July’s big release on the gaming calendar is almost certainly Crackdown 2, the long awaited sequel to one of the best loved sandbox games of the current generation. Featuring a gorgeous cell shaded aesthetic, an emphasis on outrageous power ups and the super-addictive hunt for green agility orbs, Crackdown was an early flagship title for the Xbox 360 back in 2007 and has retained something of a cult status since; proving that not everybody bought it just for the bundled Halo 3 beta.
3 years later though and with development being handled by Ruffian (with Realtime Worlds focusing instead on APB), Crackdown 2 has some yard stick to match if it is to quench the thirst of an expectant fanbase. The embargo’s are up and the first reviews are out of the door. So, what’s being said?
Our pick of the best after the break.
Eurogamer: The cliché regarding this sort of game is that it changes the way you view your own world: I know for sure that I’ll be seeing those last few Orbs in my dreams for months to come. If you need any indication of Crackdown’s brilliance, that’s surely it, right? If you seek its monument, look around you. [8/10]
Game Informer: What hurts the most about Crackdown 2 is that I would have been content with a simple, by-the-numbers sequel with a few token improvements. But this isn’t even a Xeroxed sequel; it’s more like a photocopy of a photocopy. The structure is largely the same, but some of the colors have faded, and parts of the picture are missing altogether. [7.25/10]
Joystiq: That world, by the way, is the same one you already explored in Crackdown, if a touch more run down. Tack that on to the loads of comically plain textures and frequent slowdown and you’ve got a graphical package that’s doing nothing to alleviate the sense of déjà vu. [3/5]
Destructoid: Ultimately, this game is a very sub-par offering that has no real reason to exist. Everything that is good about Crackdown 2 is already in the original Crackdown, and many of the problems in Crackdown 2 are unique entirely to this installment. In essence, all Crackdown 2 does is take the original game and make it worse. [4.5/10]
Not exactly a ground swell of positive support then.
I must admit that I’m a little disappointed by the reception to Crackdown 2 – it being a game that I was looking forward to playing – but after my experiences with the demo I can’t say I’m surprised. I guess the worst thing you can say about the 30 minute demo is that yeah, it’s Crackdown alright, but 3 years is a long time for a games flaws (of which Crackdown had) to remain apparently unfixed and unchanged. For new flaws to have appeared next to them seems like incredibly poor form, but to largely ignore the auto aim system (which is actually worse than Grand Theft Auto’s), introduce a generic wave of zombie mutants and fail to make inroads into the campaign mode could be deal breakers for many.
That will probably include me, for what it’s worth. Color me disappointed.
Email the author of this post at matc@tap-repeatedly.com.
Ouch. Thanks for the roundup, Mat – 1UP gave it a B- and called it an “empty sequel” this morning, so there’s another for the pile. If this game had 4-way splitscreen I’d already own it, because me and my mates are always looking for good co-op splitscreen games, but as is I’ll take a pass. Ah well.
Nooooooo! Oh well… I’m going to buy it anyway. Two reasons. First, it may be basically the same game as the original Crackdown, but I enjoyed the first game. The same statement could probably said of any game in the GTA series, but I bought those as well. I am curious to learn what “elements” are missing from this installment. I noticed the sub-par targeting system, but considering my aiming skills I was just happy to find that one existed. Second is that when I played the demo I happened to play it with a friend. I thought the Crackdown 2 miltiplayer was far better than the first. The problem with sandbox multiplayer is that it’s really easy to lose your friends in the world. When I played the first game (with the same friend) we would lose eachother almost instantly because the crazy jumping ability makes it easy to span a large amount of space in short order. A half an hour later one of us would wake from a game induced trance and say something like “Dude. Ya still there?” over the headset. “Uh-huh. Killing some stuff.” Re-enter trance. In Crackdown 2 the game helps keep the players together for the major missions by directing you to the location of the mission the other player is currently working on. I could see this getting a little irritating if I was trying to get that orb that’s way up there when a message pops up telling me to “go this way” as another player starts an assault on an area, but it’s a small price to pay for adding to the feeling of playing together as opposed to playing in the same space.
Actually, I agree with you. Crackdown was a hell of a lot of fun, and short of the game being completely broken (which even these middlin’ reviews don’t seem to suggest it has) I still think it will be a worthwhile experience. Especially as I haven’t played the original for a couple of years..
Perhaps not at full price though, which is the difference for me. £25 and we’ll talk!
I agree too. All the reviews say that multiplay really makes it worth it, especially if you enjoyed Crackdown (and who didn’t? Talk about doing one thing and doing it well).
It’s sad, both Rampage and Realtime Worlds (latter created the original) are getting torched by the press right now – Rampage for Crackdown 2, Realtime for APB, which is apparently quite the disaster. So much for two games people held out a lot of hope for.
Whoops, I meant Ruffian, not Rampage. Where’s the damn edit button? Who runs this site?? 😉