Review // Crackdown 2

Crackdown is an Xbox 360 exclusive franchise that saw the first game drop onto the console back in 2007. Set in the fictional Pacific City, you played a cybernetically-enhanced agent, tasked with defeating 3 crime lords & their vast organized crime syndicates. Your characters abilities improved by defeating both crime lords and their supporters, as well as by completing random tasks, such as street races and scavenger hunts. It was fairly well recieved but it’s safe to say most of its initial sales were due to been bundled with the much anticipated Halo 3 beta.

I immensely enjoyed the first Crackdown and even though the only reason I bought it was to play the Halo beta, I thoroughly enjoyed the game and was heavily looking forward to the sequel. Crackdown 2 features all new 4 player co-op, some new weapons and gizmos, a few new vehicles, a few new mission types, as well as a mammoth 16-player arena combat mode. Sadly that’s all that’s new; Crackdown 2 is set in exactly the same city, the graphics don’t seem to have evolved and it is basically the same game. But is it still fun to play? Hell yeah.

In the world of Crackdown 2 hordes of zombies/mutants have taken over the city and are destroying everything in their path and anything they miss is being destroyed by the looting terrorists “The Cell”. It’s your character’s job as a general badass and member of superhero collective “The Agency” to put a stop to it all. You start the game with above average abilities, a decent car and a fair selection of weapons, progress through the game and by the end you’ll be throwing cars, leaping from roof to roof, flying and dropping piles of homing missiles on your enemies. How do you do this? By collecting “Orbs”. Orbs are the games rewards and development system, and essentially the whole point of the game – the more orbs you have the more insane your character becomes. Don’t get me wrong though, Crackdown 2 isnt a game of just collecting, most orbs are in high to reach places, and they improve your agilty, this is an open world-action based-platforming game that requires more focus on your abilty to climb and fly and fight than it does on being able to seek out hidden treasures.

If you enjoyed the first Crackdown then you will enjoy the sequel, but you may find it a bit samey and too similar to the first. If you’re new to the franchise then Crackdown 2 does its best to fill the holes that the first one had and provide a more complete experience.

You can find out more about Crackdown 2 here or check out the trailer below.