Crackdown may not be perfect, but it still accomplishes many things, like being a fun and truly open world action game.
From a gameplay standpoint Crackdown is solid. Controls are precise and responsive, and each result is landed with satisfying result. You can run, kick, and shoot enemies, or jump on their head till they die. Skills are improved by basically using them, and by using i mean killing bad guys with. You get strength skill by throwing or kicking an ememie to death. You get driving skills by driving through enemies, you get shooting skills by shooting your enemies and so fourth. Other oppurtunities for skill development are only in special car route challenges and agility orbs and challenges. The system for upgrading is fine, however sometimes using a certain method may not seem as ideal and once you need it you find your character underdeveloped.
The games graphics are stunning. They have this weird realistic, cell-shaded look that gives the city and its inhabitants its own specific look and distinction. The agent you play as is rendered nicely and for the most part, the city and game keep up with all the action, you may seem some drops in framerate sometimes, but other than that the game runs smooth.
The game sports a great soundtrack from various artists, providing a techno sound, that adds to the cities dark and brooding look. It would've been nice to have some music outside of the car, but for the most part Crackdown has a superb track listing.
The story is as follows, your a super agent trying to rid the city of 3 gangs. Thats it. You can go after the bosses in any order, but the game kind of sets out how you should go about your adventure. Bosses are disappointingly easy and fragile, so boss fights can last anywhere from a minute to maybe 2 minutes depending on whether or not enemies get in your way or not. Also enemies seem to have some auto detect for you, as soon as your within a certain vincinity they lock onto you and refuse to leave you alone, so you can throw stealth out the window.
Once you beat the game there is nothing to do. The gangs are gone right, and they mean that literally. There is a free dlc that allows you to ressurect gang leaders but honestly, defeating enemies you defeated easily before isn't that great of a deal.
Other nitpicks are the lack of variety with gameplay. All you do is kill enemies. The cool weapons on display are only so interesting. It would be nice to have some enemies chase you in vehicles for once, or stronger enemies, i dont know, something to split up the monotony. Also a game like this should have more destructible environments, but with the exception of vehicles and barells, you wont be destroying any real estate. Doors cannot open, windows are unbreakable and so on. Even certain levels that could have exploadable doors would be fine. Also my biggest complaint is the cities ai. The civiilains are stupid, and un-human like. They run into gunfire, and drive through your shoot outs. And your skill development is affected by civilian casualties. It would be nice to see them run away from your terror once in awhile. The narrator is also a nuiscence providing stupid commentary. It would be nice to have an option to turn him off, but there isn't.
Overall, Crackdown was a great first attempt. With the announcement of the 2nd game, I am confident that the small problems will be addressed. Crackdown had the basis for greatness, they just didn't execute it smoothly. Most of the game came out great though, and with a budget price of 29.99, it is definetly worth checking out.