Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Solid"

Crackdown 2 is very much like its predecessor in terms of gameplay. The controls and handling feel exactly the same. Spending the time to develop the Agents skills is just like it was before. Shooting, Driving, hand-to-hand combat, explosives, and running-and-jumping are just it was in CKDN1. The mission structure is a little different though. Unlike the 1st game, once the "missions" are over, there are hours more to go through with the "tactical locations" and Project Sunburst quests. These are basically necessary to complete the game, but there is no structure to the end, just go at your own pace. Further, there is only one "gang" now that take up the whole game, your time is spent dealing with their strongholds and then the Freaks that were unleashed in the 1st game; here is where the Project Sunburst comes into play. So in some cases, it feels like an expansion but with as much time needed to complete.

Outside of that, it really is interesting to see what Pacific City looks like 7 years later. Every location is there, but navigating it is a whole new experience in most cases with new barriers and obstacles. It is partial pallete swap, but it makes certain iconic locations different in going through them. Further, there are no indoor sections anymore for better or worse. One of the best things done were the story, in some cases it is not as integrated as it should be, but finding every audio log really gives a great sense of story progression from the 1st game to the beginning of the 2nd. It really fleshes out the experience. Some people will probably not care and just go through the whole game. This is fine and just as fun.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Back to the audio log part of the story, by collecting every audio journal, the game further understands how you seeming play the hero, but end up being the villain after all. For those who played Crackdown 1, this is already known, but it makes your role much more intriguingly devious when you learn the whole story.