Crackdown 2 Review

By Christian Donlan Published 5 July, 2010

Ping!

Version tested: Xbox 360

It's powered, and powered brilliantly, by some big fat contradictions. Crackdown 2's built from an epic move set, with every jump, roundhouse and ground-pound crafted to make you feel utterly heroic - but all of that's blended with a satirical narrative that slyly undermines you at every step.

Its seamless four-player co-op provides access to intoxicating multiplayer chaos, but it's stuffed inside a design that works at its very best when it's tempting you towards an evening of lonesome rooftop exploration.

And, yes, up close, it's a game of jagged edges and over-stretched textures, but that's in order to power the most expansive - and most essential - draw distance in modern gaming: a vista three islands deep that allows you to plan your next jackbooted disaster without muddling through mini-maps and pause menus.

The most fundamental contradiction of all, however, is this: like the original, Crackdown 2 only really begins at the point where most other games would be wrapping up.

Only with the campaign behind you will you start to get a true sense of just how good this game can be. Like Realtime Worlds before it, Ruffian has crafted a city-wide adventure where the defining moments all come after the hectic street battles and monster-mashes have died away. Only then can you truly enjoy the set-piece skyscrapers (of which there are one or two brilliant new additions), the wind-blown silence and the hunt for those devilishly desirable Agility Orbs.

It's so pleasing to hear the voice of the Agency - part embarrassing uncle, part sinister gameshow host - ringing in your ears again.

As bizarre as it is to suggest, this isn't a go-to game as much as a come-back-to game: it's something you'll be happy to play for 10 minutes in between other, busier offerings, because there's always something useful or hilarious you can do in that space of time, and because a powered-up agent with a homing rocket launcher (and an SUV in the garage) offers more fun per single button press than anything else in the world.

That's possibly being a bit unfair to the main campaign, however, which has had plenty of clever tweaks this time around. Ten years have passed since the first Crackdown and Pacific City is in ruins, overrun by mutant Freaks and beset by an anti-Agency pressure group turned terrorist outfit known as the Cell. In their knitwear and arm-bands, the Cell are a bit Save the Whales, but they've chosen to save these particular whales with the help of armoured pick-up trucks and grenade launchers.

These two factions - the former ruling the streets by night while the latter picks away at you during the day - power the game's new objectives, as Ruffian ditches the original's simple roster of assassination targets in favour of a range of new set-piece activities, all of which revolve around holding onto territory in the midst of nasty battles.

Above all else, this shift exemplifies a game that's been rebuilt for co-op. Try soloing the main missions in Crackdown 2 and it can seem a bit gruelling, particularly when the Godzilla-sized enemies and armour-clad militia units start to turn up. Play with friends, however, and it's a breezy delight, as you reclaim stronghold areas from the Cell by clearing tactical landing zones of enemy resistance, or battle the Freaks by restarting a network of rooftop Absorption units before taking the fight into underground raid areas where beacons tear the mutants to shreds with bursts of pure daylight.

(Of course, this being Crackdown, you can ignore all of this and simply head to the nearest highway to juggle cars, or spend your free time throwing friends off the tops of tall buildings.)

The new missions are smart, if repetitive. Reclaiming strongholds often requires you to take control of a handful of different locations first, meaning the tougher areas of the game can turn into tactical tennis matches as the balance of power shifts back and forth, while the addition of the Freaks leads to nail-biting moments as you protect charging light beacons in subterranean caves while waves of monsters turn up to knock you around.

And although the Freaks do a decent enough job of providing a range of herd-style enemies to take on alongside the smarter, more ballistically-inclined Cell, their main value is as a clever means of easing the game's grind. When dusk falls and the mutants come out to flood the streets, you know you'll always have a ready supply of things to shoot, punch, or drive over in order to boost your skills. New weapons let you take them on in droves, too, with the UV shotgun blasting dozens of them into the sky with a single squeeze of the trigger, while the item-based melee system lets you pick up giant Q-Tips of reinforced concrete with which to cave their heads in.

But it's the game waiting for you after the end credits that provides the most fun. Crackdown 2, like the original, reminds its players that "open world" is a device rather than a genre, and that setting your shooter within a sprawl of real estate is no more a guarantee of fun than buying a ring is a guarantee of getting married.

Absorption towers send out bisecting laser-beams that arc through the sky, meaning that if you lose your way, you generally only have to look up.

Realtime Worlds used its spaces elegantly, as a jungle gym in which to stage the greatest treasure hunt ever conceived as players raced around for those green dots of light. Crackdown 2 stays true to that conceit, and ensures that all of its new quirks tie into that same central mechanic. Whether it's the missions themselves, an expansion of the Orb ecology that throws in Renegade Orbs (modelled on Harry Potter's Golden Snitch) and Live Orbs which can only be collected with online company, or a range of new audio logs to pick up, everything's built around tracking things down and ticking things off.

Along the way, irritations have been purged and ideas have been refined. You can now get a new vehicle air-lifted to you at regular spots throughout the city - meaning you won't have to stomp back to the Agency Tower when you ditch your SUV in the ocean - and new powers and weapon unlocks have been spread out more evenly across the levelling curve of your main skills.

Speaking of which, although I miss the original trio of vehicles that morphed with each level-up, they're replaced with a system that is probably more satisfying, as every rung on the driving skills ladder provides you with an entirely new car to muck about with, ranging from a zippy little buggy to something approaching a tank. Elsewhere, new additions the Wingsuit and the Agency Chopper (both of which may sound like heresy in a game that's all about taking to the skies by stoically picking your way up buildings) earn their respective places in your heart because they're brilliant fun to use, and are given to you late in proceedings when you could do with a nice shot of gimmickry anyway.

Even Ruffian's controversial cost-cutting measure of staging the sequel within the same space as the first game pays off. Pacific City is both warmly familiar and rendered new again by the ravages of a back-story that has toppled skyscrapers and ruptured concrete, providing you with lots of lovely new things to climb.

It offers you the rare pleasure, given the endless iterative rush of most games, to revisit an old playground, and the thrill of exploration is joined by the haunting charm of seeing how your favourite districts have changed: how the kidney bean racetrack around Shai-Gen has been broken up with barricades, how the old gym down by the beach has been swallowed by a quake, and how an ugly shanty town has erupted around that big house in the mountains where I once managed to get a truck stuck on a chimney pot. (Embarrassing!)

Everything clips into place sweetly and creates a game that, beneath its generic coating of crime, mutants and street-battling, is surprisingly hard to classify. Pacific City is snug compared to the likes of Just Cause 2 and in the very early stages you may find yourself longing for the speed offered by Rico's grapple hook - but you're rewarded with more detail and thought per square inch than Panau could ever afford you, and a gradual expansion of your own powers that makes your progress intoxicating.

Equally, the story may be negligible when held up against the Rockstar games, but Ruffian ultimately provides the perfect compliment to their appreciation of stage-setting and character: a glorious, free-wheeling playground where the focus is on action rather than motivation.

Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!

1/13 Boom!

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There are some disappointments, the biggest being the bespoke multiplayer modes. There's plenty of fun to be had in the game's roomy arenas, and that magical mixture of left-trigger targeting and traversal makes the transition to player-versus-player with admirable grace. But three modes - two of which have "deathmatch" in their titles - probably aren't going to be enough to lure people away from Modern Warfare. Rocket Tag, which revels in asymmetric combat as a tooled-up clan chases a lone player armed only with grenades, is thrilling to play, but it's not enough to make Crackdown's competitive online battling seem like anything other a victim of a hectic release schedule, a blueprint that will hopefully be expanded on in a sequel.

Beyond that, there are a few low-level glitches (one saw me triggering an Achievement before I'd actually earned it, which made me feel oddly guilty, while on another occasion the game failed to register the completion of a task at first) and some fiddly moments with controls, particularly when picking up new weapons, but frustrations tend to be minor and hardly game-ruining.

Besides, they're offset by everything that Ruffian gets right: the masterful way the developers have turned simple neighbourhoods into set-pieces; the moments where nightfall triggers neon signage that reveals a hidden pathway up the side of a skyscraper; the way in which a chain of seemingly random Agility Orbs picks out a perfect racing line of superhero bounds from one chimney to the next and off into the horizon. 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

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Christian.

