Crackdown Review (X360)

Crack(down) Lives Up to It's Name

The best part about Crackdown is just how addictive it is. This is both a good and a bad thing, though. It only takes 8-10 hours to kill all of the gang leaders and “beat” the game. You’ll still have agility orbs to collect and achievements to get, but the main game is over in about 8 hours. The problem with this is that the game is so addictive, you’ll do it all in one day. Most 8-10 hour games take me around a week to play through, because I have other things to do and generally like to take my time. Crackdown, on the other hand, is one of those games you sit down to play for twenty minutes, and that twenty minutes becomes 3-4 hours and before you know it you have beaten the game less than a day after you got it. This isn’t all bad, though, because earning achievements will add some longevity to the title, and it is very fun to just goof off, but it is also disappointing that the main action is over so quickly.

Co-Op

One thing that does extend the life of the game a little bit is co-op play. It is only available through Xbox Live or system link, unfortunately, but if you have friends to play with it can be a lot of fun. It is set up a little strange in that it isn’t seamless. When someone jumps into your game, your game ends and it has to reload with the other player. Also, you play in the host’s version of the city, so if they have already beaten the game and leveled up there isn’t going to be much to do. In our experience, though, the co-op is the most fun when you just goof off and explore together and make up your own fun. Climbing buildings, throwing objects, or doing fun things like gathering all of the explosive barrels, cars, and anything else you can find and putting them in a big pile and then blowing it up. Having two people just makes it easier to do silly stuff, but that really is what “sandbox” games should be all about. Right?

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, Crackdown is a good looking game that combines styles to create a unique look. Characters and objects have a dark line around them, similar to cel-shading, but they are also textured and far more detailed than you typically find in a cel-shaded game. The city is very large and there are no load times unless you die or want to warp from one supply point to another. It all look quite nice, and when the special effects and lighting and everything are really in full gear, it is impressive. Unfortunately, when a lot of stuff is happening all at once is also when framerate issues come up. 95% of the time, the framerate is fine, but when it slows down it slows way down.

The sound is also pretty good in Crackdown. Explosions and gunfire and vehicles all sound like they should. There is also a long list of music that plays when you are driving around in cars, but you spend most of your time running around so none of the music will really stick to you. There is some voice work courtesy of an announcer-type character that gives you information updates about the next mission as well as commentary on what you are currently doing, but his quips and comments get old pretty quickly.

Bottom Line

In the end, Crackdown is a very solid game that is fun enough it is worth playing and owning even if it didn't have the Halo 3 Beta invite. It is a very fun, very fresh take on the GTA “sandbox” style of game, and is one of the most addictive games to come out in quite a while. There are some negatives, such as the short story missions and lack of real things to do once you beat it, but the co-op mode and just plain fun gameplay make up for the downfalls. Crackdown is a fun, well put together game that I highly recommend for Xbox 360 owners.