Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Disappointing"

Sequels are supposed to improve on the original, but Crackdown 2 feels like it should have been the original release. After reading initial reviews I thought it was the X-Box exclusive Haters Club... boy was I wrong. Matter of fact, they were generous with their ratings. Why the disappointment, here goes.

After starting up the game it is evident that not much went into improving the graphics. Although graphics don't necessarily make the game, the cell-shade look is outdated. It's still fun powering up your Agent, but this time around it seems as if they decided to amp up the opposition BIG TIME as you level up. It starts with the Cell relentlessly bombarding you with rockets and grenade launchers as you move on their strongholds. Don't have an issue with them using explosives, but not when you're being attacked by what seems like ten guys firing Agent-seeking rockets that all hit their target. The attack leaves you defenseless as you are momentarily caught juggling around in the air screaming WTF as your assault on the compound and death are over in seconds. It's about as fun as 20 automatic tennis ball launchers firing at you as you try to hit one while bracing for impact from the other 19.

Combat suffers from a similar issue, starts out simple until you reach the higher levels. Simple punches are fine for dealing with most of the Freaks, but around level 5 the Super-Freaks show up and its more frustration. Should you get knocked to the ground by one, you could be down for a ten-count... literally! It takes forever to get up, once you're down you're defenseless and should one or more Super-Freaks decide to jump on your head (which I had the unfortunate pleasure of experiencing) while the rest of the Freaks hold you down and pummel you to death, you will surely scream WTF!

As mentioned by others, the climbing mechanic is definitely inconsistent. You grab a ledge, jump up to the next ledge, and then the next, all of a sudden you can't hold on to it and free fall down to the ground. Not bad for a two story building... horrible when you get to the Empire State Building-type skyscrapers. This was not an issue in the first Crackdown.

The enjoyable part of the game is still climbing and exploring the vast world of Crackdown. When you feel like literally jumping off a building due to countless cheap deaths, climbing and jumping off a building actually puts a smile on your face. Ascending to the heights of Pacific City is still fun, as well as orb hunting. I found myself just jumping from building to building looking for Agility orbs like a super hero and having fun. That's the one element they got right, besides blasting everything in the city with grenade and rocket launchers (it's better to give than to receive).

Balancing enemy attacks, a quick-get-up button, and better environment building would have made Crackdown 2 equal to its predecessor, but these failures seem to take the game backwards. Multi-player and 4 player co-op were added, but not enough to encourage purchasing this game. If you truly enjoyed Crackdown then this might be worth your time, if not this is strictly a rental!