About Christian Donlan

Chris Donlan writes about games for Eurogamer and some magazines. His heroes include Eugene Jarvis, Errol Morris, and Linus Van Pelt.

Read more articles from Christian by visiting the Christian Donlan archive page.

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Comments (164) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Sir_TimAlot #1 2 years ago

    Is whole game co-op and how many player co-op?

  • Beano #2 2 years ago

    Still not convinced after the demo. Waiting for a good deal on it.

  • Kazzahdrane #3 2 years ago

    @Sir_TimeAlot: Whole game, up to 4 players.

  • rudedudejude #4 2 years ago

    Played the demo, it was pretty good. Bit too identical to the original though.

  • t8yman #5 2 years ago

    cannot wait. 8 is probably fair, its a bit marmite - and I'm firmly in the "love" section.

  • Sir_TimAlot #6 2 years ago

    Sold!
    cheers Kazzahdrane

  • Nephirion #7 2 years ago

    Played like a 7 for me based on the demo. Apart from the co-op feels much like crackdown 1.5 and not a true sequel in the sense. I am suprised that with a new engine they couldnt push up the res and draw distance etc.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 14:16

  • Derblington #8 2 years ago

    "Sold!" - Sir_TimAlot

    Like you weren't going to get this, you buy everything!

  • Frumper #9 2 years ago

    I think that some words of comparison to the demo ie: have they ironed out the lock-on issue, would have been very welcome. Especially as the demo seems to have damaged a lot of expectations - including mine.

    I'm still keeping the faith, and the pre-order, but it's clear many have dropped CD2 from the 'must have' to the 'wait and see' category.

  • smernicki #10 2 years ago

    Review reads more like a 9....

    anyway, i'm broke but will have to buy this on friday. i don't need to eat *that* badly next week :-)

  • andywilkie35 #11 2 years ago

    Sounds fantastic, but I've so many games right now I can't justify it :(

    Will definitely pick it up soon though, still have fond memories of doing the knee pound on my mate in co-op!

  • muscleblade #12 2 years ago

    Well deserved score. This wasnt going to be a 10/10. Its just silly good fun.

  • Geordiemp #13 2 years ago

    Just read the ign review as well, the comment that moves 'maybe' a buy later :

    "The main campaign simply involves doing the same mission nine times in a row".

    Nooo. Played the demo to death, so the main campaign is the same 9 times in a row on the 3 islands - unlock 3 light things, jump in hole, kill using UV shotty for a few minutes, start again ?

    Is there no bosses to kill ? Will prbably buy it anyway for mucking around but a little dis-appointed.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 14:27

  • onezeonx #14 2 years ago

    what a load of CRACKdown!

    hahahaha im so funny......

  • 1Dgaf #15 2 years ago

    I spent one sessions in the unlimited demo collecting orbs for the wingsuit. When I got it, I was disappointed. The jump-off height needed to glide and go upwards was a bit too high. I had spend a lot of time climbing for a few seconds' glide; the pay-off was imbalanced. So, the wingsuit felt like it 'stuttered' my experience.

    When you land with the wingsuit, you do a forward roll and stand up. I wish they'd allowed you to transition straight from the roll into a jump high enough to glide and rise again, perhaps with another immediateroll and glide for even more air. Then I'd have been able to use the rooftops, perhaps even the side of buildings, in the game as landing and take-off strips. I'd turn the the wingsuit descent into something I'd look forward to and give me more interaction with the world to boot.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 14:29

  • RedSparrows #16 2 years ago

    I got the impression the demo missions were only the first stage before a second stage of assaulting a key location etc.

  • DFawkes #17 2 years ago

    There is one feature I loved in the demo - the Orb Sonar. Hit Up on the d-pad and it highlights any orbs around you on your mini-map. Maybe not great early on, but I can see it being a godsend for those last 4 or 5 orbs that elude you like little green glowing ninjas.

  • LR100 #18 2 years ago

    8/10 is a score that helps make my mind up if there is any doubt. However, I loved the first game and enjoyed the demo enough to pre-order it straight after, so this was a no-brainer of a decision.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 14:34

  • Jackface #19 2 years ago

    Stopped reading at "redesigned for co-op".

    Why why why do games insist on assuming all players want to play socially? :(

  • Falcon9x5 #20 2 years ago

    In the Destructoid review it says "You don't get to return to the city post-credits without starting a new game" but the EG review says "But it's the game waiting for you after the end credits that provides the most fun".

    Who's right?

  • Geordiemp #21 2 years ago

    Just read the destructiod review, the demo mission you play is the only campaign mission in the game x 9.

    [link url=http://www.destructoid.com/review-crackdown-2-178186.p html
    ]http://ww w.destructoid.com/review-crackd...[/link]

    "Players have to activate three Absorption Units, then travel to the designated underground location where they have to fight waves and waves of Freaks until the beacon is fully charges. That, in a nutshell, explains everything that the player has to do in order to reach the end credits (after which, the game ends".

    UPSETTING.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 14:39

  • Goffee #22 2 years ago

    Either I've suddenly become illiterate or the first few sentences are pure gibberish and the grammar throughout is garbage.

    Sub-editor to Aisle 4, sub-editor to Aisle 4.

  • Mockerre #23 2 years ago

    No. Just no.
    This is actually one of the worst reviews I read here on Eurogamer.
    The reviewer tries so hard not to say the obvious: this is the same game as the first one, just with bland, repetitive objectives. No gang dynamics. A weaker story (well, the first one was already weak, but it had a nice twist to it). And yes, no transformable cars.

    You'll breeze through the game in about 8-10 hours (while doing every, beacon stronghold and freak outbreak mission). When you finish the last mission, which plays almost exactly like the 9 previous lightbomb missions (reminiscent of the one in Gears of War), you'll wonder: that's it? And yes, it will be it, because the game has nothing more to offer than the first one.

    Gone are the mission dossier's, gone are the unique personalities of the gangs, gone are the bosses and mini-bosses. You're just fighting bland resistance fighters and bland zombies (reminiscent of Prototype). Gone are the missions inside buildings, excluding the 'defend the lightmass bombs', which take place in dull caves (reminiscent of the underground levels of EarthDefenseForce - in blandness, I mean, not in fun).

    What stayed the same is the glitchy ledge grappling and the wonky targeting. Oh, and the city is the same - just less colorful, now full of those gritty grey and brown textures we all love.

    Sorry for the rant, but this game is a major disappointment. If there was no Crackdown 1, sure, I'd give it a 7 (because the missions are really really dull and repetitive; there's just 2 kinds of them: kill X enemies and defend X for a set amount of time), but as it is... I don't know. Unless you didn't play the first one and want 4-player coop (online only, sorry systemlinkers; the developers stated that although implementing systemlink would take half a days wok for one programmer, they wont do it), stay away from this one and buy the first one.

    Crackdown 2 is a repetitive, rushed, lame cash-in.

    Oh, and by the way, Mr Reviewer, if you think a 15ft. monster is the size of Godzilla, well, you haven't seen Godzilla.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 14:45

  • Geordiemp #24 2 years ago

    Good point Falcon9x5

    Dont know, maybe they have more missions planned as DLC ? Cuddles Crackdown 1 again.
    Edited by 3 at 05/07/10 @ 14:42

  • Meatblade #25 2 years ago

    Hmmm.. plays like a 7.99998999999

  • dave-on #26 2 years ago

    PC version purleeese!

  • Irien #27 2 years ago

    Is there any same-console co-op, or is it over live only?

  • insincere_dave #28 2 years ago

    Ruffian Games: making inferior versions of already existing games since 2009.

  • Geordiemp #29 2 years ago

    Irien, live only.

    Crackdown 1 is a classic on system link if you get 2 360's and 2 TV''s together.

    Looks like it will remain so.

  • muscleblade #30 2 years ago

    @Anthony_Daniels

    Of course Gears 3 will be a better game. Its not out until April next year though so its not a valid comparison is it?

    I will play this, Halo reach and atleast 10 other games while waiting for Gears 3.

