A well-received Xbox Live Marketplace demo has the attention firmly back where it should be: on the do-nearly-anything-your-little-heart-desires construction of Crackdown. After all, Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds is spearheaded by the original mastermind behind the Grand Theft Auto IP, thus this futuristic action title (in a style that won’t exactly sit well with everyone) deserves at least a thorough survey, if for nothing else but to compare it to the current apex of the free-roaming action genre, San Andreas.
Unless you’ve been locked in a basement for the last five years, sans Xbox or PS2, you’ll already know what the free-roaming action genre is all about. To call Crackdown a futuristic Grand theft Auto is an easy out, as not only are the genres the same, but they also share Dave Jones as a common denominator. But being able to attempt in Crackdown nearly anything you can conjure up is about where the comparisons between both SKU’s should stop.
Let’s get right to the visual style of Crackdown, as it’s the first thing that will jump out and hit you as the character creation screen appears. The character skins appear like menaces from the future, but at the same time have a tribal sense that says something about the cyclical nature of humanity and the general art direction of Crackdown. For instance, Crackdown is next-gen through and through, but its cell-shaded persona gives it an old-school, Silver Age comic book feel that’s undeniable.
You’ll also notice that the weaponry is modern, but not overly so, and the vehicles draw heavy inspiration from the near-past, as opposed to being all-powerful like K.I.T.T., the Batmobile (even though the Agency supercar kinda’ looks like one), or something that Bond would drive. Even the audio - which is fairly breathtaking in the effects department - has classic undertones highlighting tracks, foley stunts, and dialog that could easily be construed as “futuristic”.
The homogenization of old and new in Crackdown surely isn’t an accident, and, while the color palette, funky tribal leads, and Perfect Dark-esque visual cues are an acquired taste, they are all executed with aplomb. Same goes for the general gist of the gameplay, and how you choose to spend your time while Crackdown is in the tray.
The control schema of Crackdown is about as simple as it gets - again, harkening back to a time when video games were about simple fun instead of solving math problems or remembering long strings of button combos. You’ll move and fire with the sticks and triggers and drive with the sticks and triggers - just as one would expect. Actions like swapping weapons or picking up objects (with damn near everything being able to be tossed offensively) are simple button commands (as they should be). Other than the clunky D-pad and shoulder button scope/zoom system, the controls are easy to facilitate and control your agent perfectly.
Since this land is your land, Crackdown’s M.O. is more about how you choose to spend your time, but as with all open-element titles, there’s a story and an ending in the Campaign mode. The futuristic isles of (the fictitious) Pacific City have been claimed by warring, well-organized gangs. The Agency’s (good guys) solution for said gang activity consists of modified “superagents” that can not only leap tall building in a single bound, but can also regenerate indefinitely.
It’s up to you and your player-character to capture Supply Points (weapon/ammo replenishment points and a means to shortcut around the city), slowly evolve into a true fighting force through attribute upgrades, and jack up the crime bosses and their minions in dramatic, comic book-like fashion. The co-op version means that you have a partner-in-crime in all of this, but the same goals are present, only with double the firepower to accomplish them.
Moving the Crackdown story along and keeping informed of objectives is handled in a few different ways. There are snazzy stills displayed in comic layout form with voiceover, more standard in-game graphics cut-scenes (briefings), and a detailed gang dossier available from the Start menu. The gang dossier is the most informative of the story telling methods, as it provides excellent support material, and a means to understand the hierarchy of power in each gang.
The story and escalation of gang warfare and activity is solid, but Crackdown is just too fun of a romp to stay on the road to completion. You won’t just be on your own when looking to deviate from the game’s main objectives either. You can attempt to win any one of a number of Crackdown’s crazy achievements for example, like tossing an object for distance, or piling up cars and blowing them up in order to cause the most carnage in a set amount of time. You can also partake in sanctioned rooftop races (on foot) or road races in any number of vehicles too, which are meant to boost the abilities of your agent in a timelier fashion.
Tracking down agility orbs (located in increasingly tougher to reach spots) or “stunt rings” for doing wild vehicle aerials are also a perfect combination of fun and powering up. Fully leveling up your agent in the areas of agility, driving, explosives, strength, and weapons will be one of the first side jobs in which you partake (as the sense of being superhuman compliments the gang skill and verticality of Pacific City well), but this certainly isn’t necessary with such nonlinear game design.
The abovementioned odd jobs of Crackdown are a mere splash in the bucket when you come to realize the sheer scope of Pacific City. In terms of non-sanctioned activities in Crackdown, the sky is literally the limit since the world is vertical as well as horizontal. The last few GTA games shared Crackdown’s verticality as well, but Realtime’s sci-fi bent on the player character means that you won’t have to hoof it or take an airplane to the high spots, nor will you need to parachute down after stratospheric sights are seen.
As if you needed more motivation to rank-up your superagent, flying through the air with the greatest of ease when agility is maxed is sheer gaming nirvana. You’ll hold your breath as leaps of faith are made- maybe even rising out of the seat a little bit as if to add a few inches of lift to your bulky peace-keeper. And you’ll want to land every jump the first time - not because you usually end up armor-deep in a gang shootout, but for the thrill alone (not so very different from Prince of Persia’s aerials). Said freestyle rush is also amplified in Crackdown with the proper leveling up of the strength skill. More strength means the ability to pick up heavy objects like cars and use them as deadly weapons. Cars can also be piled up for Rampage activities that can borderline on insane. Just search YouTube if you need more proof than TXB’s current video stockpile.
Although technically sound, Crackdown does have a few areas that could have been handled a bit better. Even though we love the gang dialog and its directional programming, why can the baddies seemingly look through solid objects and rat us out? It seems as though the A.I. detection system is a bit off, as we constantly felt like there was “nowhere to run to baby…nowhere to hide”. Some may find this inconsequential - you are a superman among boys when ranked up - but there are opportunities to play Crackdown more stealthily that, at times, the enemy A.I. doesn’t seem to luxuriously afford.
It’s also pretty tough to pan one of the most complete and original aural offering in a game in some time, but the 100 or so musical tracks get a bit lost. The team was surely in a tight spot, as this “futuristic setting” should hardly contain any recognizable songs, but it would have been great to somehow attach the user a bit more to the tunes. Instead, it feels at times like you are listening to audition tapes for trance and South American-inspired artists over and over again. And then there’s the Havok physics engine that feel out of date in such a forward-thinking affair. Crackdown surely is over-the-top, but the comedic FlatOut effect really doesn’t fit well in a game that appears so seriously-crafted to embody futuristic gang/police warfare.
But for every slight slip-up or apparent wrong in Crackdown, there’s a laundry list of perfection and general right that makes this title nearly impossible to put down - like some sort of digital crack. Technically, Crackdown is solid, which is saying A LOT as open ended worlds are the antithesis of the “on rails” adventures cluttering up game store bargain bins. The sound effects are mind-blowing at times, thus making massive explosions methodically created by the user worth all of the setup time. Same goes for explosions and particle effects which actually seem fitting for each kaboom - no matter how big or small. The level design is devilish but fair, and the A.I. of both innocents and baddies is overall pretty believable. The mixture of auto and manual aim with rewards for being a do-it-yourselfer is the way it ought to be in action games. And the sheer number of NPC’s alone in a given city block alone deserves merit.
It would be simple to continue here glowing over the radical things that can be attempted and accomplished in Crackdown, but it’s really best to pick it up for yourself and get, er, crackin’. You won’t be sorry.
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