Full Crackdown 2 Review: a 2.5 out of 5

I enjoyed the first Crackdown game, it felt like you were really in there busting heads and making a difference (please note I'm avoiding spoilers of all kinds in this review as much as possible). The fact that there were mini bosses present, which by taking them out weakened the main boss, that the different gangs had different flavors, and that the architecture of the city changed in the different regions, lead for what was at the time a fun and enjoyable game. It was in my opinion a fairly good if basic open world (a.k.a. sandbox) game, and while there are some more sophisticated games out there, this one wasn't bad.


Crackdown 2 uses the same world… albeit ruined version (buildings in various states of decay), and there are a few fixes but it retains many of the same problems the first did… places it looks like you should be able to grab hold that you can't, ledges that are at the top of buildings that are marginally too high to reach, and approaches that have to be planned out very precisely that with a bad camera angle can cause you to lose 15 minutes of work. Although when I heard that this was taking place in Pacific City (the location of the first game) I anticipated these problems.


Instead Crackdown2 gets a score of 2.5 out of 5 because the one fix, driving, isn't enough to salvage the single player game. I enjoyed the additional story line added though the audio files, but because of the non linear game play that are entirely too easy to miss. The camera still feels like a fight, the enemies still feel generic, the new weapons are a plus, but you don't unlock them until you are mostly though the game, and while I haven't engaged in multiplayer, the single player campaign quickly falls in to repetitive game play.


Reviews such as provided by G4 refer to the multiplayer as being fun but somewhat limited, which I certainly can see. However since the multiplayer's only variant for the story line is having additional people I see it as only being a marginally salvageable extension to the game. Additional DLC that may come out later MIGHT help the game have additional value, but so far, if you're looking to jump into crackdown… read the wiki, or get the first game… if you really want the newest version… wait a month until all the used copies poor into the market. 2.5 out of 5 is a pass on new purchasing.