  • des #31 2 years ago

    Sold.Will play this amazing game,nothing can beat orb collecting and jumping...woohoo

  • brseg #32 2 years ago

    Hmm, looks like this is going to have a very wide range of scores on Metacritic. Destructoid totally ripped it apart in their review...

    The EG review does read a bit generous to me.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #33 2 years ago

    Crackdown - after Super Mario Galaxy the best current gen platformer. Orb hunting here I come!

  • Nomgle #34 2 years ago

    I'd suggest anyone considering buying this, has a quick read of the Destructoid review first : [link url=http://www.destructoid.com/review-crackdown-2-178186.p html
    ]http://ww w.destructoid.com/review-crackd...[/link]

    I'm not sure how the EuroGamer reviewer missed them, but the flaws are listed very clearly - "One tactical location is actually impossible to complete in single-player, because leaving the location's radius causes the mission to be lost. Unfortunately, all the Cell soldiers that need killing are at the top of a building that requires players to leave the radius in order to climb. Without a second player, this mission simply cannot be completed. It's oversights like that are simply inexcusable in a game where the developer did very little of their own original work."

    They give it 4.5 out of 10...

  • Miths #35 2 years ago

    "the most expansive - and most essential - draw distance in modern gaming"

    Wouldn't that award be going to Just Cause 2 or perhaps FUEL (I can't remember if you could actually look all the way to the horizon from a mountain top in FUEL)?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #36 2 years ago

    Even if that was true - I never managed to share the same opinion on games like Destructoid. Usually I try to ignore their reviews as best as possible.

  • des #37 2 years ago

    "I'd suggest anyone considering buying this, has a quick read of the Destructoid review first :"-As good as Assassins Creed 2 then

    I would suggest that you stop reading Destructoid dribble,your brain may get permanently damaged...

  • darleysam #38 2 years ago

    Guys, I own a 360. Just thought I should clarify that before posting that I'm really looking forward to Crackdown 2 and have pre-ordered it. This review is good news.

  • brseg #39 2 years ago

    The IGN-uk review is much more critical than the EG review, but essentially gives it the same score.

  • DoctorFraud #40 2 years ago

    Reads like a 9, plays like a 9. Sold and sold!

  • RobotRocker #41 2 years ago

    As long as orbs make that "Ping!" sound, I can jump around like a diabetic kid on red bull and the Narrator is giving out to me for running over citizens. I am buying this.

  • Sir_TimAlot #42 2 years ago

    Haha @ Derblingtion, that is most true!
    Seeing as i now have 2 gamertags and have a 360 slim pre-ordered that is most true!

  • Darren #43 2 years ago

    The Crackdown 2 demo seemed far too similar to the first game and that combined with the fact that it's the same city and I didn't love the first game like many means that I'll be giving this a miss.

    I personally wanted a sequel that was more than the first game with tweaks and four player co-op (I'm not a Gold subscriber anyway). I was hoping for a new setting, a decent storyline and more features which is what we'd have got I'm sure if Realtime Worlds had coded it and not a third-party. I did enjoy the first game at least for the first few hours but the repetition of the missions and lack of narrative meant it got quickly dull, especially once you were fully powered up. Crackdown was basically a sandbox game in the purest sense, one without a story to drive it. Seems like the sequel really is just more of the same from the review. Disappointing.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 15:54

  • onezeonx #44 2 years ago

    i own a 360 and could see this is a 7/10 max!

    orbs and cool jumps only take a game so far!

  • insincere_dave #45 2 years ago

    "I have the Destructoid RSS feed set to automatically print out all new articles. My wireless printer is sat atop my toilet cistern."

    I hope it blocks your toilet and the subsequent flood kills your entire family.

  • TheDudesRug #46 2 years ago

    I must have missed something in the demo.

  • rojjer #47 2 years ago

    @insincere_dave

    hmm. have you read any of Destructoid recently? I think TerryWogan is onto something, its pure dross written (seemingly) by little kiddies playing at being adults. Just sad.

  • darleysam #48 2 years ago

    Wait, we're not allowed to like Crackdown here?

    Because some people are reading Destructiod, who are preaching the real truth?

    Won't be long before the D-toid are the sellouts and everyone's getting their 'real' scores from some new, indie, underground site.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #49 2 years ago

    Personally being similar to the first one is actually a plus. That way I know it won't be much hassle to clear the city and get down to hunting those orbs, which is much more fun than the rest of the game anyway.

  • sfp_noodle #50 2 years ago

    Yay for Crackdown 2! :D I go on holiday in a week so won't be able to play this until next month. Should eek away the remaining summer days though. Hopefully will have come down in price by then too.

  • sneetch #51 2 years ago

    @Nomgle
    "One tactical location is actually impossible to complete in single-player, because leaving the location's radius causes the mission to be lost. Unfortunately, all the Cell soldiers that need killing are at the top of a building that requires players to leave the radius in order to climb. Without a second player, this mission simply cannot be completed. It's oversights like that are simply inexcusable in a game where the developer did very little of their own original work."

    Is that actually true though? Perhaps he was simply going about it the wrong way?

    There's more than one way to skin a cat, after all.

  • riceNpea #52 2 years ago

    i'm going to give an honest opinion and therefore run the risk of being negged.
    it's my view and i have no hidden agenda but that seldom seems to matter.
    i wasn't impressed by the demo and after reading the review i can't say i am tempted into buying it. there are far too many other games i'm interested in coming out soon.
    if i bought it i know i'd be fed up with it after a week. for me to play a game to it's end i must be really engrossed. having to wait till i finish the main game until it becomes really fun turns me off.

    i await the negs from the intolerant.

  • Pinky_Floyd #53 2 years ago

    Hang on, so the single player is a grind and there are orbs you can't get unless you are online?

    No sale.

  • Geordiemp #54 2 years ago

    To me it just sounds as though you had a good dev in real time worlds, they split themselves into 2, and the 2 smaller parts just were not as capable as their original talent.

    As a Crackdown 1 fan its just disappointment and a missed opportunity.

    For example, at the very least I thought it would have zombie missions underground AND the bosses from the first game with maybe new weapons or tactics or whatever.

    I get the feeling that playing the demo witha time glitch is probably just as good as the full game.

  • Frybird #55 2 years ago

    Played the Demo and was fairly disappointed.

    I saw more potential in Crackdown than a sequel that feels at best like an expansion, and at worst like a Mod.

    It just looks and plays to same-y, given how much i already played Crackdown 1, and the Mutants are not really interesting enemies imo.

    Also, a game wich has exploraition as one of it's main draws automatically feels boring to me if it is set in a city i already know (the changes are not enough for me...)

    EDIT: But i see that my comment may be useless, given how many people already set that : /
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 16:27

  • darleysam #56 2 years ago

    It's also VERY harsh to slate Ruffian, calling them some amateur developer that couldn't cut it. When the trailer was shown at E3 last year, they'd basically just taken on the project. Everything you're seeing now has basically been made since then. That's not the work of a hack, that's damned impressive if you ask me.

  • Death-Jester #57 2 years ago

    Bah :(
    I got the demo of this, and really enjoyed it. I pre ordered it right after, and I've been looking forward to it ever since. But now I find out that the campaign is pretty basic and samey, and the only way to really enjoy it is to play co-op (which for me means paying out for either a gold sub or a 2nd controller). Cancelled my pre order.

    So disappointed, especially as there seems to be no big games coming out until October!

  • Dave52 #58 2 years ago

    I know I'll get negged to shit, but the gameplay videos of this look like an iPhone game...

    I know looks aren't everything but... er...

  • irrelevanthuman #59 2 years ago

    I would like to know if the borked shooting that was in the demo has (or will be)fixed.Could not quite believe how off it was.

  • Ryze #60 2 years ago

    It's such a shame that I've gone off 3D shooty games aimed with a right-analogue stick.

    I'd really like this one, but the whole right-thumb-aim concept isn't improving for me at all.

  • rosshuts #61 2 years ago

    The first really clicked with me and loved playing it a lot. Downloaded the second and clicked with it straight away! I think a few of my mates didn't really like it and it maybe just a marmite game at the end of the day. I am looking forward to this for sure!

  • Dave52 #62 2 years ago

    "Dave52, you probably will get negged to shit, and rightfully so for posting such a ridiculous unfounded comment."

