See Crackdown 3's Explosive Destruction in These GIFs

The Crackdown series is known for its destruction elements, and Crackdown 3 for Xbox One aims to take things even further in this department. Now, Microsoft Studios senior narrative designer Dave Mongan has offered some new details in a blog post titled "The Art & Science of Blowing Sh*t Up."

Overall, Microsoft is promising a "world-changing destructive experience." Microsoft has entire teams of combat designers, animators, FX artists, and audio engineers "working tirelessly to max-out every bit of the explosive fun," Mongan explained.

A series of animated GIFs showcasing an early, in-development version of Crackdown 3 demonstrate the explosive possibilities. As you can see, some explosions have a domino effect, while others are strong enough to topple entire buildings. Still other explosion-types still can spark and catch fire, with the blaze leading to enemies exiting a building and coming directly into your sights.

"In Crackdown 3, explosives take front-and-center when it comes to the destructible world we're building for multiplayer, and for the open-world playset of campaign," Mongan said. "Whether you're deploying a cluster grenade to disassemble a squad of mechs, or taking down a skybridge while another player runs across, or toppling a tower to create a path for your teammates to infiltrate the enemy's stronghold--explosives and the explosive skill are a critical part of making every corner of the Crackdown world versatile and exciting."

Mongan ended his blog post by saying Microsoft "can't possibly simulate or control" what will happen when players finally get their hands on Crackdown 3 and put its destruction systems to the test.

"Crackdown players are the ultimate x-factor--and we can't wait to see how you blow up our world," he said.

Little has been seen of Crackdown 3 since Gamescom 2015, when Microsoft and developer Reagent Games showed off how it is utilizing cloud computing to power the game's physics model.

Crackdown 3 doesn't currently have a release date, but series creator Dave Jones narrowed it down to summer 2016. Microsoft later clarified that the entirety of Crackdown 3 won't be available during summer 2016, as Jones suggested. Instead, it's just multiplayer that will be playable in that window.

It is unclear whether this will be through a beta test or a standalone multiplayer release prior to the launch of the campaign.

In other Crackdown 3 news, some newly released images showcase a weird gun and bad facial hair.