Crackdown 2 ^{(Xbox 360)}

Genre: Third-Person Action Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Ruffian Games Players: 1-4

By Keith B (16th Jul 2010)

Crackdown 2, sequel to the surprise hit of 2007, unfortunately shows that sequels are not always a good thing.

I can remember Crackdown’s arrival on 360, coming out of left field and offering a glorious combination of height and scale, massive explosions, and obsessive collecting. Interviews with the developers of the debut game offered no hint of a sequel, possibly because they were uncertain what sort of reception a game that lets you jump 30 metres in the air would receive. As history tells us, it was received rather well, and so, eventually, a sequel has arrived.

The torch has passed from Realtime Worlds to Ruffian Games, and with a three year window between releases, one would expect nothing short of revolutionary advancements in both visual appeal and complexity of play. If you expected such, you’re in for a rude awakening.
From the start, all the components from the first game seem present and correct. Players don the persona of an Agent, a cloned superhuman law enforcement officer dropped into Pacific City to clean up the streets. This is serious business, given that Pacific City has degraded into a cesspool of delinquency, not helped by a viral outbreak that fills the streets with shambling freaks when the sun goes down. Day or night, gamers must blast, jump, punch, run over and blast enemies some more, while trying to get Pacific City back into shape.

This looks like a map from Modern Warfare 2, no?

In a strange turn of events, this familiarity doesn’t instil the same sort of excitement as the first did, and many of the new additions are just plain irritating.

Pacific City may look a little sharper than before, but it is also rather depressing. That neon-streaked panache that greeted players when they scaled some of the highest points of the city has been replaced with a gloomy, grimy city in decay. It’s also the same city, with no major alteration aside from the cosmetic degrading, and although I’m sure just about everything had to be remodelled to give it a bitter persona, ultimately players will be running around the exact same streets. This begs the question: Just what in the name of Jebus have Ruffian Games being doing all this time?

Character development is handled in exactly the same way as the first game, with players being rewarded for in-game actions with glowing coin-like rewards. Shoot people and Firearms rewards trickle in, blow someone up and the Explosives meter fills. Each increase in level in turn provides bonuses, so the size of a player-created explosion grows in direct ratio to the level of your explosives skill. As a mechanic it works just fine, although, again, it’s lifted straight from the predecessor.

Perspective looks a little off, although the art style isn't bad when in motion.

The developers have cast aside what small element of story was evident in Crackdown, instead replacing it with a few mission types that repeat over and over until the end. It’s a real disappointment because although it has been years since I played it, I can still remember the premise behind the first game, and although the reason for all the explosions and killing may have been uninspired (take down a few gangs), it at least existed. The second time out, there is little plot. So don’t expect one. The only new combat feature I could identify were the moments where wave after wave of enemies come forward as you try and defend a beacon.

Break down the features, and you have three core mechanics – driving, shooting, and collecting. Each of these has serious flaws.

Let’s start with driving. Cars, when on a road, handle relatively okay. Cars on dirt roads, not so much. “But that’s understandable” I hear you cry, and yes it is, but having a moderately powerful vehicle turn into what feels like a boat is not. That’s not the only problem either. Most of the time you just don’t need a vehicle. You need to travel to a drop spot to collect on of your own vehicles (Agency vehicles are the only ones worth driving), but there are often other enemy locations close at hand, and it’s quicker to jump over and around the buildings to get to any of the mission locations.

Here are the zombies, sorry, Freaks.

Combat too is bloated with issues, the biggest of which is the aiming system. The semi-automatic nature of the aiming reticule should have helped massively considering you’re often slugging it out with 20 or more enemies. It doesn’t. The intelligence behind that “semi-automatic” thing is non-existent. Often it will select a civilian vehicle, or an enemy miles away on a rooftop firing an assault rifle (threat level= minimal) while completely ignoring the enemy sitting in a turret only metres from you. Oh, you’ll try to move around, willing the reticule to select the buffoon filling your torso with homing missiles/grenades/minigun fire, only to give in and run up to the turret to melee the guy in the face.

Considering your potency when it comes to firearms, and also the number of enemies you must face, then pulling off headshots should be a comfortable ticket to escaping dangerous, overcrowded situations. Not so. The lock-on mechanic works fine, but because you must keep pulling down on a thumbstick to keep targeting the head, as soon as the enemy crumples your reticule shoots up to the sky. Every time you headshot, you end up aiming at the moon. Stupid.

Explosions still get very large indeed, which is good.

Finally, the bane of completionists everywhere: the collectable orbs. They’re back, and thankfully, gathering them is still just as fun. What are not as fun are the new orbs. There are orbs you can only get in a vehicle. There are agility orbs that run away from you. There are orbs you can only collect when online with someone else. While the same fun can be had from gathering the 500 agility orbs as usual, now you’re faced with orbs you can’t collect. I can’t really describe the feeling I was consumed with each time I came across an online-only orb, after climbing all the way to some obviously difficult area.

You know what the biggest thing I got from Crackdown 2? A building excitement for Dead Rising 2. The Freaks that come out at night in Pacific City are generic, but the sheer numbers are really impressive. Driving a car through an ocean of undead is something I could really get into. So thank you Crackdown 2 for making me terribly excited about another sequel, although I hope it doesn’t go down the same path as you did.

7.2

Single Play

8.1

Friend Play

7.6

Multi Play

7.2

Graphics

7.8

Sound

7.6

Challenge