    So the game play videos (the first 15 minutes and the assault on cell stronghold), aren't representative of the game..?

  • Darren #63 2 years ago

    I've read a few other reviews from Gamespot, IGN and 1Up and Crackdown 2 seems to be getting good 7 to 8/10 scores, which must be encouraging for the developers, Ruffian, even if most of the ground work was actually done by Realtime Worlds in the original game (engine, level design, basic concept, etc.).

    The consensus is that this is Crackdown 1 with double the number of co-op players and many of the same niggling issues so it looks like it is one for the fans rather than those of us who saw potential in the original game but thought it fell a little short in many areas.

    Maybe the original developers will return to the series for Crackdown 3? I hope so because there was a lot to like about the first Crackdown, it just didn't last long enough for me, that's all.

  • metalangel #64 2 years ago

    I like how people complained and swore about how awful MW2's map packs were for containing two levels from the previous game... Yet Crackdown 2 is just the first game all over again, and people are fighting over who can love it the most! IT'S THE SAME FUCKING GAME. You are being clouded by fond memories of the first game and are about to fork over £40 for something that is at its very best an average quality mod. Neg away, fanboys, but Destructoid is right. Save yourself a lot of money and play the brighter, more colourful, more stylish, car-transformy original.

  • Dave52 #65 2 years ago

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that it looks dated. The graphics look like Quake 3 Arena.

    I'm sure the gameplay is great (certainly the review was glowing), it just looks a bit pants imho.

  • ParanoidZombie #66 2 years ago

    Loved the demo, but I just realized that I'm totally fed up with coop.

    I just hate the fact that, everytime I want to buy a game, I have to turn into a marketing executive to make sure that my friends will also buy the game so I can actually play it the "right" way. And it works the other way around, of course. And now, I'm looking forward to halo reach, but my friends will buy COD black ops instead. Just like in 2009: my friends all bought MW2, while the only game I wanted was L4D2. This shit is wearing me thin.

  • des #67 2 years ago

    ^^

    And how exactly is that possible?...game is not out yet



  • TRUTH #68 2 years ago

    Another add on 1.5 game priced full price - THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL!...RIP OFF!

    All the missions seem to be same, from what I've seen,played, read - a very repetitive game I think. The 1st one was way to repetitive too!
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 17:52

  • andromeda #69 2 years ago

    I'm sure it's great fun . ,but artistically its a dog's dinner

  • AlvySinger #70 2 years ago

    @EarlBassett - totally agree with you said.

    I LOVED the first Crackdown and wanted a sequel that would build on and enhance the gameplay of the original, preferably with a story to hook the action onto.

    10 minutes into the demo though and I found myself wanting to give up, with only my adoration of the original keeping me through to the end. It looked ugly, the missions were grindy and the auto-aim was a cack-handed disaster.

    If the only addition Ruffian have added is the respawning zombies then I'll give this a miss, at least until they release the DLC that max-outs your character and I can go back to wreaking car-flinging havoc on the freeways.

  • TRUTH #71 2 years ago

    Me too,I'm getting fed up with these co-op and multiplayer games, instead of focusing on the single player, which is always being sacrificed!.

  • darleysam #72 2 years ago

    To the people who wanted to turn the demo off after a few minutes, had you considered that it might be due to having gotten used to a fully-powered-up agent with Crackdown, then going back to the start with Crackdown 2? I know when I started it, I felt slow, clunky and was quickly frustrated with how weak my jumping was. After grabbing a few orbs and powering up my strength though, it started to come back and I found the game I'd wasted so many hours on.

  • gnrlstuart #73 2 years ago

    the game looks very unpolished to me; despite the fact i know its not really ruffian's fault. ill pick it up when its £24.99

  • captain_travin #74 2 years ago

    I don't get all the hate for Jim Sterling's review from what he says it's mostly what I feared.
    Designed for multiplayer, reused content, repetitive missions, unfixed problems.
    Everyone keeps saying review should stop giving 7s and 8s to any disappointing game that's backed by a major publisher.
    Unless there's no truth to the flaws listed this is gonna be a rental or something to buy if the dlc somehow fix many of the above problems

  • Jedburgh #75 2 years ago

    "One tactical location is actually impossible to complete in single-player, because leaving the location's radius causes the mission to be lost. Unfortunately, all the Cell soldiers that need killing are at the top of a building that requires players to leave the radius in order to climb. Without a second player, this mission simply cannot be completed. It's oversights like that are simply inexcusable in a game where the developer did very little of their own original work."

    Simply untrue. What he means is that he couldn't do it. And yeah, I've done it.

  • BillyBrush #76 2 years ago

    Crackdown 2 is like Crackdown 1?

    WHAAAT, that's not what we expect from sequels, i thought this would be a first person shooter with fishing elements!!





  • RedSparrows #77 2 years ago

    Comment thread expectations: met.

  • LetsGo #78 2 years ago

    Can someone confirm if the following are true.....;

    - can you complete the game and collect all orbs without going online
    - can you carry on playing your profile after you have completed the game?

  • darkmorgado #79 2 years ago

    One thing I would have loved to have seen in CD2 is a Demons' Souls-style "invasion" mechanic, where other players can enter your world and hunt you down - success leading to more orbs, with failure leading to a loss of orbs (with the invading player being given an arrow on the minimap directing them to their target while the target themselves start to panic and find suitable hiding places). This could have been awesome and, in a game that seems designed around co-op and online play it feels something like a missed opportunity. Perhaps they could add this in a patch or as DLC?

  • Jedburgh #80 2 years ago

    @LetsGo

    Can someone confirm if the following are true.....;

    - can you complete the game and collect all orbs without going online
    - can you carry on playing your profile after you have completed the game?

    Both true. I finished the game and then carried on in order to get my 500 agility orbs.

  • captain_travin #81 2 years ago

    What I'd expect is for it to improve on the first with new content.
    A lot of what I'm hearing makes it sound like at best it's only a minor improvement and at worst its worse which is not good when the first came out 3 years ago.
    It sounds like one with worse mission design.

  • captain_travin #82 2 years ago

    You can't get all the orbs without going online even the developers will agree on that that.
    I'm sure you can beat it but I think what Destructoid means by impossible is that a enemy can get stuck outside of the area you have to defend and you have to restart the mission unless another player go's round and gets them for you.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 18:44

  • Mark1412 #83 2 years ago

    Despite some negative things said, the prospect of collecting another 500 Agility Orbs is, worryingly, outweighing everything else. Put those in Kinectimals and maybe I'll buy it Toulouse ;)

  • Jedburgh #84 2 years ago

    @captain_travin

    You can't get all the orbs without going online even the developers will agree on that that

    Well you can't get the online orbs without going online. Obv. But they're entirely separate from the agility and hidden orbs.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 18:47

  • TRUTH #85 2 years ago

    Just buy the 1st game for less then £4. Why for a few minor upgrades do you want to pay full price for some minor upgrades ?

    In all reviews I've read so-far say it is mainly the same game as the 1st Crackdown. Looks the same, plays the same repetitive style missions, feels the same.

    So this is MS AAA effort !!!...what a rip off!

  • captain_travin #86 2 years ago

    They are just like the other orbs except you have to get them by being online otherwise the game won't let you pick them up.
    The missions are my main problem.
    There not the same there worse.
    Instead of having different ways to get to the boss and finish him off with some of the boss hideouts being almost full levels themselves you just kill loads and loads of bad-guys in a spot till they stop coming.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 18:50

  • darkmorgado #87 2 years ago

    @LetsGo

    can you complete the game and collect all orbs without going online

    No. There are LIVE orbs, which only appear for collection during online play.

    Not sure about your second question. As others have mentioned, some reviews are giving contradictory comments about this (Eurogamer suggests that the game doesnt "begin" until after the campaign, suggesting it continues, while the Destructoid review states that you have to start over from scratch once you complete the campaign).

  • smurphs #88 2 years ago

    I am really looking forward to this game. I remember being very dismissive of the CD1 demo, but loving the final game. Demos can be very deceptive. I spend AGES jumping on that carousel thing in the first game, I hope they have more props like that.

