Crackdown

"To Hell with Realism"

The adrenaline pumps as your truck cab rockets down a tunnel at 160 mph. The tunnel stretches on for so long, and finally you reach the end, which happens to have a convenient little jump at the end. You rocket off of this jump and your car is immediately racked by machine gun fire. A group of gang members has a roadblock set up. After you drive through the roadblock once, you decide to have some more fun, and the first way to do that, is to jump out of the car.

The nearest gangster shoots at you, but you quickly dodge and roundhouse kick him in the face so hard that he hits the building thirty feet away. Afterwards, you pick up your truck over your head, and throw it so that it rolls through three gangsters, killing them all instantly. But wait, there's one left. You whip out a rocket launcher quicker than he can react, and shoot him in the face with it, sending him flying onto a nearby rooftop.

This is Crackdown, one of the most fun, unrealistic games in history.

Story – 7/10, disappointing

The story is very rarely explained. After detailing that the city has been taken over by criminal gangs, it pretty much jams you right into the action, ready or not. The closest thing to a story in the rest of the game is the occasional “dossier update,” which gives you details on a gang, a mob boss, or a celebration of finally defeating a gang.

There are three enemy gangs, each with areas of the city to themselves. The Los Muertes are sort of like a drug smuggling cartel, while Volk is a Russian mafia ripoff, and the Shai-Gen corporation is one of those huge corporations who uses its wealth to build up armed forces and take over parts of a city, just like every modern corporation. But stereotypes aside, the gangs themselves do blend very well with their surroundings, the Volk's industrialized island and the Shai-Gen's super high tech world for example.

Graphics – 8/10 cool looking

The graphics aren't real. Their intention is not to make it seem like real life. In fact, this game does a near flawless job imitating comic book graphics. It contributes a lot more to the game's retro arcade style, and it really does go along with the “superhero” theme.

The water textures actually looked really nice, and the cars look fine too. One gripe I do have with the graphics is that the NPC's look very dark and gloomy. They just walk around, and it's impossible to see their face or even tell their gender unless you get very close. But other than that, I love the landscapes with this form of graphics.

Sound – 1/10 crapfest

Listening to the narrator's voice say the same thing over and over gets so old after a while that I want to gag myself. Honestly, he says things so out of context that it frightens me, and sometimes even just makes me do a double take to make sure I understand what he said. Him saying things like,

“Look at that view, finest in the city, Agent”

is very odd when he says it a dozen times in a row, especially when he says it when you're in a tunnel or not even anywhere near a nice view.

Another gripe I have with the sound is the fact that opposing gang members yell the same nonsensical gibberish at you every time you're in a battle. I didn't run into a fight to hear fifteen people yelling “muerta” over and over and over again. But these problems can't nearly make up for the awesome half of Crackdown.

Gameplay – 10/10 so much fun

This game's fighting never gets old. I could drive around in the sandbox world all day by the time I got my full driving points, This spectacular, never getting old gameplay is what makes Crackdown so great.

First of all, the world is completely sandbox. Run, jump, swim anywhere you want. The world is your oyster. There are 500 agility orbs, which increase your agility, and 300 hidden orbs, which increase everything by a little bit. It will be nothing short of an impossible feat to get them all. Jumping has never been more fun, just jumping from building to building, or trying to devise ways to get up onto tall towers. It's always fun, plus the added bonus of the agility orbs.

Second, there's driving. In the beginning, you have a small, lame car. But by the end, you're car transforms with you're driving skill. The super car changes from a crappy Ferrari knockoff to a low rider all on its own, complete with machine guns mounted on it for some reason. The SUV is less like a SUV than it is a monster truck, and can jump up in the air when your skill is good enough. The truck cab gains a boost ability, which lets you truck (no pun intended) through pretty much anything you come across.

The third skill is strength, and well, that's a blast too. Just roundhouse kicking people in the face Chuck Norris style is fun enough. But then you can pick up bodies, bricks, cars, tractor tailors and city buses and throw them once you're strong enough. Roundhouse kicking a car off of the highway doesn't get too old either.

Explosives is the fourth skill, and everything from grenades to rocket launchers are awesome, and they never get old, especially when explosions lead to more explosions, making a giant chain of destruction Explosives = awesome. End of discussion.

The last skill is firearms, and although the auto aim feature makes it kind of easy, it still is plenty of a challenge when you're flooded with enemies.Basically, it's just lock on with the left trigger, shoot with the right trigger, and that's all. Although it may seem repetitive, just try different weapons. Picking people off from a nearby rooftop is always a blast, so is running into a group with nothing but a shotgun.

Tilt/More Stuff – 9/10 still cool

Replay value is fun, especially because there are multiple ways to complete each goal. Co-op is fun, so you can play with your friends whenever you want. The Time Trials are fun too, and a cool effect. The achievements for this game force you to explore the world and get the most out of your game

Conclusion

For those who need to see everything work out perfectly and be realistic, I wouldn't recommend this game, but for anybody who enjoys a good, solid game that's tons of fun, buy Crackdown, or at least rent it, to see what it's like.

Final Score - 8.5

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/06/07