The original Crackdown was a bit of a sleeper hit. Deftly combining a Grand Theft Auto esque sense of freedom and scale with an empowering, stat building mechanic that mimed the addictive, collect-a-thon nature of Rare's best titles, it seemingly came out of nowhere, gave players an sandbox, and told them to run around and have as much fun as possible, either alone or with a friend. The fact that the game came packaged with the Halo 3 Beta was also a boon, as it meant that many gamers who wouldn't have played it otherwise were exposed to it's unique blend of platforming, shooting, and open world mayhem, and it's a design that games like inFamous play off of to this very day. The aformentioned co-op was also unheard of at the time, and it ensured that the game would have a dedicated following, many of which were clamoring for a sequel.
Three years later, we've gotten our answer. Crackdown 2 is among us, boasting a new developer, new aesthetic, and all around more content. A new 4 player co-op, more weapons, more enemies, just MORE all around. It's risky after three years to go the route of refine rather than redefine, and while I'm not one to mess with an already winning formula, does it work a second time around?
In short, YES. Crackdown 2 may not be radically different from its predecessor, but its list of upgrades and expansions do well to augment what was already a great game.
Read the rest of the review on CLgamer.com!
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