  • haubitzer #89 2 years ago

    Paying full price for this game is ridiculous. Has anyone seen what first-party sequels are doing lately?

  • captain_travin #90 2 years ago

    Don't know about new games.
    I assume you can at least reload a old save but hears hoping if you do need to start over it will keep your stats and your side missions and score

  • darkmorgado #91 2 years ago

    The repetitive gameplay is the main problem with CD2

    It never ceases to amuse me how some people will criticise a game for offering more of the same, but others will criticise a game for changing its predecessor's mechanics. COD:MW2 was exactly the same as MW1, but I didn't hear huge outcry and bad reviews because of that - in fact, a lot of games get criticised from deviating from an established formula. There's some bizarre double standards among gamers and the specialist press - almost to the extent where it could be explored in it's own special feature.

    EDIT 1: Typos

    EDIT 2: Explaining what edit 1 was for!
    Edited by 2 at 05/07/10 @ 20:47

  • VandelayIndustries #92 2 years ago

    In essence, the first game again with a few additions and tweaks? A DLC layer of content over the original framework... yours for £40?

    So what we're talking about is Activision levels of cynicism here. Bravo...
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 19:12

  • captain_travin #93 2 years ago

    I have no problem with more of the same what I don't like is the idea that all the main mission are defend this point until all the waves of badguys are dead.
    Done, good now,,, defend this point until all the waves of badguys are dead.

  • TRUTH #94 2 years ago

    The problem I found with Crackdown is it starts to look the same fairly quick, enemies remain the same without any physical or Ai change, vehicles were useless, the game never changed from early on as you fought the same foes who just got more shielding and you just keep doing the same with no progression in different enemies, bosses, environments. As in fps Halo, Half Life 2, Portal, F.E.A.R, Bioshock and even COD 4(I'm not a fan of COD)..there are changes - Ai, environments, enemies, approach, challenge alters to think differently with weapons against attacks etc. This was lacking in CD (you may power up; but mostly nothing really else changed)

    Playing CD2 demo seems more of the same, added with zombies which just seem the same as humans only dumber and larger numbers. I don't see the point in all tooling up when you just continue to fight the same looking characters all the way to the end. The sandbox nature wears thin quickly like this' as you never see real changes in enemy, city or any changes as in CD 1 - just tool up and repeat, then repeat, then repeat...This game needs more enemy changes, bigger variety of bosses, changing city environment etc etc.

    You will see most of the game within 2hrs - then it's repetition all the way. Though I not a fan of COD, the gameplay did change at each stage, as did the environment and pace of the game. CD did not in many areas, CD 2 reading the reviews and playing the demo seems way to similar to the CD 1. Feeling like a add on, rather then a proper developed sequel.

    I hope people realize this.

    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 19:20

  • darkmorgado #95 2 years ago

    So what we're talking about is Activision levels of cynicism here. Bravo...

    In fairness, the dev cycle on CD2 was pretty damn short - they didn't really have the time to create a new engine, design an entirely new city or overhaul the mechanics. If I remember correctly, Ruffian have said that they were given a 12-month cycle to deliver CD2.

  • BobbyDeNiro #96 2 years ago

    Yawn, am I getting too old for this now but this looks indistiguishable from countless other 360 titles out there. I think if I played this I'd fall asleep. Think I'll wait for Reach and stick to Red Dead and Demon's Souls in the meantime

  • darkmorgado #97 2 years ago

    @BobbydeNiro

    I'll give you Demon's Souls because there's nothing quite like it out there, but Halo:Reach? While Halo is a blast to play, can you really say that it is different from any other space marine/FPS/two-weapon loadout/deathmatch game out there?

    EDIT: Same for Red-Dead as well, to an extent - following largely the same template as GTA (which is why it has been often called GTA with horses)
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 19:20

  • VandelayIndustries #98 2 years ago

    @ darkmorgado

    I'm not having a pop at the developer as such, more the publisher for setting such a short time-frame in which to make the game.
    I'm sure Ruffian did the best job they could.

  • haubitzer #99 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado

    Yes, exactly. Ruffian was barely given any money, any dev time, any resources whatsoever to create this game. And then Microsoft pushes it out the door so you get the privilege of buying a product which has been woefully underinvested in at full price. It's bullshit, and it's less than we should expect from the sequel to a game we love. It's some "buy this game or the franchise gets it" fuck-up that I can't believe people are playing along with.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 19:24

  • RedSparrows #100 2 years ago

    Why do I read comment threads? I don't think my body is nourished by rubbish logic and banal arguments and cloaked fanboyism.

    My mind sure isn't.

  • darkmorgado #101 2 years ago

    @VandelayIndustries; haubitzer

    I agree, don't get me wrong - I think that Eurogamer or someone else should really question MS as to why they didn't allow Ruffian more time, resources etc to create a really worthy sequel. I just hope that people who criticise CD2 for offering more of the same (though in CD's case, more of the same is still awesome - see my point earlier about those sorts of criticisms) take on board the fact that the dev cannot always be blamed for this. It's all to easy to blame a developer for this sort of thing when we, as consumers, don't have the inside knowledge as to the circumstances which lead to that outcome. Alpha Protocol is another example - people criticised it for being unpolished, buggy, etc, but it's become apparent via leaked meeting notes and individual people who worked on the game "breaking cover" that there were a variety of issues such as publisher interference and poor communication that led to many of the problems in the end product.

  • busboy33 #102 2 years ago

    For all of the "Crackdown 1.5" commenters . . . . gotta say, that's fine with me.

    Granted, "Crackdown 2.0" or even "Crackdown: The Next Generation" would probably be better, but that doesn't mske Cr1.5 bad or unpleasant in any way. Add in the 4-player co-op? Then 7-8 (aka "pretty darn fun";) seems like a pretty fair number. And it seems like it'll be fun.

  • Jun284 #103 2 years ago

    Eurogamer can suck my hairy sweaty nut sack. You people have it all ass-backwards on this site, in terms of reviews you guys always give the decent games a low score and the "rubbish" games get a good score. Crackdown 2 is BARELY any different from the first one, how mediocrity is rewarded with an 8/10 is beyond me.

    When I look up reviews on Metacritic, it's no surprise Eurogamer is wayy at the bottom of the list as giving the lowest score to decent games, and I'd always say to myself, "Do these people like ANY game?". Ban me, I don't give a flying fuck, this is the last time I will ever refer to any game reviews from this site. Oh for the record, your mother sucks big fucking elephant dicks.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 19:57

  • Raiten #104 2 years ago

    Well seems like it's becoming quite aparant, that developers could just copy paste their first game, do a few changes or just take away few features, slap on a new number behind the game.. and everyone would still buy it.
    Not like we can blame Ruffian on not having enough resources or time to do a proper sequel, but we can still wonder how people these days are so overjoyed about recieving same games labeled as sequels, while still paying same or more as they paid for the first one.

  • darkmorgado #105 2 years ago

    You people have it all ass-backwards on this site, in terms of reviews you guys always give the decent games a low score and the "rubbish" games get a good score. Crackdown 2 is BARELY any different from the first one, how mediocrity is rewarded with an 8/10 is beyond me.

    I'd love to hear your list of "decent" and "poor" games, because I bet that I could find hypocrisy in your comment.

    Beyond that, REVIEW SCORE IN SUBJECTIVE-OPINION SHOCKER!

  • busboy33 #106 2 years ago

    @TRUTH:

    "So this is MS AAA effort !!"

    So Ruffian is a 1st party developer? Or are you just talking out of your ass again?

  • BobbyDeNiro #107 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado
    Difference between Halo Reach and this-Halo Reach will have an epic plot driven campaign and it's gameplay will just be far more refined and balanced and fun. Demons souls is good for it's dark unrelenting atmosphere and uncompromising gameplay. This just looks like a by-the0-numbers third person shooter, similar to Infamous, Prototype, Uncharted, Mass Effect, GTA and the first Crackdown. There doesn't look to be anything unique in the gameplay or anything that we haven't seen before in those and other games. I'm just starting to get deja vu.

