Crackdown 2 Review

The original Crackdown was a game that rode a fine balance between good and great. For every great part of the game, there was a part tied to it that was so-so. The game was an absolute blast to play, but was overshadowed by the Halo 3 Beta. You get awesome powers and online play, but you could only destroy the city with one other agent. The second game in the series suffers a bit from the same formula, but once again, the game is such a good time that it’s easy to overlook the little stuff.

In Crackdown 2, you again play as an Agent of The Agency. Set ten years after the original game, Pacific City is in absolute ruin. The gangs that you ousted in the first game are gone, replaced by two factions: The Cell, a ‘terrorist’ organization and the ‘Freaks’, former Pacific City residents that have contracted a deadly virus and are changing into bloodthirsty zombies. Your job is to rid the city of both.

This dynamic has changed the way the game plays quite a bit. The first game had you slowly chipping away at each gang’s operations, leaving their upper-level hierarchy open for you to attack and take down. In the sequel, while there is still plenty of destruction going on, it’s effect isn’t as pronounced on the game world. The lack of multiple gangs changes the game’s feel quite a bit. To counter, there is more emphasis on the day and night cycle, because as we all know the freaks come out at night.

Mutants own the night in Crackdown 2, and they won’t be giving it up without a fight. The in-game engine flexes it’s muscles when they’re out, because you’ll find hundreds of freaks on screen at some times. Throw in some of the special freaks that tower over you, and things get quite a bit more interesting. Luckily, if you’ve got a rocket launcher, the freaks are easy pickings.

The defining feature of Crackdown returns in part two, and that’s the Agent abilities. There are five skill types: Agility, Strength, Driving, Firearms, and Explosives. You gain XP in each skill type as you use it, so if you throw a lot of grenades, you’ll get an increase in your Explosives skill. Every level of each skill gives you a good boost to it. You’ll go from jumping on top of a police car to jumping halfway up a building in no time. Once you get to the fifth level of any skill, you get a bonus skill. For Agility you unlock the Wingsuit, which lets you glide across Pacific City like a low-budget Iron Man.

Agility Orbs also make a return. The only way to level up your agility is to grab orbs that are placed all over the city. You may have to climb a building or twenty to get to one, but the higher jump height and larger falling distance are well worth it.

The largest upgrade to the game is the multiplayer. Where you could only play online with one friend in the original, in Crackdown 2, you have the ability to play online co-op with three of your buddies to wreak havoc on the Cell, Freaks, and each other all at the same time.

Not content to just upgrade the co-op experience, there’s now an Arena to take part in. With three gametypes so far, you can go head to head online in Rocket Tag, Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch, with each holding up to 16 players.

New developer Ruffian Games had a tough task ahead of it when taking on the sequel to Crackdown, and they’ve done a great job at emulating and slightly expanding on the original game. The game is a blast to play both online and off, but The underlying feeling I had while playing Crackdown 2 is “been there, done that” but the fun level is a redeeming factor.

Spending a full $60 on this one is a bit difficult to do if you’ve already owned/played/beat Crackdown. When it hits $40 or $50 though, it’s a no-brainer.

Rating:  

+ Upgrading your Agent is a good time.
+ Four player co-op? Yes, please!
+ Agility Orbs are crack, just like before.
- Lots of features are crack, just like before.
- Less gangs to knock down a peg.
- If there is paid DLC and it includes more gangs, I’m throwing this game into a wood chipper.

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