Xbox 360 - Crackdown Review

I had been searching the web for clips from the Xbox 360 show at E3 the year before the 360 came out. I finally found it and ended up watching a few clips of a game called Crackdown. I was intrigued by the trailer, and knew I would have to have this game.

Plot: You're an Agent for an organization called The Agency, thats trying to clean up Pacific City. The crime ridden city is becoming chaos incarnate, and their only hope is you, the agent, who happens to be a super human master of destruction. Work your way through the gang leaders to reach the top of food chain and finally make the city safe to live in.

I don't even know where to start with this game. There's so much to do and so many weapons to use. There are a few different game modes, co-op, single player, and timed race. There are 4 crime syndicates, each a with an extremely tough leader who's controlling hundreds of lackeys. There are over 30 different weapons to choose from and 4 different grenade types. My personal favorite is the Firefly Rocket Launcher. You can lock onto a target and shoot out rockets in a semi automatic fashion. There's actually an achievement for keeping an enemy or enemy car in the air for a certain amount of time with the rocket launcher. When you die, you return to Agency HQ and you are able to pick weapons to start with, providing you have found and stored them at one of the many ammo points in the city. Also at the Agency HQ, you can choose from 3 different suped up cars to get you back to the fun as quick as possible. There are 15 or so other types of cars to drive, or throw, cruising around the city. If you run out of ammo, you can grab the nearest object and hurl it at the enemy. And I'm serious when I say grab the nearest object. Just about everything in the environment can be picked up and used as a weapon, even the harmless bystanders watching the mayhem. When you kill a gang member they drop orbs that are applied to 5 different skills. Strength, Bombs, Accuracy, Speed, and Driving are the skills that can be leveled up and with each level up, you gain new and more devastating abilities. There are also timed races set about in different spots in the city. Get into a car and drive into a purple circle of light to start a car race, or hop out and run into a green circle of light to start a foot race.

The game is open ended so you can do whatever you want. If you want to start with the hardest gang leader first, you're free to. Thanks to the "Chance of Survival" meter, you'll know that if you do take on that leader first, you'll have about a 1% chance of surviving. The more members of the gang you kill, the higher your survival rate, against the corrosponding leader, goes up.

There are over 100 different music tracks that change depending on your location and situation. If you're walking through the Russian section of town, there will be a track for it. But if the Russian mafia spots and attacks you, the music will change to something faster tempo to accommodate the action. But if you're running through the Chinese Syndicate's part of the city, the music normally and in combat are both totally different. It's yet another leap in gaming technology.

The graphics are a bit cartoony, but it creates a nice effect. Its like playing a graphic novel, which turned out to really work for the game. Even though they are somewhat cartoony, they still have that touch of next-gen quality to them.

All in all, this is a solid game with decent graphics, easy controls, a huge open ended city, and great replay value. I suggest beating the game at least once, as opposed to just mindless killing(as fun as it is), because the ending is great.

ESRB Rating: M for Mature. (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs)

Graphics: 7

Sound: 9

Replay Value: 8

Overall Rating: 8

(ratings out of 10)