  • paulf #108 2 years ago

    game gets a 8 when the review reads more like a 9 then the forum erupts and acts like it got a 4 - bizarre

  • metalangel #109 2 years ago

    Maybe it's ignorance but even with "only" 12 months I'd expect more than what amounts to a texture pack.

  • TRUTH #110 2 years ago

    This is MS effort to force you to buy an exclusive 360 title, as an AAA key line up. Looks, plays, feels, the same as CD 1. And personally think MS are taking the piss now: Halo 3, Fable 2, Crackdown 2, PGR 4 are just some games MS exclusives that never push or hardly add much to the gameplay, yet are pushed heavily by MS and it's bullshit.

    CD 2 is REPETITIVE, read all the reviews. CD 2 is actually CD 1.5. Yet MS try and bull that this is AAA sequel - again!

    I certainly won't be stupid or mugged by MS for buying this add-on (CD2), for something that's 95% as CD1.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 20:17

  • darkmorgado #111 2 years ago

    @Raiten

    The issue you raise lies at the feet of the publisher though, not the developer. It is the publisher that decides whether to market something as an expansion, sequel, or (as seems to be an increasingly popular way of getting around these sorts of issues) a "stand-alone expansion".

    There's an interesting avenue of thought here - if CD2 had instead been marketed as a "stand alone expansion" instead of a full-blown sequel, would your expectations been different? Would your perception of its value-for-money be altered? At what point does a game change from becoming an expansion to being a sequel? As I mentioned earlier, franchises such as Call of Duty get away with releasing incremental updates and labelling them as sequels while enjoying huge sales and critical praise, while others such as Guitar Hero (coincidentally sharing the same publisher) get lambasted for following the exact same design/publishing philosophy.

    What interests me is that there appears to be some correlation between perceived hardcore/casual games and how sequels are received. A hardcore game can enjoy consistently high review scores across numerous sequels regardless of adherence to an established formula (your Call of Duy's, God of War, Gears of War, etc); however, perceived "casual" games (your Guitar Hero's, MMOs) seems to suffer a far more rapid and drastic decline in critical reception.

    I can see how it can become confusing for developers - they can be equally praised/criticised for exactly the same reasons.

  • TRUTH #112 2 years ago

    But in COD games - the action pace changes, environments change, settings change, weapons, action set pieces, style of game sections change (by the way I no fan of COD - only played 3 & 5) etc etc...CD 1 remains almost identical in almost all areas in CD 2, minor weapons/orb changes and thick zombies -oh WOW ! A proper sequel.

    The problem is repetition in CD 2 is because nothing much changes to really feel you've moved on from the 1st hour since playing the game - except your character abilities!...but you end up doing the same thing you did in since starting the game!
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 20:27

  • Eraysor #113 2 years ago

    And to think EG game RDR an 8...

  • darkmorgado #114 2 years ago

    @TRUTH

    The review though clearly states that there is a large range of weaponry and abilities that gradually unlock as you rank up in the game. Additionally, as you play the game and your character's abilities improve, you are afforded greater ability to explore the environment. In a sense, this increase in ability is more akin to a Metroidvania-style game - while you may see something early on, it doesn't mean you will be able to explore its secrets straight away.

    Also, you cite FPS games as having different maps, etc. Now, while the extent to which the environment in CD2 has changed compared to the original (and both the EG and the PCZone review have cited that half the fun is seeing how familiar locations have been significantly altered in the sequel to provide a balance between the familiar and the new) is fairly subective (some may feel the general layout staying the same means little has changed, while others may feel that the dimensions and decrepitude of buildings, while retaining their basic placement, represents a drastic shift in environmental balance and explorational opportunities), I feel there is a flaw in your logic. While CoD and the like may have multiple maps, you will play on them again and again. You will always be playing among the same layouts and environments. In addition, we are all aware of the controversy and criticism of Activision recycling old maps from previous games and charging for them all over again as "new" content. Again, if CoD can get away with charging money for recycling old environments and achieve record sales and praise, is it really fair to criticise another game for doing the same thing (especially if it has altered those environments to provide the aforementioned balance between old environments in new configurations)?

    EDIT: Clarifying my point regarding perception of environmental change.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 20:45

  • darkmorgado #115 2 years ago

    @BobbydeNiro

    Difference between Halo Reach and this-Halo Reach will have an epic plot driven campaign and it's gameplay will just be far more refined and balanced and fun.

    My point still stands however - you cannot say that an epic plot makes a genre more superior than another (would Space Invaders be a better game if it had a sprawling space-opera narrative? Some genres lend themselves more easily to narrative than others, and therefore opinion in this area is subjective. All genres are not created equal). In addition, other Halo titles were marketed as having an "epic" plot - so how is Reach any different, in comparison to its previous installments (in fact, as Reach is a prequel, we already know how it will end - Reach falls to the Covenant. So where is the tension when you already know the outcome?).
    Another small point - you mention refinement. Refinement suggests tweaking and improving what went before - iterative design. Refinement is the very definition of evolution over revolution.
    Edited by 1 at 05/07/10 @ 20:57

  • man.the.king #116 2 years ago

    Strange - when I was reading the review and saw the amount of praise lavished upon the game by Donlan, I thought he was going to rate it a 10. I was surprised to see he rated it an 8 then (that's not to say 8 is a bad score; some of the best games I've played were rated 8 by EG).

  • The-Bodybuilder #117 2 years ago

    There not the same there worse.
    Instead of having different ways to get to the boss and finish him off with some of the boss hideouts being almost full levels themselves you just kill loads and loads of bad-guys in a spot till they stop coming.

    This. This is what I couldn't put my finger on.
    One of the greatest moments for me in CD1 is when I tried to go for one of the main bosses of the district (don't know the one, but they all had freaking rocket launchers) early into the game.
    After getting myself roasted on rooftops, I tried to run away and ended up falling into the office of the 2nd highest rated boss, and killed them (her?) before running off. That kind of complete open-world freedom to go however you like was awesome to me.
    Granted, I don't mind loosing this IF its for an engrossing storyline, but the biggest issue is that's not the case. I got bored of the one mission in the demo, as it just seemed like a grind, as the cell offered nothing progressive at all. Just wave after wave of them. If that's all there is to it, then what's the point of levelling up? For the sake of it? Screw that, in CD1 I did it so I would be more powerful enough to take on the tougher gangs.

  • bladdard #118 2 years ago

    Good review. 12 months to develop a good sequel is pretty good going in this day and age.

  • MaoZedong #119 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • MaoZedong #120 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • MeBrains #121 2 years ago

    @bobby: I'm just starting to get deja vu.

    join the club. i had the same feeling over a decade ago and decided to quit games journalism in belgium. I became too negative. ... hence, I only buy about 1 full priced game a year now. I bought demon's now (before TLG), and while it is quite good, i still _almost_ regret it. 1, because I do not have the time to play things over and again and 2, despite the innovative little tricks it plays, it still is an hack-n-slash RPG with little innovation, but for its online play.

    I try to find the _art_ in games over the last 15 years and still have found few. :(

    crackdown surely is not a candidate.

  • brseg #122 2 years ago

    Metacritic has plenty of reviews up now. Overall 71, highest is 90, lowest is 42. Yes, theres 1 review below Destructoid's!

  • bladdard #123 2 years ago

    Can't believe I got negged for giving the devs a pat on the back, this country!

    It may not be a AAA classic but it's clearly not shovelware.

  • brseg #124 2 years ago

    @bladdard - wasnt me ;-) . I think the question is whether a AAA title, published by MS no less, should ever have had a 12 month dev cycle (actually, I read it was 8 months). It just seems to massively limit what they can do. I agree that, within that limitation, the devs pulled off a minor miracle and are probably cracking open the champagne as we speak. Its just not the sequel I expected, so I'll pass.

  • The-Bodybuilder #125 2 years ago

    I try to find the _art_ in games over the last 15 years and still have found few. :(

    That's your problem right there. You're looking so far into something, you lose site of what's there and enjoyable.
    Essentially, you spend so much time looking into the stars, that you seem to forget that you're standing at the top of mount Everest.

    Stop looking for "the art" in the game, and try and remember the art of playing a game.

