Crackdown 2 review.

Intro and Influential Information

Platform: 360
Money Paid for Game: £6 for a week rental
When I got it: 1 week after release

This is one sequel I never thought I’d see; no matter how much I wanted it.  I absolutely loved the original, it was the second game I played when I got my 360.  Crackdown remains a game I play regularly, the sheer mindless fun is something very few games are able to capture and I am glad to see that aspect, as well as everything else that made the first one great is still intact for the sequel.

Story / Characters

Well this is the same as before, although those pre-release comic style videos did add a little more depth. The aim of Crackdown 2 is to activate beacons all over pacific city and you must set them all off to destroy the freaks that come out at night. You also have other missions to keep you busy like regaining tactical locations and closing freak hot spots. The structure of the campaign is very linear in comparison to the original, there is only one way to complete the missions that are available, this is disappointing as you were free to take on the missions in Crackdown however you wanted. The variety does help to offset this though.

Presentation

This is easily the biggest technical improvement over the original. There is an extremely high level of detail present all over the city and there are no spots that feel half arsed. The other main thing that compliments the increase in detail is the draw distance. If you’ve played a lot of the original Crackdown you will notice this all over but your jaw will hit the floor when you get in the helicopters. You can see from one of the end of the city to the other with all the buildings and the detail visible. This is something that just hasn’t been done this well before, it is truly astonishing every time you see it.
 
Gameplay

The core gameplay is unchanged from the original, you have all the same abilities and you upgrade them by defeating enemies with the respective attribute. Each ability now has 5 levels of potency instead of 4, the only real change to this system that the agency vehicles do not morph as you upgrade your driving skills, which I found very disappointing.

Apart from that your skills are the same; the only unique attribute is (again) the agility attribute. To upgrade this you must collect any of the 500 agility orbs scattered around the rooftops. This is one of the most fun things to do in the game and the random aspect has been eliminated as each islands agility orbs are now tracked. There are also renegade driving and agility orbs that will try and get away from you. These are pretty cool but you only need to get the respective skill to level 4 and you can easily out manoeuvre them. The addition of the wing suit is a welcome one as it makes travelling by foot even more fun by gliding around the sky. Vehicles still handle very poorly until you max out driving skills. 

Online coop makes a welcome return, there is an incredible amount of fun to be had blowing up the city with a friend or two but playing the game alone is still tons of fun.

At its core the gameplay is almost identical to the original. Which is great seeing as the first game was built around the freedom of your movement and your ability to combine your skills. Crackdown 2 is just more Crackdown, more mindless, explosive fun. There is no doubt that if you didn’t enjoy the original you won’t enjoy this one.

Replay Value

The sheer number of orbs scattered around the city will take numerous hours to find, there are also the driving and wingsuit rings to complete. As before the real fun in Crackdown is repeat plays with your maxed out character, beginning the game and having to level up does take a while. The same level of freedom offered in the original is still present but the overall linear approach to each mission is a step backwards.

 
Crackdown 2 definitely doesn’t warrant the full £40 price tag, because at the core it is an upgraded version of the original. However if you love what Crackdown did and simply want more Crackdown, then there is no reason why you should miss playing the sequel. Speaking as someone who well and truly loved the original, Crackdown 2 is everything I could have wanted. The slight and subtle improvements to the gameplay are only noticeable to anyone who has played a lot of the original, but ultimately they are what makes Crackdown 2 a better experience than the original.