The original Crackdown was probably the Xbox 360's first sleeper hit. Though it didn't do anything particularly revolutionary, it was addictively fun. Crackdown 2 is the same way, but improves on, and adds a lot of things that the first game was lacking, like a real story and co-op for more than two players.
Boom.
The game takes place 10 years after the original, Pacific City is under the threat of a group known as "The Cell" by day and the Mutant Freaks that roam the streets by night. You play as one of the new batch of Agents created to combat these threats and find Catalina Thorne. The woman responsible for both The Cell and the Freaks.
The gameplay remains much the same in Crackdown 2, as you progress through the city, you gradually increase in 5 unique stats to become an unstoppable killing machine. Instead of seeking out and murdering gang leaders, Crackdown 2 has you taking over key Cell locations and wiping out Freak lairs. At first these tasks are refreshing compared to the gang-hunting, but they gradually become repetitive once you get midway through. The game occasionally attempts to make them interesting by throwing in additional tasks, but these start to get stale as well. The inclusion of an expanded multiplayer mode does however make many of the tasks slightly more tolerable.
Visually, the game retains Crackdown's Cel-shaded style, but with a couple major differences. Unlike the almost-Utopian look of Pacific City in the original, Crackdown 2 is a complete shift, with the once-shiny city turned into a dilapidated waste. The game contains several key locations that will be familiar to players of the first game in various states of disrepair. Though the visuals do look great, the character models aren't as fantastic. Unlike the original where each agent had it's own unique visual flair, Crackdown 2's agents look exactly the same. It's nice to be able to customize the color, but there's no point in choosing a head for the agent when it's covered by a helmet. The audio in the game isn't anything special, but it's good. Driving around in Cell vehicles allows you to listen to surreal remixes of various songs. The Agency voice-guy returns from the original, only this time with an attitude, which adds to the games subtle humor.
Overall, the game is an improvement over the original, with better multiplayer, an expanded story and better mission variation. Though repetition and some minor issues hold it back. If you're looking for a fun, simple open-world adventure or you enjoyed the first one at all, you'll find something to love in this game, especially if you're going to play it on Xbox Live.
- Kyle K.
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