Title: Crackdown
Genre: Action
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Real Time Worlds
Publisher: Microsoft Game Stusios
Release Date: 23rd February 2007
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The standard GTA-clone or an innovative game? Probably both...
In the next "few" lines we'll tell you the story of Crackdown, a game with great potential and original ideas thrown away because of an ordinary implementation.
Welcome to Pacific City
We have to do something: the city is ruled by gangs and the police is no more able to stem the tide of corruption. Los Muertos (south-Americans), Volks (Russians) and Shai-Gen (Asians) contest with each other the city beginning the attack to rivals from their own territories. People are scared and violence seems the only law.
Fortunately, things are going to change as there is a new police force in town: the Agency and its genetically enhanced super-agents!
We, as one of those agents with the help of powerful vehicles, weapons and comics-like super-powers, will have to eradicate the crime, killing every key member of the three gangs present in the city. That's all, no well-constructed plot, no dramatic moments: Crackdown narrative plot is only limited to the classic "go & kill".
And this is probably the greatest defect in the title: the total lack of a story able to immerge the player in the game universe and give us reasons to use vehicles or go on with our main mission which, unfortunately, is very repetitive as well. Moreover, the only other things to do, besides the main mission, are car and roof-races which, however, do not even try to justify their existence. In fact, why should a policeman take part to a car-race along the "heavily" populated city streets, risking to cause accidents and to kill innocent pedestrians? Why should we jump as idiots from one roof to the other while people are dying under the spiral of violence?
Hence, what we really do not understand is why nothing has been made to give some credibility to those game-sessions: how difficult would have been to give us a genetically enhanced runaway to chase? Or a couple of robbers to catch?... developers' mysteries...
Jumping from one roof to the other
Talking about game-play, this first Real Time Worlds title attains full-hands to the GTA-way. The game is, indeed, set in a huge metropolis (split into three main islands, everyone rules by a different gang) completely unlocked since the first second of the game.
However, Crackdown has its own style: in fact, this time our alter-ego is not a criminal but a policeman able to run faster than any other man, to lift unthinkable weights and to execute incredible jumps displacing action from the city streets to the roofs.
Clearly, the game has also some great points of interest and they are all wrapped up around the skill system: at the beginning we'll be some sort of super-agent with not so super-powers but, going on with our exercises (jumping, killing, racing, etc.), we'll power-up and our skills-level will grow. Everything is managed as in Oblivion: the more we use an ability, the more skilful we'll become in that particular stat. Hence, have you killed someone using a gun? Your aim will increase; have you performed the kill during a jump? Your agility will be enhanced... and so on using a car or via melee attacks (which will increase our strength giving us the possibility to even use cars as unconventional "bullets").
Everything described so far is what makes this game so different from GTA and more similar to a action, shooter or even RPG title. Furthermore, once our skills will have grown enough, it will be natural to abandon the usual means of transport (even the powerful one given us by the Agency: the Super Car, the Super SUV and the Super Track) and prefer a more exciting run on roofs.
It can be easily said that this intelligent super-power implementation will be, after a couple of hours, the mainspring of the game, the only one: jumping from one building to the other, from a skyscraper to the street without any problem, lift a container or a car and use it to squash criminals are all actions that will give us very strong emotions. Unfortunately, these are the only ones we'll feel in this game.
Game controls are intuitive and immediate but are often sapped by an aiming system not really brilliant and a hand-to-hand mode with too many defects. Moreover, the main character invulnerability, given by a long life bar and an easily rechargeable shield, and the lack of "game-over" screens - dying, we'll be cloned automatically - make the game on the one hand not frustrating at all but, on the other, too easy to complete. Unfortunately, the presence of a second single-player mode, the time-challenge, does not add anything to the longevity as it consists only in re-playing the same missions as fast as possible.
Two super-agents are always better than one
Despite of what the above title states, things are not so much better on the multi-player side. The only option available is to go through the same single-player modes with a friend, that is doing a local or an Xbox Live co-op.
What's, however, remarkable and worthwhile is that gamers don't have to form a team and move together, but we are completely free to roam around the city and to fulfil different objectives at the same time. Furthermore thanks to this cooperative mode we'll be able to, at last, decide and apply strategies such as two-side attacks.
Genetic Engineering
Even from a pure technical point of view Crackdown isn't able to raise its fate. Graphically, even though the title can count on a well-reproduced city and an excellent depth-of-view, the game is not astonishing, also because of a not-so-impressive use of the cel-shading technique and slightly raw polygonal models.
Eventually, the game sound is passable thanks to the good localization and to the several languages used by the gangs: Spanish and Russian above all. Furthermore, sound effects are discrete, while the sound-track is almost absent.
Final Comment
Crackdown is the "usual" perfect occasion that has been wasted! Premises were good: some great ideas mixed to a type of game-play which is now in fashion. With a well-designed story and a good technical realisation it could have been something very near to a masterpiece. On the contrary, Crackdown concept could have been developed for the first Xbox and nothing except the depth-of-field seems next-gen.
Let's be absolutely clear: the game is enjoying and you'll be amused for several (few) hours while playing it but we all know what Xbox 360 is capable of and such (exclusive) products are no more acceptable.
My advise is to save 60 bucks (except if you're interested in the Halo 3 multiplayer beta) and wait for the May - June period when several masterpiece will arrive on our white next-generation console.
Evaluation
Presentation: 6
The initial briefing is winning and will involve us in the game.
Gameplay: 7
This is the field in which the game "excels". The 3-dimentional free-roaming and the level-up features are well-realised ideas.
Graphics: 5.5
The strange way cel-shading is implemented does not give justice to the title. However, the depth-of-field is amazing!
Sound: 6
Sound effects and dialogues are discrete: unfortunately, the same statement cannot be done about the sound-track.
Longevity: 6
The game single-player campaign is neither long nor short. Moreover the time-challenge and the co-op modes add some hours to the game-play.
Multiplayer Factor: 5.5
The only multiplayer mode available is the cooperative one. Pleasant but inadequate.
Overall Evaluation: 6.8
Crackdown is a discrete game from every point of view. It could have been a masterpiece, but the final result is only a good and very repetitive game.