forget when they reviewed this game was that it was designed to play with players going wherever they want to. They also failed to notice how cool the multiplayer experience is.So in my humblest opinion, Crackdown 2 is a must buy and well worth the $60. I'm not particularly fond of the idea that open-world games like Grand Theft Auto believe they have to "lock" parts of the world you're running around in, and Crackdown is like a breath of fresh air for me in that regard. I also LOVE that when I play online with my friends, I can go anywhere I want and not be restricted based on where the other players are at.

Well as my title says, it's more than remencent of the 1981 movie Road Warrior. Once you've watched that movie, you'll see where the designers got most if not all of their ideas from.I did not like the first game Crackdown when i first tried to play it, i don't know but i think it was because it was so flooded with enemies. I came back and played it a few weeks ago after never playing it for 2 years! I liked it so much that after the first few hours of playing it, i got hooked and played it to the end of the story... It got better and i think the main reason i stuck with it, was because of the immersive environment, and the relentless enemies, they make you want to beat and shoot the crap out of them, and kill all of the Leaders hiding in their heavily guarded buildings. I really gained interest in the game after the first few leader take downs, it got fun knowing that the gangs where out on the streets and that there was someone behind the scenes controlling them and empowering them to be out on the streets causing chaos, and after i saw i could diminish their effects on the city, that was it for me, i was playing the game for 5 hour sittings straight and thinking about playing it after i had been away from the game for a while. That's the sign of a good game, when you think about the game at work or out running an errand, or washing clothes or the dishes... LOLCrackdown 2 is pretty much along that same formula, damage the center of the problem to reduce it to a more controllable situation, while getting stronger and stronger. It's an interesting concept, the main enemies in this game are right from the last game, mutant creations loose in the city, and they only come out at night, and daylight destroys them. They seem a lot like vampires, with their super strength and varying types. Some are able to jump 20 feet like your character, and have super strength, and others are like zombies or ghouls, that prey on the weak population that gets caught out in the streets when the sun goes down. No match for your character though even at the lowest levels. They do overpower you by sheer numbers, but you die only if you just stand there and do nothing. You have a broad range of weapons to fight them with too, like light based weapons, [vampire stuff again] and every type of explosive you can think of. You can even rip weapons off of vehicles this time, which is really cool and adds to the anything can be used environment.The sounds effects for the mutants are really cool, with them screaming and growling. The animations for both the player and the characters is really good, and much improved over the first game, with the agent using more detailed animation in all of his actions swimming, running, grappling ledges etc...The weapons sound effects are a little weak in the gun department, and sometimes sound underpowered, even though most weapons destroy the various enemies and vehicles with little effort. The weapons are improved though with their other effects such as shell casings and bullet impacts on various objects. I liked the way the bullets zip from behind you and leave the appropriate marks in things like metal holes and glass holes, the glass even makes the approriate shattering and cracking effects, also i got trapped in a car once and smashed out the windshield and climbed out of the car that way, as i was pinned on both sides by landing in a rock bed. The Agent is stronger much faster now, which is good because if you played the first game, you will like that fact especially when you can't import your old agent from that game. I was throwing cars and trucks much sooner in this game. There are lots of weapons in the game and you can get any machine gun you could imagine, i did notice a lack of handguns this time, which i did not like, i liked the handguns in the first game and used them to good effect for running head shots in close quarters! I found it almost a needed thing in some of the tight building infiltrations of the first game. I guess they didn't need them since this seems like an all out war to take back whats left of Pacific City this time around...The Music is really good in the game with a lot of remixes of songs you've probably heard before, such as the freaks come out at night by whodini which is appropriate because the main enemy is called the freaks. I like the boom boxes on the roof tops playing various call to arms addresses and music. The vehicle sound effects are good and give nice sound for the different performance looks of each vehicle. The other enemy the Cell have all of their vehicles armoured up and fitted with weapons and rams on them. They also come out and fight the player, but the cops are a little more aggressive this time, and notice them racing into fights all the time, and you find yourself fighting right along side them many times, even at night when they are hopelessly out numbered they still stop and jump out in two man teams fighting the freaks and the cell. The Cell also fight the freaks so it's kind of weird to be fighting off freaks then having to turn your weapons on the remaining Cell that just helped to fight the freaks, brings to mind the enemy of my enemy is my friend thought... So i found my self actually jumping up and out of the area after we had jointly dispatched a freak rampage, taking shots from the Cell shooting at me fleeing the scene, but being super powered and literally damage proof, i just ignored the bullets and left the area... Speaking of which even missles and grenades raining down on your agent this time just scratch you in a robocop indestructable way... You can almost be riddled with hundreds of rounds of bullets yet still manage to crawl away to recharge and heal.The NPC's and the Cell have good voice work too, and you'll be laughing at the NPC's cursing about what's happening near them, they react in various levels of distress, even the Narrator swears which is funny also. The Cell have really funny responses to the situation and the threat level, with the Armoured Guys in junk suit armour yelling muffled things from inside the suit like "i felt that it hurts!" and other Muffled cries, really funny. The Cell on the ground and on buildings are funny too with their responses they have really funny crazy voices that fit the situation they remind me of the postal enemies with their cries and taunts.So overall a good buy for the lower price, and if you liked the first one this one is familiar with a different twist. Think of the first game as methodical, and this one as all out war. The innocent are still cared about though so you still have to watch out for them in all the turmoil.

I'll begin by saying, I played the first Crackdown and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I was looking forward to Crackdown 2. The game play is very similar to the first Crackdown, and just as rewarding in the skill boost/evolve-your-character category. There is a lot of "capture this territory, protect that territory" sort of game play, but while the premise can seem repetitive, each territory/area has its own flavor. Building up your character is always rewarding; reaching new heights, smashing enemies with greater ease. I find it rather satisfying.You are in the same city as the first game (Pacific City), but it's ten years later, and you can see the advancements and ravages of time at every corner. The vehicles are familiar, but in my opinion, are easier and more fun to drive. The menu/mapping system in Crackdown2 is more detailed and thorough, keeping track of your collected orbs, rooftop races, etc., which makes pursuing all of the 'extras' that much more enjoyable.And with a fast paced and evolving multiplayer, you've got a good story and a unique sandbox worthy of a gamers attention.