Crackdown - E3 Preview by Jason "Rodzilla" Rodzik   Posted on May 12, 2006   Crackdown is an Xbox 360 game which places you in the third-person perspective of some form of technologically advanced human. You’re some form of agent and apparently nearly every single person in the game is armed to the teeth and really hates the law, so your character is tasked with keeping them under control, or just six feet under. Rodzik’s Impressions The first thing the game reminded me of was Grand Theft Auto, as you ran around a city, could steal people’s cars as they were driving them, and could blow up random things in the city for no reason. While the game has a mission mode of gameplay, I decided simply to go free-for-all within the city, and I didn’t get bored once. Driving around blowing up random thugs, whose friends then decide to take action and get obliterated as well, can be pretty entertaining. Your superhuman strengths gives you the freedom to do a variety of things within the game world, some of which make it easier to travel from point A to point B, and others which make it easier to fight enemies or are simply cool abilities to have. Your strength allows you to jump larger amounts than normal, as well as being able to fall farther without taking damage. You are also able to rip the doors off of cars and throw them at enemies. The AI in the game seemed to be pretty basic, but then again there’s a ton of people in the city and the game’s objectives were pretty simple, so it’s not really an issue. Also, the graphics were excellent, but the game had an odd cartoon-esque look to it. It wasn’t cell-shaded, yet many of the color choices and shading presented it as less than realistic, which is likely what the developers were going for. If you’re a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series or just like running around a city blowing stuff up in the name of the law, keep an eye on Crackdown for the Xbox 360. Vince’s Impressions Need to vent for a little while? Go find a copy of Crackdown for X-Box 360. This quick and fast paced third person shooter game features a character that sprints around a city destroying gang members and pretty much anything else in his path. It is possible to pick up and hurl cars, or steal and drive them around. The overpowered weapons in this game (including assault rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers) can level a city block in mere seconds. Explosions are enormous and very well animated. Crackdown appears to be a Grand Theft Auto variant that plays without realistic physics. The main character never slows down and is capable of performing miraculous feats such as jumping multiple stories or tossing cars as if they were pillows. These comical physics are one of the stronger points of the game and make it so fun to play.