Crackdown 2 hands-on and interview

When the original Crackdown came out, it came with a code to access the early beta of Halo 3. At the time, some considered Crackdown to be the bonus game you get when your buy your early access pass to the beta.  Some complained that this was just a crass marketing ploy to move more copies, which it undoubtedly did.  If you look past those meta arguments though, Crackdown was also a bright, vibrant, open world superhero sandbox which in many ways still holds its own against the newer entrants to that particular genre.

So, when we got a chance to get a hands-on of Crackdown 2 at the Toronto “Justice Returns” event, I personally was looking forward to see what Ruffian Games had in store for Pacific City.  We also had an extensive interview with Ruffian Games Creative Director Billy Thomson, who talks about Ruffian Games goals with Crackdown 2, and even gets into a discussion of classic gaming with Alex.  You can check out our hands-on impression, and the interview, after the break…

Before going any further, I have to mention for fans of the original that the voice of the Agency Director, voiced once again by Michael McConnohie, is back in fine form.   His pitch perfect delivery of mission data, city information and warnings rides the edge of sarcasm, and if the full games is anything like the hands-on, will definitely be the best videogame voice talent of the year.

One of the appeals of the original is that there was a lot of open ended approaches to individual missions. Whether you were in the mood to use your Agency super car as a high speed street sweeper, or you wanted to take the run-and-gun approach, the choice was yours. You’re going to want everything at your disposal, because the streets have gotten worse in Pacific City. Forget your typical crime bosses. They’ve been superseded by mutants and terrorists, and it’s up to you to clean up the streets and keep collateral damage to a minimum.

Crackdown improves on this open-endedness in every way. Outside of a couple of key points at the beginning and end of the game, even the mission order is up to you, though if you try to approach the harder missions first, you’ll probably get your butt handed to you.  Of course, this means you’ll need to level-up.  One of the appeals of the game is the seamless nature of powering up.  The more you use a skill, the more proficient your character becomes at it.  If you’re not much into the driving, and would rather spend your time running around on rooftops, you can expect your skill set to increase appropriately.  One of the best rewards in the game is watching your character grow from someone who can barely jump a story or so, to someone who can leap across city blocks effortlessly.

Although the missions themselves present their own challenges, exploration and just playing in Pacific City is not only possible, but encouraged.  To this end, Ruffian has added more toys to the sandbox.  The most impressive of these has got to be the mag grenade, which allows you to basically tether objects together in what seems like an endless variety of combinations.  You can, for example, build a slingshot by using mag grenades attached to buildings, with a car in the middle, or build oversized weapons by attaching them to two objects that you can then swing around like a giant mace.  The controls remain the same in the sequel, which is a good thing.

Orbs, one of the most addictive non-mission elements, return, with new variants in tow.  Beside the static Agility and Experience Orbs, there’s Orbs that can only be collected with other players presents, as well as various Orbs that give you a run for your money, as they’re always on the move, and will in some cases call for you to chase them down in a vehicle or in your wingsuit, the latter of which is another new addition.

Though we didn’t get a chance to play multiplayer ourselves, the co-op has been expanded to four players, and this time round each player can be anywhere in Pacific City.  Part of this has to do with the full city being accessible all the time, as opposed to the unlock and load nature of the first game.  Competitive multiplayer will allow up to sixteen players, and included a Rocket Tag mode where one player is ‘it’ and being hunted down by up to 15 other players armed with rocket launchers.

Ultimately, it appears that every element of Crackdown 2 improves on the first, making the sandbox bigger, more open, and filling it with even more toys to play with.

And, as promised, the interview with Billy Thomson…