The game starts with the need to re-capture some ground from The Cell. You do this by clearing a path to a drop-point and calling in air support. Then you must defend the area until your back-up arrives. Defending the area in these stronghold missions involves killing a specified number of enemies, marked on your mini-map.
Other mission types include clearing a path through Cell soldiers to an “Absorption Unit” and standing on the charging plates, defending the site, for long enough to let the unit power-up. There are numerous Freak breaches around the city too. These require you killing a specified number of enemies until air support arrives.
Finally, there are the missions when you have charged three Absorption Units and you have to call in a bomb-like UV beacon to a Freak lair. These missions involve finding the drop-point, clearing a path to it and defending it for a set amount of time while the beacon charges. That makes a total of four types of mission, all requiring almost exactly the same series of events to fulfil. To say that the mission structure in Crackdown 2 is all a bit samey would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions.
One of the big draws for the first game was the online co-op play. That makes a welcome return in Crackdown 2; you are able to open your game to nobody, everybody or to friends only. With friends, a clear plan and plenty of headset communication this can be immensely enjoyable but the option to open your game to random players is an odd one.
Anyone joining a game has little incentive to stay anywhere near the host and without willing, communicative participants you just end up with a stranger in your game world, somewhere. Even with friends the mode is hampered by the fact that only the host will gain mission progression so, with the exception of the “Live-only” orbs to collect, there is little reason to join someone else’s game at all.
Those orbs which can only be collected when there are two or more players playing cooperatively are another odd decision. Essentially, they are visible to all but only available to those people who bought the game but also subscribe to Xbox Live Gold. To everyone else they are just visual (and audible) reminders that you’re missing out on something. It feels a little dishonest somehow. Essentially, you can’t collect everything – a large part of the draw of Crackdown – without paying for Gold.
The competitive multiplayer consists of Rocket Tag, Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes. None of which are particularly enjoyable. The matchmaking seemed to struggle making a connection (although it is possible to claim that of this could be attributed to player-side networking issues so to be definitively damning would be wrong) and when it did the controls and movements simply don’t seem to lend themselves to this style of play.
Finally, the character customization aspect is slightly bizarre. Upon starting a new game you are asked which Agent head you would like, from a choice of four (even though it’s masked from the first levelling-up of agility) and which colour you would like to wear (they are all varying shades of blue, despite some being called grey).
You are then given the same two choices to make every time you reload a saved game, even though your head is only visible for the first ten minutes of the game and there are only a few differing shades of blue to choose from. In many ways this is an allegory for the game as a whole: it tries to give you options but ultimately it just feels a little bit rushed, a little bit unfinished and not at all thought-out.
Pros:
- It is incredibly fun to play, in spite of complaints.
- A wry sense of humour permeates throughout.
Cons:
- Failed to progress the franchise at all.
- Controls feel dated and outclassed by others in recent times.
- Every mission is essentially the same.
Crackdown 2 is a let-down, not because it’s not fun to play – quite the opposite, but because it is a sequel which hasn’t actually made any effort to progress from the first iteration. Put the updated visuals, crumbling city, and the day/night cycle aside and you might as well be playing the first Crackdown. This level of disregard for the progression of the franchise is difficult to forgive and leaves no enthusiasm for any possible third instalment.
hazelam
i’ve only played the demo, but from my limited experience i’d say the review is spot on.
it’s fun but that’s because the first game was fun, and about 90% of the first game is still there, with the other 10% being new stuff, and i’m being generous with that figure.
they said they couldn’t do female agents because the 360 didn’t have the memory, after seeing how little they actually did i now think maybe they just didn’t bother, along with most of the rest of the game, one gang and one type of enemy, though there are a few different types of mutants.
the whole game just feels lazy.
webby_15-0
i know this may sound stupid but the graphical style of the game would put me off from buying it. then again i dont even have a 360. although i am looking to buy one.
mynameisblair
Okay – I’m gonna play the first game.
hazelam
you might as well, they’re mostly the same. :)
Kevling
I’m sure I heard somewhere that this was a different developer (the original developer moved on to APB I think) – might go some way to explaining the lack of new features etc…
Raen
It’s Ruffian who were formed last Jan from some of former Realtime Worlds’ staff who did move onto APB.
colossalblue
Ruffian made this. They were formed in Jan 2009 from ex-Realtime Worlds (who made the first) staff.
I’ve heard that Realtime Worlds were assisting towards the end but don’t know if there’s any truth in that. All in all though, it’s 18 months since they were presumably given the project, a lot of them worked on the original and the map hasn’t really changed. I don’t know how to develop video games but it’s difficult to see how they spent their time.
Kevling
Ah right, I made the assumption that there was no contunuity of staff at all. In that case, I recant my earlier comment and want to know what they’ve been messing around at!
seedaripper1973
Eating biscuits, like this lot ^
;-)
Rob92
From what I’ve read this sequel doesnt improve anything and in some cases it seems its even worse?
Ive never played the first one but I will pick it up.
I dont get how MS could let out such a lacklustre sequel though. I mean its gonna leave a bad impression in many people and the franchise will suffer overall.
Quinlank
From what I saw of the demo in action, that seems about right.
I only ever played the first one and it seemed completely aimless and repetitive to me.
Dan Lee
Loved the first, the second arrived in the post today – got some epic co-op play planned! :op
crazyoaktree
Loved the original so going out to buy this tommorrow
colossalblue
For the record, I loved the first one too. I actually really enjoyed this sequel, in spite of the litany of problems.
3 years ago Crackdown would probably have gotten a positive review and a score of 8 or 9 from me. The problem for this game is that it hasn’t improved on the first at all, and that after years of games like infamous making progress in the genre. So if you liked the first you’ll probably like this too. I liked Road Rash but if they made a modern sequel it’d have to make some advances on the Mega Drive game I played to death.
Dan Lee
It’s too late…the agility orbs have me now. Must collect them all!
tinman9
Played the demo recently but not very impressed.
Graphics very dark still, and shading very poor.
I still prefer the original it had more atmosphere than this one promises to deliver, and taking on all the different gangs got you involved.