[Review] Show Them Who Runs This Town, Agent

You’d be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t really enjoy the original Crackdown.  While its launch was plagued with people claiming they only purchased it for the Halo 3 Beta, once people put it in, well, it was addicting like crack. With the sequel to the original sleeper hit now hitting store shelves, it’s time to decide whether gamers can really have too much of a good thing. Crackdown 2 brings back most of what people loved about the first game with some additional improvements here and there. It’s pretty much everything that we loved about the first game; so much so that some might question why this title and its “Freaks” couldn’t have been released as DLC.

The game starts with an introductory cinematic detailing how a mysterious virus swept over Pacific City, mutating thousands and leaving the survivors to fear the night.  Thanks to the Freaks that have overrun the city, walls have been erected to protect the population.  Freaks have also destroyed some bridges, roadways and even knocked over entire buildings.  Compared to the first game, where the city was in near-pristine condition, this one seems more abused, obviously ravaged by a disease. You, as a cloned operative of the enigmatic Agency, are tasked with activating solar Absorption Units so that you can drop hi-tech Beacons into the lairs of the Freaks in order to burn the monsters into crispy little bits.  Successfully activate 27 Absorption Units and set off the 9 corresponding Beacons and you’ve essentially completed the “plot” of the game.

One of the biggest Freaks in the game

Any semblance of a real story only manages to surface from time to time in the form of illegal underground radio transmissions from the leader of the anti-Agency faction, known simply as the Cell.  Catalina Thorne, said leader, manages to highjack the transmissions from your commander only 3 times post-Beacon detonation, and mentions that you shouldn’t detonate the devices if you possess any humanity.  Players can also delve deeper into the plot by collecting Audio Logs (there’s an achievement for that, Agent!), but since you have to carefully track down these logs and likely won’t have found a substantial amount by the time you finish the core part of game, they really shouldn’t count as core plot either.

One of the most addictive aspects carried over from the original game are those damned orbs.  They’re back, with another 500 Agility Orbs and 300 Hidden orbs to collect throughout Pacific City.  This time though, the Agency has released Renegade orbs, mobile and highly erratic devices that come in both Agility and Driving flavours.  There are 30 Renegade Agility Orbs and 15 Renegade Driving Orbs for you to chase down, and let me tell you, some of them are frustratingly hard to wrangle.

One somewhat controversial feature Ruffian Games also added to Crackdown 2 is the ability to “ping” for orbs. By pressing up on the D-pad, for a split second you can see where orbs are positioned to you locally.  Then you can go searching for them and “re-ping” the orbs every 7 seconds.  This becomes really useful when you’re searching for the last few orbs, whether they’re Agility, Hidden or Online (only accessible by playing with friends).

The badass preorder armor in different colours

Another controversial change in dynamics is the nature of the Agency’s enemies. Your main foes in the original game were 3 different gangs: Lost Muertos, Volk and Shai Gen.  For Crackdown , these disparate personalities and styles of the gang-members and bosses made the game have life.  Killing each boss weakened the gangs in a certain way, and through this, Crackdown’s war on crime became more interesting as you could shape the world you were playing in.  Crackdown 2 has stripped those personalities and functions, replacing them with somewhat bland Tactical Locations associated with the singular Cell, each few giving you a spawn point where you can request weapons and vehicles for ensuing missions.

The game stays true to the series in that it looks nearly the same.  There are improvements to the draw distance which means you can make out details even further, as well as more detailing to the city itself.  The erected walls have graffiti on them, roads are abused and some full of rubble, while the buildings have a different sense of character added to the outside of them.  Unfortunately, the buildings you could enter and explore on the inside in the original are now sealed off, which is a bit of a buzzkill.  At best the building is damaged and a chunk is missing and you can hop inside to find your hidden orb.

One of the aspects of the game that really shines is the cooperative gameplay.  Exploring the city with your friends or searching for the Live Orbs while flying through the city in a helicopter is great fun.  “Accidentally” shooting down a friend’s helicopter with your own can be frustrating for them, but leaves you with a nice chuckle.  Additionally, the Live Orbs were a genius idea, because it gives players a reason to play with friends, which goes a great ways towards showcasing how Crackdown can be exponentially more fun if you’re not flying solo.  Be aware though that orbs and collectibles are tied to your Agent regardless of whose city you’re visiting while mission and tactical location progress only gets saved to the host’s session.

The Live integration is another of Crackdown 2’s strongest features.  Your game is essentially always open, only an invitation away from wreaking havoc upon Pacific City with another agent.  The joining process is nearly seamless designed for both sides to get cracking as soon as possible.  If you have multiple save files you can even choose which one you want to load up right before you spawn into their game.

Now, if you liked the Agency cars in the original, (specifically, how they morphed as your driving skill increased) those days are long gone.  Now, with every driving level you gain, you unlock a new agency car – a buggy with a machine gun turret, a supercar with the ability scoop cars out of the way, an SUV that can jump, and a tank with a rocket launcher turret.  Depending on your style, you can choose your vehicle accordingly.  Speaking of vehicles, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that you can also fly a helicopter, but to reach it you need full agility skill, so you won’t really have access to it until very late in the game.

Helicopters come equipped with either machine guns or rockets

With all that said, there are a few points to take away.  Crackdown 2 like its predecessor is still ridiculously fun and addictive!  There are a few issues with it, namely story-wise and the removal of the gangs and their bosses, that detract from the overall experience.  Other than that, Crackdown 2 stays true to its heritage and remains a very engaging and crazy game.  Unfortunately, some things that the original had nailed down solidly were changed for this game, which didn’t help the sequel’s cause.  Ultimately, the new additions are solid enough to make Crackdown 2 an experience that feels somewhat new, but still leaves that familiar Crackdown taste in your mouth.