  • kimchibaka #126 2 years ago

    I'm merely commenting on the review ( I don't have a 360, but am interested in all games and systems) but it did read like a 10 to me for much of the review, and even with the negative stuff towards the end I thought it'd get a 9, so I was pretty surprised at an 8.

    I like a ten-point scoring system, and hate the idea of a 'buy, rent, avoid' type, but am increasingly of the view that Eurogamer just can't do a ten-point system with any fairness or consistency. In fact, the number of reviews like this that just don't seem to reflect the final score given seem to be becoming the norm (they're probably not, I'm sure it's just my perception, but I think the top editorial staff really need to take a look at this - the scores are becoming a joke and are completely unreliable in my eyes).

  • BlackKraken #127 2 years ago

    I'm hovering around cancelling the pre-order but for now have refrained from doing so. I'm going to give it a chance at first and if I really don't like it I'll send it back and get a refund.

    I'm hoping that I can still enjoy the game despite these obvious faults.
    Curse you comments section, you have me worried that this will be an unplayable pile of shite...

  • Kerome #128 2 years ago

    Crackdown 1 was a decent game, so if Crackdown 2 is mostly more of the same I'll be happy. Sounds like Ruffian did a good job under tough circumstances - short dev cycle with a new team is usually a very tough place to be.

    As far as plot is concerned, I'm of the opinion that a good and appropriate plot DOES enhance any title that you add it to. It has to be contextual, CD2 would certainly not be the game for a soap-opera like cast of 50 voiced characters, but a plot with a dozen different speaking parts would add interest.

    But at least as important in terms of keeping franchises fresh is setting and player mechanics. You have to add enough novelty in both, and using the same city would always leave it open to criticism in that area I think, unless you really went big in events and mechanics.

  • Beano #129 2 years ago

    "Crackdown 1 was a decent game, so if Crackdown 2 is mostly more of the same I'll be happy."

    That was also my opinion. I loved the first game (despite it's many weaknesses) three years ago, but apparently C2 is essentially C1 reskinned with a few additions. Same city with cosmetic changes, lack of true story, same orb locations, etc. Not a true sequel in my opinion. No way I'm paying full price for a sloppy "sequel".

  • Doctor_What #130 2 years ago

    The descriptions of online play being essential to truly enjoying the game is enough to turn me off of this. Shame - I spent many happy evenings passing the pad around my livign room with friends on Crackdown 1, you know, the old-fashioned version of co-op.

  • Cherub007 #131 2 years ago

    I've got my fingers crossed that people will see my question here as the honest request for opinions that it is, rather than try and take issue with my reasons for asking.
    In short, I'm a big fan of Just Cause 2 who has never played the first Crackdown, so I'm not overly fussed if this is a bit similar to the first one (I mean in terms of the value of playing the sequel. Generally speaking I'm not overjoyed that any developer would move in this direction).
    Can anyone who has played it tell me if it is worth me getting this game?


  • brseg #132 2 years ago

    @Cherub007 - I would've thought a fan of JC2 would indeed get plenty of fun out of either Crackdown game. They're different to JC2, but share quite a bit if I think about it. Try the demo, or dare i say pick up CD1 for 3 quid (i saw it in Game for 3 quid, I'm sure!). The basic premise of CD1/CD2 is/was lots of fun.
    (NB I haven't played CD2).
    Edited by 3 at 06/07/10 @ 10:48

  • patchbox360 #133 2 years ago

    i wish i had read this before buying FF13 - http://ww w.destructoid.com/review-final-...

  • Dave52 #134 2 years ago

    Just read the Destructoid review.... fucking ouch.

    Can fanboys neg an entire site...?

  • brseg #135 2 years ago

    I wonder if Zero Punctuation will get his teeth into this one. Its almost too easy though!!

  • muscleblade #136 2 years ago

    Come on!

    Destructoid gave AC2 4,5/10 and Deadly Premonition 10/10.

    Do i trust their reviews. No.

  • Cherub007 #137 2 years ago

    @brseg

    That is exactly the kind of response I was hoping for, thank you. I'm always a tad wary of demos as I've come across a few which bear scant relation to the final game, so a budget purchase of CD1 may well be the way forward. Thanks again.

  • Dave52 #138 2 years ago

    Go read the Crackdown 2 Review, that's what I was talking about...

  • TRUTH #139 2 years ago

    Metacritic has scored this 72/100, which is a bit sad esp for 360 AAA exclusive. It's a average game at best. Most reviews mention the repetitive nature and lack of innovation and real change in the game.

    It seems many XBox magazine are rating this higher, while all console mags scoring it lower (some much lower).

    Personally I will not be buying this. Was hoping for a proper sequel, not what looks, sounds (reviews) like a sub update priced at full price.
    Edited by 1 at 06/07/10 @ 18:08

  • darkmorgado #140 2 years ago

    EDGE just gave it an 8.

    I'm sold - an 8 from Edge really does suggest an excellent game (as opposed to other sites/mags that think of 8 as "average" - cough *IGN* cough)

  • metalangel #141 2 years ago

    Anyone able to tell me how many people you can carry in the helicopter?

    EDIT: Found out it's only one. Bleh!
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/10 @ 00:02

  • muscleblade #142 2 years ago

    Got the game from my local store yesterday. So far i love it. Not a huge improvement over the first one but the four player coop should fix that.

    Edited by 1 at 07/07/10 @ 09:54

  • higgins78 #143 2 years ago

    The first game in this "franchise" was tedious. My money is on this being the last Crackdown...fingers crossed.

  • JayKwon #144 2 years ago

    Hmm... I really don't know what to do. I'll think I'll give it a chance. Buying CD1 is not an option because I already own that game and fully completed it and I want more. And I like the 4 player co-op because I actually do have good friends I can really enjoy playing with and work together with to achieve even greater fun. Also with the new orbs, new places of orbs, new toys, changes in environments new missions and new enemies I think the game will feel new enough after 3 years to thorougly enjoy:). Especially since I'm good at making my own fun in a massive playground.

    With the first CD we were with 3 friends and hating that the game only allowed 2 players at the time. This time around the problem seems solved, so I'm very happy with that. But it does seem like with the given time, the developer was on a mission impossible to create a proper sequel. And I understand that some people like the nostalgic feelings of jumping through the same city with an altered coating and some other changes, but I'm not that kind of person.

    So here's hoping they'll do a far better third sequel next time around. I'll be getting this game to support the development of a third game, but I think I'll wait a few weeks to allow a little drop in price as it does seem expensive for what you're getting. Other than that it gives me the feeling I send a message across that this isn't proper value for money for CD1 owners.

  • MeBrains #145 2 years ago

    @bodybuilder: I am not looking at the stars. I am very down to earth chap. I merely notice that 99% of the games do not entice me and feel like "been there, done that", so consequently they do not deserve my money at full price.

  • TRUTH #146 2 years ago

    GAMECENTRAL REVIEW - Also on Metacritic the scores are getting worse for Crackdown 2, now scored 71/100!!!!

    The sequel has plenty of time to invent its own problems as well - most obviously the repetitive missions.

    Clearing out underground nests of mutants gets old particularly quickly and the same basic structure just repeats for about five or six hours until you hit the credits. The refusal to create even a pretence of variety is fairly shocking, especially given the simplistic combat. There's no cover system, but you can target different areas of the body - which is a neat and elegantly handled trick of the lock-on system.

    What's rather less elegant is the same system's fetish for locking onto any object but the bad guy with a uzi standing two feet in front of you. Once again there's almost no variety to your opponents or the set pieces, as you mop up enemies around a key area...This means that collecting agility orbs remains the most entertaining element.

    At first you can only jump normally but the more orbs you collect the higher you can go and the faster you can run, until you're bounding around Pacific City like it was the Mushroom Kingdom. The problem of not knowing which ledges and prominences can be climbed up is still present, if not actually worse than before. Attempts to make other stat-building orbs as enjoyably collectible still doesn't really work and the new renegade orbs that run away from you are just plain annoying.

    As for other new features there really aren't any.

    More than any big name sequel we can remember this feels like an old school expansion pack with the same gameplay, the same graphics and the same flaws. There are new weapons and vehicles to unlock, but crucially none that change the gameplay in any important way.

