Cracking down on Crackdown

I want to say I loved the game.  I want to say that it was one of the best sequels that I have ever played.  Mostly I want to say that it was was an improvement over the original.    Unfortunately as near as I can tell the newest crackdown game fails on every count.


Crackdown 2 is enjoyable… if you are going for nostalgia of the original and if you are looking for a continuation of the storyline.  However once you move past these two relatively limited functions of the world you hit a very real problem in that the game is so focused on being like the first that it actually harms the more interesting parts of the storyline.  While I still have some of the audio files to find (which I do admit was a nice addition to the game) its entirely too easy to miss them and so far much of what they bring to the world is limited to interesting tidbits to help explain parts of the past that you missed.

Worse however is that you may not get all of these parts… or even most of them.  I found 27 of the 52 audio files, mostly because I was looking for them.  If I was just working my way though the game I can easily see that I would have found less then that, if any.  I believe it may have been half of them if that many… and the ones that I found were not in any particular order so the story line doesn’t completely make sense unless I go back and replay them in order.  While I got the jest of the story I’m sure that there are parts that I entirely missed or just don’t get because of the lack of direction.

Let me clarify.  In the first game you have the three different gangs, which had a relatively limited order, however the game did try to (limitedly) lead you though in order from one boss to another.  In this iteration there really is no set order.  In fact one of the goals of the game  closing the Freak breaches, was something that I was in the last quarter if not fifth of the game before I noticed them, and then ended up using Google to figure out what they were for.

In short the game does a poor job of clarifying some of you objectives, if you not flipping though all of the windows.  Of course there being nearly 1000 orbs to collect, part of which run away from you CAN add some enduring value to the game, however I find the “renegade orbs” to be mostly annoying, since they can fly though walls, the floor and other objects which you cannot pass though in order to get away from you.
Finally lets talk about the Freaks and the Cell, the two opposing organizations in the game.  I liked the idea of the Cell, and part of me was rooting for the Agent (the character you control is called “Agent” with no other name) to join sides with them.  I wont give away spoilers, but I wasn’t entirely impressed with the ending.  True it leaves the game open for a sequel, however while the potential is there one of the innovative features, The Freaks, don’t seem as if they would fit in well into an additional game.

All in all the game feels like a re-skinned version of the original world.  The game play is largely uninspired past the first twenty minuets or so, and the remainder fairly quickly becomes tedium.  Sure there are parts that are a blast and a few things they fixed (like the driving) but by and large hearing “Agent don't kill XXX” when you have little control over some things (like peacekeepers jumping out INFRONT OF YOUR CAR while you drive at 55+ MPH, or wandering into your line of fire) quickly grows tedious, annoying, and then muted as you finally get to the point that you have had your fill.

Edit: Review and Score added.  Let me stress, this isn't a bad game, just one I can see most people living with out.