Review: Crackdown 2

Crackdown 2

Published by Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by Ruffian Games
Platforms: XBOX 360

In my Hype Thread for this game, I mentioned how Crackdown isn't good, it's fun. Well, the fun wears off when you release the same game three years later with a couple of new tricks. When fun is all you have on your side, your game gets blindsided by the press, like this one has.

I can go into all the ways that Crackdown isn't good. The platforming can be fun but it's infuriating when the only way up a building is grabbing onto ledges or finding the one little point that you can walk on. I also can't say I enjoy the turrets or rapid-fire rocket launchers that lie in poorly balanced missions. Not to mention the mediocre lock-on aiming and all around uselessness of vehicles and firearms in the face of rocket launchers.

Mainly I think it's fun to go around and collect agility orbs. In this one, they give you a radar so you can see the general area of the orbs if you're close to them. It makes finding the orbs much more manageable, and I think it's one of the only ways the sequel improved on the original, because finding orbs is the only fun thing to do in the game. I also activated the freak towers and took the control points when I played through it, but those missions are very short and very uninteresting, and they make up the meat of the game.

The other great thing about the game is the well integrated four player co-op. I love co-op, but I would have loved it even more if it was in a game where there were fun things to do.