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[BlazeHedgehog]

It's not that you have to get too close to agility orbs to activate them, it's that you have to stop for a second before they activate. I've practically run right over the top of agility orbs during fire fights with Cell guys and they haven't popped.

Anyway, wrote this on my blog about an hour ago:

After having played it once... eh. I don't know that it's as fun as the original Crackdown was. Okay, sure, it still has that awesome power-up system, and yeah, there are plenty of orbs to collect, but...

Crackdown 1 was like a Mega Man game, in a way. There were six or eight guys per island and taking them down in specific orders would have an impact on the game world. Take the weapons expert down first, and not only are you given a totally sweet grenade launcher, but everybody else working for that gang will have wussy guns. But, if you choose to take down the weapons expert last? Sure, he'll still have that amazing grenade launcher, but so will all of his guards, and you're going to be exploded in to a fine mist within seconds. The world had a tangible and fairly immediate reaction to the actions you took within it.

Now, Crackdown 2 is like every other open world game except instead of needing to drive to one location and kill all the guys, you need to drive to three locations and kill all the guys. Though you're given the option to go to the three in any order, none of that matters because each of the three locations are nearly identical and what you do at one location has no impact on the other two. It's just more "Cell" rebels to shoot, and more zombies to explode. It feels like I'm grinding in an MMO - but instead of a hobbit telling me he wants three gortusk livers, it's a nebulous Agency voice-over demanding that I activate three sunlight generators (or whatever those things were).

And while we're at it, let's talk about the Agency V.O. He was amusing in the original Crackdown, but there's also too much of a good thing. He constantly flaps his gums about every little thing in the world, now. Every turret, every orb, every vehicle, and almost every kill. It's entirely possible that he only does this because it's technically "the beginning" of the game, but it's still kind of annoying. It also doesn't help that the tone in which he speaks is also pretty blatantly menacing. It's not difficult to conjure mental images of a man in silhouette wringing his hands with evil intent every time this guy talks to you, even when the instructions he's giving you are supposedly things that are meant to benefit the city.

Overall... ehhhh. I'll probably go through it a couple more times just to get a feel for it, but so far I am not impressed.

It's not an awful game, but so far, Crackdown 1 is looking to be the better game.

 

[MarshMellow96]

Tried it today and it just felt well.. empty?

Seems you can get stuck without a car quite easily..

Not really much in regard to co-op implementation..

Dull environments..

Combat feels like my cousin playing SF (read - mashy)..

'Freaks' aren't a threat (I went and cooked up a pizza and when I got back they were still ragging on me)..

Seems like more of the same sans the 'Crack'.

 

[Brandon F]

I have tried to get into C1 for the last four years over and over with continued failure. Just do not get the appeal, upgrading through orbs and experience is fine and whatever, but I can't get past how janky the shooting, driving, traversing, and general 'feel' of the game is. It's a constant tug of war as I keep reading how excitable the fans are about the franchise, and I keep returning with renewed optimism only to walk away 30 minutes later completely ambivalent to all the chaos.

C2 hasn't felt any different. Just as janky with a slightly more optimized engine. I did sort of enjoy chasing down fleeing orbs, but anything related to shooting just pulled me right down. Objectives at least felt a bit more cohesive and planned out(killing gang and leaders in C1 was just dull to me).

So big pass for me.

 

[The Librarian]

Crackdown 2 has wingsuits and helicopters, which automatically ensures its superiority over its predecessor.

I managed to briefly try out wingsuits in the demo and it was awesome.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Just played the demo. Don't know yet what to expect from the full game. I didn't really liked the zombie shooting part. And I got stuck in a building within 10 minutes, requiring me to jump for two minutes to get unstuck.

 

[RedSparrows]

It looks worse than the first game.
It looks so much better.
It plays nothing like the first game
it plays too much l like the first game.

These are weird impressions.

Welcome to the internet, circa: always.

 

[ShapeGSX]

Just played the demo. Don't know yet what to expect from the full game. I didn't really liked the zombie shooting part.

You don't shoot zombies. You melee them. With lamp posts.

 

[Wu-Gambino]

This game needs godzilla running around the city.

Nothing fun about this demo other than mowing down 200 zombies in a little area i found

 

[ClosingADoor]

You don't shoot zombies. You melee them. With lamp posts.

I shot them with the wierd gun there. It shooted some kind of lightwaves. Worked pretty well on them, but I like shooting 'real' enemies more I guess.

