Hijinks Reviews: Crackdown 2

I played a bit of the original Crackdown game when it first came out, but all of my time with that game was spent online with my buddy, Bob Sacamano. I didn’t get any single player time in at all, and in total, I think we spent about 3 hours with that game… most of that was just running around shooting things and driving all over the city. The complete opposite was true for Crackdown 2. I played for about 3-4 hours, all by myself… no time spent in the multiplayer.

This was one of those games that really loses some luster in single player mode, I think. I have a feeling that a lot would be added, simply by having more teammates to create more carnage. From the time that I spent with the game, I don’t get the feeling that this is one of those storyline-centric games… it’s really more about the adventure and carnage. I spent nearly as much time finding and chasing orbs to build my characters skills than I did actually advancing in the story.

Similar to the last game, you play as a member of the Agency in a futuristic world. You are up against a terrorist organization called The Cell during the day and the streets fill with mutants at night. The more you take down (whether through hand to hand combat, shooting, or running over while driving) the more points you get added to your skills. The more skills you get, the better you can do… well, everything.

The overall game really doesn’t change much from the first. There’s more to do, but it’s really just more of the same. As far as I got in the game, I’d taken control of a number of enemy headquarters and closed a few of the mutant holes… but most of the time was spent enjoying the game in all it’s sandbox glory. Trying to figure out how to make it from one orb to the next and jumping from building to building. It’s a fun game on the surface and there’s really not much behind it, so I don’t see this being more than a few hours of chaos… and then back to the rental store. It’s not a bad game, there just wasn’t as much improvement as I expected after the first.

My advice, get a friend or two to go out and rent it, spend a few hours online running all over the city, and then find something else to do.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Rent/Buy: Rent
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
Platform: Xbox 360
Cost: Varies [Amazon Link]
Release date: July 6, 2010