Crackdown and start roaming now! (Crackdown (Xbox 360))

Member Name: shamis4

Product:	Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Date:	28/09/08 (395 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Super price, great fun and very original!

Disadvantages: Not much of a story

Introduction:

Crackdown was released in early 2007 and published by Relatime Worlds. It was created with by the Grand Theft Auto creator, David Jones. GTA is seen as being one of the best games on any console and has amazing free roam capability and great stories with loads to do. As a result this game had a lot to live up to. Another reason for a lot of the popularity at first for this game was the fact that it included the Halo 3 Beta, which ended up being one of the greatest games ever. Well back to this game, Crackdown and how in my view it has certainly lived up and beyond the hopes and was definitely more than a simple game to stick the Halo beta on to encourage sales.

The Idea:

This game is an open world or free roam, third person shooter game which is exclusive to the Xbox 360. The game is not slightly cartoon - like in style and quite colourful making it more enjoyable to play. The game is set in Pacific City with there being 4 main islands controlled by several different gangs. At first you start in the central, smallest island where the Agency Tower is located. The idea of the game is that you are working with the agency peacekeepers, the police in other words and have to help rid the city of crime and the gangs. The other three islands are controlled by the three different gangs: Los Muertos, The Volk and Shai-Gen. You have to with the help of the peacekeepers kill all the gangs and you play the character of an agency super person who has enhanced abilities which throughout the game you can improve. There are loads of different cool looking characters to play as, including some extra ones which can be downloaded for free.

The best thing about this game is that it is completely free-roaming. The islands aren't particularly big, but don't need to be as you can not only go every on the ground but can climb any building and roam on the rooftops above the cities. This greatly improves the game and separates it from all the rivals, like GTA. You can gain an advantage over enemies, move around the city easily and just have fun jumping from building to building 200 metres in the air!

You will first start in the agency tower and will be given a car and can then enter the first, and only the first island where the Los Muertos gang are located. When entering the island an agency video will be shown, one tells you all about the agency and your character and what can be done with him. The second video will show you about the gang you will be fighting and what sort of weapons and vehicles they have. For each gang there are 7 different gang leaders to be killed including one main boss. Each time you find and then kill a boss the gang will be weakened for example with less men being recruited or not as powerful weapons, etc.

Your aim is to wipe out all three gangs by killing all 21 bosses on the three different islands, and liberate pacific city from all the fighting and crime!

On each of the islands there are also supply points which can be found. These will act as safe houses where the game can be saved and you can store and change your weapons.
You can also drive a variety of vehicles from cars to vans and Lorries and then the special agency vehicles which can be found at the agency tower. These include a supercar, an SUV and a lorry. These will evolve when you get in them and as you improve your driving skill the vehicles get better and you can drive better including by performing stunts in mid air.

Your character:

As I just mentioned you have a driving skill which is just one of the many traits that can be improved whilst playing the game. These abilities include: driving skill, firearms use, agility (how fast you can run and how far you can jump), explosive skill, and strength.
Driving can be improved by killing enemies with you car or performing stunts. You can also compete in races in the city which will also improve your skill. There are four levels of each skill and once you have got all completed 4 times you will become the ultimate agency super agent!
Firearms skill can be improved by killing enemies with weapons from pistols to machineguns to shotguns and sniper rifles. You can shoot at enemies' arms, body, and legs or head using the special unique aiming system which is easy to get to grips with. Once your shooting skill gets better it takes less time to get aimed up and you will be more accurate and powerful.
Agility skill can be improved by either shooting from very high places, or by completing rooftop races located all around the islands. This can also be improved by finding green agility orbs on the top of most buildings, or by finding special hidden orbs (which will improve all 5 different abilities). Once your agility skill ranks up you can jump higher and reach greater heights, jump further and run faster.
Explosive skill like firearms skill is improved by killing enemies with grenades or rocket launchers, and once improved explosions are much bigger and very fun to watch.
Finally strength can be improved by using your fists or legs to beat down enemies or throw things at enemies to kill them. At first you can only pick up bricks, but by the end you will be ably to pick up anything that isn't attached to the ground including Lorries, you will also be able to throw them really far.

Multiplayer and extra content:

This game can be played with another player on xbox live which is great if you get stuck at a certain point and need help. Anyone can join your game and you will carry on from that point and won't have to start again. It is so much more fun with two people as you can race across the roofs, race by car or generally team up and kill all the enemies. I personally enjoy playing a made up game called 'rocket tag' where myself and my friend have to kill each other. One is the mouse the other the cat and the person escaping is not allowed weapons and the other guy has to use rockets! - Very amusing and great fun for hours on end.

On xbox live there have also been a number of new downloadable content add-ons for the game. Some have been free such as the one which gives you a load of new characters and there is another one which allows you to use cheats. This really fun if you complete the game or just get bored as you can make it easier for yourself by ranking up quicker, spawn any vehicles you want or go into God Mode where you can jump super high which is great fun!
The other content to download has to be purchased and I think it costs about 600 - 800 Microsoft points (equivalent to around £3-£5). This one adds extra multiplayer challenges, extra races and even some new agency vehicles such as the buggy! There is no way you can get bored of playing this game.
And even more, which I almost forgot. There are even time trials which can be done where you have to try and complete a boss part, i.e. kill one of the 21 bosses as quick as you can, or do this with a friend on xbox live.

Conclusion:

This game has certainly lived up to all the hype and speculation over it beforehand. It has a really cool style and looks great as well as adding a completely new dimension to free roaming games - there is more than just the ground - you can now roam the sky and rooftops. Not quite the same as Grand Theft Auto with less of a story, but so much fun to be had this game can not be missed!

Price: £14.99 from play.com (bargain!)

Thanks for reading!

Summary: A very original game which has evolved all new free roam games from now on!