Crackdown Proves to Be More Than Just Another Action Title

Whereas the initial thought was that Crackdown would simply be bought for its invitation to Halo 3 beta or as a light snack in a slow gaming period, things turned out to be a bit better-a whole lot better. Crackdown was more fun than anticipated and has enough explosions, run-and-gun action, and beautiful graphics to impress anyone who's looking forward to taking back the streets from the comfort of their living room with an Xbox 360 controller in hand.

For starters, most of the commercials depicted one particular officer who hadn't been revealed as anyone in particular and for good reason. You'll be creating your own character and selecting a vehicle to take you around the town before you do anything else. It's a welcomed addition as the game feels just a little bit more personal than other free-roam titles, which set you in the role of a particular character. Your character and everything else for that matter looks amazing with the cel shading do impeccably. Everything comes to life and even though you'll be too busy destroying things its worthy of standing around and looking at.

The story in Crackdown revolves around taking Pacific City back from the three gangs that have taken control of it. It's simple enough and you truly don't need anything more to enjoy the fast-paced action.

Traversing the complex cityscape is almost as much fun as destroying the things you'll find scattered about. Being that your character is no ordinary extension of the law, you'll be able to travel in ways that belong in an intricate platformer. Leaping from ground to rooftop and rooftop to rooftop is exhilarating and as the game progresses your character will get better and better at it. Crackdown features an ability upgrade system which will make your character more adept physically and more capable with firearms. Yes, you can throw that car in that gang member's face and once you do it the first time, you probably won't want to do anything else.

There are a few minor kinks in Crackdown's armor, but there's nothing that gamers should worry about. As a matter of fact, due how fast the game moves and how blood-pumping the music is you probably won't truly notice any of them unless you're looking for them. In a relatively light gaming period, Crackdown fills the role of the must-have blockbuster for the Xbox 360.