Xboxist

Crackdown 2: Many Improvements

The first Crackdown game was kind of a \"hot mess\". On one hand, it was attractive to look at and offered ridiculous amounts of destructive fun. On the other hand, it had a trace of the crazy in its eyes and kept breaking our hearts with repetitive mission structure and constant reminders of what games were like last generation. Now, the developers at Ruffian Games are set to fix all of the problems with the first game and renew our love affair with Crackdown.\n\nIn Crackdown 2, there are three factions. A new zombie-like virus has broken out in parts of the city, and the Agency did a poor job at covering it up. The citizens found out and revolted, forming their own gang of angry citizens. Think of it as community organizing. This civilian gang calls themselves the Cell, and soon after they revolted, they nearly destroyed the Agency. The Agency is back, and it's time for you take the city back from the forces of disorganized anarchy once again. \n\n\n\n\n\nFrom what we've seen of the game, the core elements of the formula are intact: gorgeous cell-shaded graphics and over-the-top action. Even the overall structure of the city remains the same in the sequel, with streets and buildings more or less where you remember them. Things are a little bit more gritty this time around, with a bit more gore and trash to be found in the streets (things tend to go a bit haywire during a zombie outbreak). \n\nFreaks are of course, the new wildcard. The developers have said that in order to keep things interesting, the mutants will evolve over the course of the game in order to pose a continual challenge. Missions that take place at night will feature many more of these monstrosities, while the human gang members tend to patrol during the day.\n\nThings will be more dynamic this time around, lending more lifelike feel to the open world. The developers have told Game informer that new to Crackdown 2 are \"Dynamic Civilian Events\". These will involve persistent stories that will play out in the game, for example advertisements telling the public to watch out for zombies after a civilian gets killed, etc. The city itself will even change over time, getting more and more run down as the infection progresses.\n\n\n\n\n\nA main gameplay element in the first title was the need to find Support Points. In the sequel these are gone, Agents can now call in for ammo and supplies anytime and anywhere.\n\nCars are much cooler this time around. They are now equipped with armor and weapons in the style of Mad Max (another necessity in our zombie-infested future). Bigger vehicles like buses can now sport a turret mounted on the top to dispatch foes as you drive (yo, dawg...). \n\nThe game will put a large emphasis on multiplayer. There is 4-player coop, so you can bring along a zombie-killing friend or two to man those turrets. There is also 16-player mutiplayer, in which players compete to collect gadgets, special weapons and bonuses, with character progression like that in other recent multiplayer online titles.\n\nIt sounds like Ruffian Games has really listened to fans, and we can't wait to see what the final product looks like. Crackdown 2 ships to stores on sometime in 2010.\n\n\n
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\n[Source: Game Informer Magazine]\n\n
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