Crackdown puts you in the roll of a “Super-cop”. Who is genetically enhanced to fight crime. As an employee of the “Agency”, you are thrown into the fire. And It’s up to you to clean up the streets. You will have to exterminate such pest as Los Muertos, The Volk and the Shai-Gen Corporation. Lets take a closer look at this latest Microsoft Studios creation. by JVB

Platform – Xbox 360
Product Link – http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/c/crackdown/
Publisher – Microsoft Studios

Visuals – 8

The visuals are a mix bag. Real Time Worlds gave us a graphic novel look, which really goes well for this type of game. If they went for a more realistic approach, it would have never worked out. This also doesn’t allow the game to take it-self too seriously. Which is great, because it points your attention to the action instead. The colors a vibrant, the towns look alive, and the explosions look amazing. As you level up, you can see you character change physically too. He will get more muscle to his physique, his uniform will also change, as well his facial features.

Little details like tires popping and weapons falling from enemies who get shot on the arm. Show’s me that this game was given a lot of attention. Almost everything in the game is interactive. You can pick up cars, pipes, dumpsters and so on. While it might sound trivial, these items do come in handy in times of need. I was in a intense gun fight against Los Muertos and I ran out of ammunition. I picked up the hood of a war torn car and used it to shield myself. To my surprise, bullets were ricocheting back to the enemies.

Sound – 7

As for the sound. There isn’t much to say. The soundtrack is made up of “Indie” artist who I could not recognize. The ambiance is done very well. You will hear realistic sounding gun fire, bullets bouncing off the ground and explosions that sound just as tough as they look. You wont however hear too much pedestrian chatter. You are left with a narrative who is in-charge of keeping you up-to-date with what you need to do next. His voice can get annoying at times, but he doesn’t overwhelm you with lots of babble.

Gameplay & Controls – 7

The game play is pretty plain and simple. The controls are not complicated at all. I had an easy time controlling my character throughout my path of destruction. It has a first person shooter feel to it. The controls do get a bit funky when your character’s ability is at its maximal level’s. Your controlled character runs and jumps so far and fast. It can be a problem when you have fifty enemies shooting at you. You can also melee baddies with you weapons or with a spin kick. Which is the only two melee options you have. That is pretty lame in my book, because it would have been cool to do some awesome combos. After all, I’m supposed to be a “Genetic Freak”. Why can’t I punch anyone?

During your game session. You need to increase your ability’s by finding Orbs that are spread throughout the three cities. There are five hundred agility Orbs (Self explanatory), and three hundred hidden Orbs, which help raise all of your skills.

These skills are:

• Agility
• Driving
• Strength
• Explosives
• Weapons

Each skill will max out once you reach four stars. It is a blast to collect all of the Orbs, and if you are wondering if these abilities make a difference in the game, they do. In order to get some of the higher Orbs you need to have at least two stars allocated to your agility. I found that as the game gets tougher, you need your skills to be near their maximal level. Gamers will also discover different ways to approach each mission or boss. Players can either attack from above, from tunnels or from the front door. Though there seems to be some strategy, it is very limited.

Driving is in the game, but besides some races. There really is no added fun to it. Of course, you need a vehicle to get from one town to the other. But, the lack of customization and types of vehicles is disappointing. You have your basic Sports Car, SUV and Big Rig, which is a tractor-trailer truck. These vehicles do morph as your driving skills increase.

Longevity & Drawbacks – 7

You can finish Crackdown at around Ten hours. If you set the difficulty to psychotic, it should last about fourteen hours. This is not a deep game at all. Co-op will keep this game going for quit a while though. Once you and a buddy have all of your skills maxed-out, this game really shows its worth. There is nothing like lifting your partner up and throwing him thirty or so feet in the air, while he is aiming at baddies with his Watson HE 99 “Hothead”.

Microsoft also stated that down loadable content will be coming in the up-coming months. They also claim that this will be free for everyone.

This is important, because the full retail version of the game comes with only 900 achievement points. Now you must be asking yourself, what is wrong with this picture? It’s not a typo, the other one hundred achievement will be added to the up-coming downloads. Giving gamers a reason to keep playing Crackdown for sometime after its release.

Overall Score – 7

The first thing that will pop into your mind is the inevitable comparisons to the Grand Theft Auto series. Yes, you can run around without limits or timers hindering your adventures. Yes, you can steal vehicles and kill innocents for no reason what’s so ever. But, that is where the comparisons end. Crackdown is a totally different experience, and one that deserves to be looked at with an open mind. If you’re a single-player gamer, expect to get bored upon completion. If you are the type of gamer who enjoys playing co-operative games with your buddies. Then Crackdown is worth every penny. Plus, the added bonus is the Halo 3 Beta, which will be released sometime in the Spring of 2007.

The Austin-American Statesman has an story on its site today that’s mostly about Austin area game developers; However, it also includes an image that purports to be from Hail To The Chimp, an upcoming console party game from Wideload Games, developers of Stubbs the Zombie and home to at least seven Bungie alumni.

Word has been brewing for quite some time of an impending announcement of at least one new title from Wideload, and recently a trademark application for “Hail to the Chimp” was filed by Wideload.

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This is a very special 1:20 long 100th episode with a look back over the last 25 naarated by CapnKrunk, a look toward Podtacular’s future with JVB, Painkilla05, Algebra Cow and Gemini Ace, some special voice mails, and the Podtacular Awards assembled by LT Redteam. Be sure to hang in for the outtakes at the end. Pod Art comes from Clown X, who actually grabbed all previous pod art and made a collage! Next episode will be a short but full review of Crackdown: the game that comes with the Halo 3 beta.

I was discussing upcoming XBOX 360 games with FoulBreed and we had the revelation that this year is going to be expensive for those of us wanting to play all the new “revolutionary” games.

Games I am sure I want:

Halo 3
Crackdown
Assassin’s Creed
Bioshock
Forza 2
Oblivion Shivering Isles Expansion Pack

Games I might want:

GRAW 2
Mass Effect
The Darkness
PGR 4

Games that may or may not make 2007 that I probably want:

Shadowrun
Too Human
Halo Wars

Decided to dig through my old motorcycle riding gear that I no longer need and sell it on Ebay to help finance this habit (my gear for sale on eBay).

Best software year in gaming history? What say you?