 

[Vorg]

You don't shoot zombies. You melee them. With lamp posts.

I run them over with vehicles. Reminds me of Carmageddon.

Did anyone else notice how the Agency guy uses some recorded phrases from the original? Like "Remember Agent, skills for kills!" I'm pretty sure that was in the original Crackdown, wasn't it?

 

[ClosingADoor]

I run them over with vehicles. Reminds me of Carmageddon.

Did anyone else notice how the Agency guy uses some recorded phrases from the original? Like "Remember Agent, skills for kills!" I'm pretty sure that was in the original Crackdown, wasn't it?

Yes it was.

 

[BeEatNU]

Passssss

 

[BobJustBob]

I'll talk later about how this isn't Crackdown at all, but if any devs are listening there's a fix you absolutely must make: you need to compensate for inverted aim when lock-on targeting. It doesn't matter that I push up to look down when aiming because once I've locked on I am no longer aiming -- I'm moving the highlight around the little paper doll, and you don't push down to move up in 2D. I thought it was broken because I couldn't figure out how to get the reticule off the guy's head.

 

[Sinatar]

I'll talk later about how this isn't Crackdown at all, but if any devs are listening there's a fix you absolutely must make: you need to compensate for inverted aim when lock-on targeting. It doesn't matter that I push up to look down when aiming because once I've locked on I am no longer aiming -- I'm moving the highlight around the little paper doll, and you don't push down to move up in 2D. I thought it was broken because I couldn't figure out how to get the reticule off the guy's head.

I like it the way it is, it'd be way weird if it uninverted for that. Waaaay weird. It was the same way in CD1 as well.

 

[lord pie]

This is a lot of fun in coop, a huge improvement over the first (I never managed a stable game in the first game, this one was very smooth). Four player should be a blast.
It's a pity you can't shoot as a passenger in a car.

It's really going to be one of those "At one point..." memorable games;

At one point my friend said "screw it, you drive". So we swapped, first thing I managed to do was drive straight into a cluster of 8 exploding barrels :lol

At one point I had an enemy shout "Watch out! He's here to kick ass and chew bubble gum!, and he's all out of ass!"

...

 

[zero margin]

Damn almost forgot this demo was out!

 

[dyergram]

Iv loved what I played so far the barge move is hilarious as is hitting people with cars. Think I slightly prefer the OG Crackdown agent art design though. Music seems a lot better this time as well.

 

[Lothars]

It's not an awful game, but so far, Crackdown 1 is looking to be the better game.

I agree I was fairly underwhelmed when playing the demo but we will see how it is when the full game is released.

edit: but I really wanna play the demo with 4 people because that probably will make a huge difference.

 

[BobJustBob]

I like it the way it is, it'd be way weird if it uninverted for that. Waaaay weird. It was the same way in CD1 as well.

No it wasn't.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I played the demo for about 20 minutes, long enough to know that yup, it's Crackdown, and yup, I still want more of it.

Combat is both better and sloppier; I assume the day 1 patch will clean up the targeting issues I had, which were many. Melee combat is pretty fun, plowing through throngs of freaks with combos. Blowing stuff up was still good, but the explosions are a definite step down. And climbing for agility orbs is still crack. I liked the number of objectives to complete, and that I wasn't being forced to do so.

So, day 1. I think I'll hold off on playing it much more until the game proper comes out, so it's more fresh; I've got a few other games I'm chipping away at in the meantime.

 

[Papercuts]

I loooove the demo, no idea what some of the negativity is about. I think some of you are remembering CD1 with nostalgia vision...plus the demo of this is being compared to the full experience that offered.

CD2 has a lot more to do but within the time limit given, you can't accomplish that much each time. It'll only really show how the game progresses when you actually have the full thing, the demo just shows me that collecting orbs is still insanely addictive and that the new shotgun is awesome.

 

[Wiggum2007]

This just looks and plays and feels way too similar to Crackdown 1 for me to put down $60 for what feels like the same game with a few tweaks here and there.

 

[witness]

Played it and its just, ehhhhhh.....Nothing really positive or negative to say, its just OK.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

I dig. Getting orbs is definitely still the best part. Hopefully in the full game it'll be fun to kill bad guys at my own pace in between grabbing orbs, like in the first one.

