Crackdown

"|C|R|A|C|K|D|O|W|N| - My anti-bordom"

Crackdown (Riot Act in Japan) is a sandbox game that basically flips the roles of the GTA series and adds in some super hero elements. The story basically goes something like this: you're an "Agent" working with the Agency and their Peacekeepers (Police) to stop 3 large gangs that have control over a fictional national capital, Pacific City. You evolve different skills as you go by doing different things, eventually becoming a sort of super soldier, guided by the mysterious "announcer" who helps you along your journey.

Graphics: They are very nice, but not exactly realistic. This game uses lots of cel-shading, a form of graphics not everyone is fond of. I personally love the style and looks of this game, and think they pulled off the cel-shading very well. The effects such as explosions are VERY cool and realistic; you could have fun for hours just grouping cars together and blowing them to watch the boom. A beautiful 9/10!

Audio: The sounds in this game are excellent. I would normally give them a 10 or a 9, but I have a few problems with it. First off, the cars in this game make a lot more noise than other things (even explosions), making me turn down the volume on my TV a few times while driving. Second, the announcer is very annoying and buggy (occasionally saying things like "That was an impressive ascent, Agent!" despite walking around on ground level), but at least you can turn him off. Sounds to me like a 8/10!

Replay value: You will have tons of stuff to do in this game, even after you beat the main story. The recent Downloadable Content added tons of extra stuff to do when you are bored. The amount of activities you can do ranges from doing random things like juggling a car in the air with explosives for several seconds for achievements, to other things like finishing the checkpoint car races, finishing the rooftop races (jumping from building to building), collecting all 500 agility orbs and all 300 hidden orbs, getting through all 39 stunt rings in the game, beating the game on harder difficulties, maxing out your agent's abilities, and much more. There's tons of fun things to do other than the ones I've listed - after all, it's a sandbox game! Some people, like me, have fun even with the simplest things, such as using the harpoon gun from the DLC to stick people to a car before driving around in it. Nothing less than a 10/10.

Gameplay: Down to the meat of the game, this game has some great gameplay. You basically go around the city getting intel from the Agency about various "generals" that lead the gangs. These function as the bosses, and taking one out weakens the defenses of the final boss for that gang. (the kingpin) Once you take out all the generals and kingpin, the lower gang members gather together for a "final crime". Once you stop them, gang members stop spawning on their island until you beat the other 2 gangs and decide to reset them. (which you can now do without resetting things like orbs and abilities)

You yourself have 5 abilities to level: Agility, Strength, Driving, Explosives, and Firearms. Each is leveled by doing related things. For example, driving can be leveled by doing things such as finishing races and running over gang members. Agility effects how fast you run and how high you jump, while strength affects how much you can lift and how far you can hit and throw things. Driving affects what the default 3 agency vehicles look like and how all vehicles handle. Explosives determine how large and damaging the explosions your grenades and rockets cause are. Finally, firearms changes how much damage your guns do, along with how fast you can get a reliable lock-on on an enemy. By the end of the game, you will be leaping roughly 10 stories at once from rooftop to rooftop, throwing SUVs at gang members, causing earth-shattering explosions, and more.

The entire game is a over-the-shoulder third-person shooter, with the left trigger allowing you to lock onto things. (and pinpoint specific areas like the head, legs, gas tanks, tires, etc.) You get to pick what skin you want to use for your agent when you start (which can be changed when you start up the save again later), but that changes over time as your strength and agility level up. Skills are leveled up by little orbs that fly at you, which raise a small bar for the corresponding ability box on the left side of the screen. When the bar maxes out, the number above it goes up. Once that number hits 100, it resets and you gain a star (once you hit 4 you're maxed for that skill), allowing you to do even more amazing feats. Overall? 9/10.

Final Score: Lesse, 9+8+10+9... divided by 4... 9/10!! I'd have to agree with my math's results.

Rent or Buy? I'd definitely say buy, especially if you have Xbox Live and another friend to play with using the online co-op. If you still aren't sure, however, it never hurts to try before you buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/14/07