    You can now play co-operatively with four friends instead of two but the balancing is terrible - the game's frustratingly difficult on your own but patronisingly easy with a full team.

    A half-hearted competitive mode doesn't come close to making up for the rest of the game being an unambitious rehash.

    IN SHORT: Rushed, repetitive and a huge waste of potential. More expansion pack than sequel - and not even a good one.

    PROS: The platform jumping elements are still great. Four-player co-op is always going to be fun.

    CONS: Near identical to the first, except for the more repetitive missions and inexact combat and climbing.

    SCORE: 6/10 Out: 9/7 (UK)

  • muscleblade #147 2 years ago

    @Truth

    The game is not a "must buy" title at all. I still like collecting orbs, doing rooftop/car races and complete missions.
    Its a simple little game that is best played in coop and in short bursts. Suits me well.

    I would give the game a 7/10.

  • muscleblade #148 2 years ago

    "You can now play co-operatively with four friends instead of two"

    No you cannot. You can now play with three friends instead of one.

  • rufous #149 2 years ago

    Whatever about the game being disappointing, this review is ridiculous. It gushes with praise for a game that is patently sub-par, for straightforward reasons. The bizarre opening paragraph suggests that Crackdown 2 wasn't the only thing that was rushed around here.

  • Grievous1976 #150 2 years ago

    Graphics are much Improved from the Shameful Demo!

  • Madder-Max #151 2 years ago

    "The bizarre opening paragraph suggests that Crackdown 2 wasn't the only thing that was rushed around here. "

    Lol. too true. the paragraphs were cut and pasted then moved about. Doesnt read right for a first paragraph and then the rest of the review reads like a blow job.

  • cjb110 #152 2 years ago

    woa, wasn't expecting this score based on other reviews. wish play had faster delivery times, could have been playing it today.

  • BBIAJ #153 2 years ago

    Well that Destructoid "review" is a crock of shit, I've just completed this in single player!

    Granted, one of the Cell hot spots requires some athletic gymnastics, but it's perfectly doable.

    Maybe they just weren't at a high enough level?

    That, and/or he simply sucks at the game.

    One thing's for sure though, I won't be trusting his opinion on anything else he reviews anytime soon, not that I frequented the site in the first place.

  • JasonB81 #154 2 years ago

    It's a purchase for me....

  • scartbat #155 2 years ago

    the targetng was kinda pants on the demo think will wait.... loved the first one tho :)

  • M1chl #156 2 years ago

    I have just bbought it and have fun since that time. I didnť play first one and in our country we have this game (maybe MS promotion campaign for upcoming Czech Live support) for almost half-price of new titles, so I get one. It's pretty much achievement run only, but it's fun in this hot months without great games comes out. But yeah if you want sandbox, Just Cause 2 is better option...

  • Godhather08 #157 2 years ago

    Wow, this game really sucks ass, how can EG give this crap an 8/10. Ridiculous.

  • TRUTH #158 2 years ago

    As a MS 360 AAA title - it really is very sub standard quality. Not worth it's price, it scored lower then Singularity, Blur, Split Second, Alan Wake, Just Cause 2, Transformers..etc etc; so even if there's a drought of games - there's plenty that have scored more out there available right now!

  • MiY4MOTO #159 2 years ago

    I'm a few hours in and have basically spent the time running around collecting agility orbs and taking the odd Cell stronghold, and you know what. It's bloody good fun. Yes, it's pretty much the same game as the original, but I really liked the first one so more of the same isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've yet to try out the co-op, tho many happy hours were spent doing so in CD1, so I have no doubt that CD2 will be equally amusing in this regard.

    My only real gripe is that I'm sure I read somewhere that Ruffian were planning on addressing the fact that the first one had a weak story-line (I like plots, what can I say), and I guess that the suggested 'plot upgrade' went out of the window in favour of more toys & collectables which plays to my in game OCD. *god damn orbs!*

    For all those wanting more a visual make-over... yes it would have been nice; but just because a sequel is not much prettier than the first really isn't a reason to mark a game down. [Personally I felt AC2 looked worse that AC1, I mean... what the hell happened to Lucy's face(!?) but no-one could argue that it was a worse game.] I for one would rather CD2 played just like it does than have a shiny new graphics engine etc.

    Basically... if you had a blast playing the first one, then it's a safe bet that you'll have a blast playing this one.

    ...and here's hoping Ruffian go on to develop a true successor to Crackdown rather than just a sequel.

  • DAN.E.B #160 2 years ago

    Its very similar to the first one
    Thank god!!!

  • TRUTH #161 2 years ago

    It's the bloody same as the first one - and full price, that's pure laziness by the makers and personally making a fool of those who pay full price for a game which is 95% the same as the 1st game.

  • dryden555 #162 2 years ago

    The little gameplay tweaks are a welcome thing but truthfully this is a remake of Crackdown with the same city map.

    Loved the first one but this gets a 7 from me. Too much like the last one to be sold at full price and as a full sequel.

  • dmt2 #163 2 years ago

    That Destructoid review was right on the money. Unfortunately I'd already wasted £40 on CD2 by the time I read it. I realised my mistake after an hour when I kept on remembering how good CD1 was.

    In solo mode this game is fucking shite. As per the review there is a tactical point at the base of the Shaigen tower which is impossible to take if there's only the one of you. The last mission is a joke too being ridiculously one sided.

    So what's bad compared to CD1?

    1. No more technicolor palette - its all brown and grim and horrid to look at.
    2.. The agent modelling is worse.
    3. There are 5 crappy civilian cars and the Cell cars are not worth the bother.
    4. The game, if I can call it that, is one long tedious grind. Capture 3 absorption units, defend the beacon. Repeat 9 times.
    5. Narrative man is offensively sweary, which is ok except when the game is handing you a beating because its so unbalanced. And I quote, "What the fuck is your problem, Agent?"
    6. The upgrading cars from the original was such a nice touch and they're gone. Why? Why take away the good stuff and make it run of the mill?
    7. 2 types of baddies. All game. That's it.
    8. Frame rate - it has some serious issues in some of the beacon battles. There's tearing too when looking at the view from the agency tower.
    9. Car handling, indeed all the driving is very unsatisfactory.

    In short, this is a retrograde sequel. It brings nothing new to the table but unusually removes all of what made CD1 such a classic. It is the worst game that I have played on my xbox and one of the worst games I've ever bought.

    Honestly, don't waste £40 on this. Just buy the original and have done with it.

  • DFawkes #164 2 years ago

    Okay dmt2, I'll bite.

    1. Get a better TV/monitor. The colour scheme is different, but not as muted as you suggest - thankfully I believe it's just the settings of your TV so it should be a quick fix.

    2. The agent modelling is just as good, though I will happily concede there is nowhere near as much variation given there's 1 model in different colours.

    3. Well that's just a basic failure in the ability to count. Try a recount and you'll see there are more civilian vehicles, and some of the Cell vehicles, with their enhanced armour, can be quite hand. I will again concede that most are of little use.

    4. Absorbtion Units and Beacons are not the whole game. You've also got Freak Breaches, Cell Tactical Locations, 500 Agility Orbs, 300 Hidden Orbs, 10 Wingsuit Rings, 40 Vehicle Stunt Rings, 80 LIVE Orbs, 15 Road Races, 15 Rooftop Races and some weapons to collect. If you want to focus on only some of those that's up to you, but there's plenty there for those that want it.

    5. Fair enough, you don't like bad language. I respect that.

    6. I will give you this one, it is a shame they didn't have enough time to implement that again, I think it was probably a time thing.

    7. 2 types of baddies? Nope. Even going by a gross over generalisation, you've got standard Cell Members armed with a range of firearms, Anti-agent Heavy Armoured Cell equipped with heavy weapons, standard freaks, acid spitters that can leap far into the air, large Tank-like freaks that'll pound you into the ground, and the 3-storey tall super freaks that take a heck of a pounding. That's not counting armed vehicles of course.

    8. I'm not sure what's up with that, it's not something I've experienced. Playing via VGA it seems fine, so that might be an issue over HDMI, which is probably the most common so an issue they may address.

    9. That's just an opinion thing, so to each their own. Making sure you're using the right car for the right situation is important though.