Crackdown

I have to chase down all those ORBS!

Crackdown is a signature game for the Xbox 360. It’s an open world that can be explored for hours filled with fun weaponry, vehicles, and agent abilities. Crime has run rampant in Pacific City which is run by three distinct gangs each controlling a certain territory. You are a culmination of all the worlds resources and technology. Turning you into a super agent to combat the chaos and anarchy in the streets. As a Peacekeeper the Agency has charged you to systematically take down these threats, to crackdown on crime with a heavy hand, and restore peace to the city.

A lot of games have exploration as a game mechanic, but what makes Crackdown so much more enjoyable are the 800 orbs that await you in Pacific City. There are two types of orbs, 500 are Agility orbs and the other 300 are Secret orbs. Each orb type makes it’s own unique sound when you are near one in order to alert you to start searching. Agility orbs are green, are mostly located in high places, and you will need to figure out how to get to them. These orb are easy to see, but some you might not be able to reach right away. Picking up these orbs, increases your jumping ability letting you scale the city vertically. Can you make it to the top of that building? The building scaling is another layer of fun the game offers. Secret orbs are blue and can be very well hidden. A reason why you keep an ear open for the audio cue. As you collect these orbs all your character’s abilities will increase. This in turn will make you jump higher, lift heavier objects, and even fire weapons more accurately.

The five abilities you will be leveling are Agility, Driving, Explosives, Strength, and Weaponry. The names are pretty self explanatory in relation to the ability. Battling the gangs and collecting orbs will be you primary source of leveling. The more you level the more powerful you get. The more you chip away at each gang’s organization the easier they will be to eliminate. Once the organization is dismantled you can more easily eliminate the Kingpin. The territory will then be free from the gang’s stranglehold.

You are feed information regularly through your ever evolving suit by a great voice narrator. The voice of the Agency, his delivery style and voice is unique on its own, but at the same time I get a tinge of the original Robocop movie. I’ll buy that for a dollar! Vehicles are also a good deal of fun in this game with stunt rings that you will need an array of vehicles to complete. The SUV might be the second best vehicle in gaming next to the Halo Warthog in terms of driving fun. All the vehicles have special abilities themselves and the SUV is an acrobatic dream when it is sent flying through the air. It also has the ability to jump and scales surfaces at steep angles with it’s sticky tires.

If you want, you also don’t need to go at it alone. You can bring in friends for some Co-Op action. You can search for orbs and free the city of crime together. If you didn’t play this title on the Xbox 360 when it was first released you can play it now with backward compatibility on newer consoles. The best part is that the game is totally free to download and play. If you never tried this game you should give it a fair shake. It is easily one of the best games from the 360 generation.