First Crackdown 2 info surfaces

By Oli Welsh Published 11 September, 2009

4-player co-op! Deathmatch! Helicopters.

US magazine Game Informer has exclusively revealed the first detail on Crackdown 2, Microsoft's Xbox 360 action sequel in development at Ruffian Games, a splinter of original studio Realtime Worlds.

The game will feature four-player co-op, an all-new 16-player competitive multiplayer mode, two enemy factions, underground areas, new abilities and weapons. IGN has the details.

The original's Pacific City is back, but dramatically changed by a viral outbreak that turns its citizens into bloodthirsty creatures, especially at night. The Agency has retreated to its high-tech tower once more, and a new underground group called the Cell, described as similar to a Mad Max gang, has sprung up. There will be underground areas, your influence on events will be evident across the city, and missions are said to be more varied.

You'll advance your character in the same five skills, but each will unlock new abilities: a dash attack for agility, a helicopter for driving, for example. New weapons include a UV shotgun that fires light and a magnetic grenade.

Competitive multiplayer will feature a new, more skilful aiming system (presumably minus the lock-on) and - according to CVG - a "Call of Duty 4-style progression system".

Crackdown 2 is due out next year.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • ZuluHero #1 2 years ago

    4-player co-op! Thats going to be so awesome!

  • The-Bodybuilder #2 2 years ago

    When's this out?

  • Dizzy #3 2 years ago

    All sounds good. Looking forward to some building leaping.

  • Doctor_What #4 2 years ago

    So... It's mutliplayer Prototype with slower navigation?

    I loved the first Crackdown on the 360 (and the unrelated Megadrive game) but I think the boat sailed for this title a while back.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #5 2 years ago

    Crackdown was one of those very rare and weird titles that got much more fun once I finished it. Jumping around in the city hunting the orbs was better than the repetitive "go there, kill boss" gameplay. All in all though it was a fantastic game and I am really looking forward to the sequel.

  • Dark_Stranger #6 2 years ago

    "a helicopter for driving" - should that not be "a helicopter for flying"?

  • JDub #7 2 years ago

    I wanna be a airplane driver!

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #8 2 years ago

    Wonder why M$ went with a new dev for Crackdown 2

    Ruffian is probably a closer match to the original development team of Crackdown than Realtime Worlds would be capable of putting together these days.

    It's like when a substantial part of the Goldeneye team left Rare to form Free Radical.

  • The-Bodybuilder #9 2 years ago

    Good point mentalist.

  • metalangel #10 2 years ago

    I don't like the sound of the whole "civilians turned into bloodthirsty monsters" thing. The escaped freaks in the first game were amusing because they only turned up sporadically.

  • Dizzy #11 2 years ago

    "I don't like the sound of the whole "civilians turned into bloodthirsty monsters" thing"

    True.. but they will also have normal gangs. I think this monster thing is mainly by night and mainly a "gang" that can be found in all zones.

  • udat #12 2 years ago

    Hopefully they will have the same narrator dude calling you "Agent" in his awesome voice.

  • TheJuriel #13 2 years ago

    AWESOME! I've been waiting forward to this for a long time.

  • smernicki #14 2 years ago

    hmmm. i'm not totally convinced, would need to see some of this in action i think

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #15 2 years ago

    @insane Cobra

    That is mostly spin on Dave Jones part. I was part of the original Crackdown team, and I'd estimate that about a third of the RTW staff that were on the project have since left the company, a third of them have joined Ruffian and a third have stayed at RTW, to work on APB and their other as-yet-unnanounced stuff.

    In addition, the "bunch of Microsoft contractors who helped us finish the game", formerly Xengroup that comprise most of the rest of the original Ruffian staff (they've since hired new people), were with the team for about half of full and post-production, and were a significant contructive force in making it the game what it is, particularly on the graphics technology side.

    Apart from two or three people who I know are still at RTW, there is noone who I, as someone especially proud of the first game and my involvement in it, would rather see making Crackdown 2. I would want to be with them, but I don't want to live in Dundee anymore.

  • Roamer #16 2 years ago

    Online or offline co-op? The latter is the only one I care about.

  • lutas #17 2 years ago

    The link to IGN seems to point to eurogamer.net?

  • makeamazing #18 2 years ago

    The original's Pacific City is back, but dramatically changed by a viral outbreak that turns its citizens into bloodthirsty creatures, especially at night.

    Does sound alot like Prototype. Was Crackdown 1 a superhero character or was the car/building climbing part of a patch?

  • glaeken #19 2 years ago

    I am not sure I like the idea that this is set in the same city as the first game. It was a great city but a lot of the fun of open world games for me is exploration and I have explored the original city pretty thoroughly. Of course they do say its been changed so I hope the changes are pretty radical so it does feel like a fresh location.
    Edited by 2 at 11/09/09 @ 12:55

  • smernicki #20 2 years ago

    I would want to be with them, but I don't want to live in Dundee anymore.

    as someone born in dundee this made me LOL

  • SnakePlissken09 #21 2 years ago

    So bored of this now, Ruffian either show some game footage and screenshots or shut the fuck up!!

  • sneetch #22 2 years ago

    A UV shotgun that fires light? You sure that's not just a torch, Oli? Do they normally use that "shotgun" in really dark places? ;)

  • penhalion #23 2 years ago

    Yea nice and all but, do we get to take down the agency! Does our used and abused hero get to dish out some payback!

  • JJrabbit #24 2 years ago

    Please let it at least be 2 player split screen!
    Edited by 1 at 11/09/09 @ 15:03

  • Bennicus #25 2 years ago

    That IGN link points to Eurogamer.net. Probably for the best though.

  • busboy33 #26 2 years ago

    @Dark_Stranger:

    "'a helicopter for driving' - should that not be 'a helicopter for flying'?"

    Although it reads poorly, I think that's right.
    The idea is that, unlike the first game, the advances in each stat (increased by use) unlock new abilities and toys. You unlock the "Dash" ability by increasing your Agility stat. It sounds like if you increase your driving stat sufficiently, then the helicopter is unlocked, rather than having it available and then morphing it into a "Mad Max" choper as you increase your driving statistic like in the first game.

    So "a helicopter" is what you get as a reward "for driving".

  • bonker #27 2 years ago

    "The original's Pacific City is back, but dramatically changed by a viral outbreak that turns its citizens into bloodthirsty creatures, especially at night"

    Oh no ...

  • Fatallyflawed #28 2 years ago

    "skills for kills agent skills for kills" I can't wait for this, the narrator dude was COOOOOOOL

  • WinterSnowblind #29 2 years ago

    For those asking for offline co-op, I don't see how it could be done for an open world game like this.
    The most you can hope for is system link.