 

[BobJustBob]

This is bad. The explosions are worse, the shooting is worse, the melee is worse. Jumping and movement are about the same. The voice of the agency is much worse, the structure is worse, the enemies are worse, the world is worse, the HUD is worse, the menu is worse. It was obvious that the hacks at Ruffian didn't understand Crackdown and that this game wouldn't live up to one of the greatest games of all time, but I at least thought it would be a fun action game. Even my lowered expectations were too high.

 

[quickwhips]

I killed a guy in this game by kicking a trash can at him it was fucking awesome to see him go flying through the air.

 

[JdFoX187]

This is bad. The explosions are worse, the shooting is worse, the melee is worse. Jumping and movement are about the same. The voice of the agency is much worse, the structure is worse, the enemies are worse, the world is worse, the HUD is worse, the menu is worse. It was obvious that the hacks at Ruffian didn't understand Crackdown and that this game wouldn't live up to one of the greatest games of all time, but I at least thought it would be a fun action game. Even my lowered expectations were too high.

Hacks at Ruffian? These are the guys who made Crackdown. The majority of the Crackdown team left RTW to form Ruffian and make this. You need to go back and play the original game again. The shooting is the same. The explosions are better in the second game. The world, for the most part, is the same. And it's the same fucking agency voice. How can it be worse when it's the same guy saying the same thing?

 

[DuckRacer]

Hacks at Ruffian? These are the guys who made Crackdown. The majority of the Crackdown team left RTW to form Ruffian and make this. You need to go back and play the original game again. The shooting is the same. The explosions are better in the second game. The world, for the most part, is the same. And it's the same fucking agency voice. How can it be worse when it's the same guy saying the same thing?

The explosions really are worse though. They're bigger, yes, but they also look like crap and not stylized and volumetric like the first game.

 

[Vorg]

This is bad. The explosions are worse, the shooting is worse, the melee is worse. Jumping and movement are about the same. The voice of the agency is much worse, the structure is worse, the enemies are worse, the world is worse, the HUD is worse, the menu is worse. It was obvious that the hacks at Ruffian didn't understand Crackdown and that this game wouldn't live up to one of the greatest games of all time, but I at least thought it would be a fun action game. Even my lowered expectations were too high.

What are you talking about? If anything, the game has too many similarities to the first one.

 

[Circle Jerk]

What are you talking about? If anything, the game has too many similarities to the first one.

But to say the game is much worse than the first while being so similar is a pretty dumb thing to say.

 

[thecouncil]

Aiming priority was mentioned.

My only complaint about this demo is the absolute frustrating targeting system.

Was there a way to cycle through enemies? Because when i targeted something, it would seem to target a can about a mile away before the thousand enemies shooting at me ten feet away.

I couldn't seem to switch the targeting away from the barrel unless i let go of the button and tried to re-target the enemy.

...I also kinda laughed at the extreme amount of vehicle and on-foot controls information they presented during the load screen which lasted about three seconds before dumping me into the middle of a gunfight. wtf?

 

[dralla]

But to say the game is much worse than the first while being so similar is a pretty dumb thing to say.

Crackdown is a 3 year old game. Expectations have changed since than.

 

[Striker]

...I also kinda laughed at the extreme amount of vehicle and on-foot controls information they presented during the load screen which lasted about three seconds before dumping me into the middle of a gunfight. wtf?

The game isn't as complicated as you'd like to believe. :lol

Things like picking up new guns, entering/exiting vehicles, reload, etc. are always popping up giving you notification.

 

[Stripper13]

I can't understand 90% of these negative impressions.

The gunplay, melee system and jumping have all been improved - no question.

The driving/vehicles, explosions, graphics and general 'feel' are all about the same with some positives and negatives in there - but it generally balances out.

The multiplayer is way better so far.

The city appears to be bigger and better than the last - though it has a distinct lack of 'personality' compared to the first one - but I believe that to be nostalgia more than anything - as technically, it is more of the same.

The enemies are nearly identical to CD1, with the freaks being a fun addition to the game (there are fucking heaps on the screen, and they're easy to kill... no complaints)

My only disappointment from the game appears to be the mission structure - but I honestly feel that is in direct correlation to how much you play multiplayer. I think CD1 had a good mission structure for 1-2 players but wouldn't hold for any more, without becoming incredibly easy or more of a 'race' to the boss as opposed to a challenge. From what I've played of the demo - there will be far more variety and challenge in the missions which is almost certainly a necessity with 4 player co-op.

Again, I just don't understand the negativity, it's the same fucking game (possibly to detriment)... anyone who feels it is inferior to the first game needs to take off their rose-tinted glasses and realise this is the first game improved.

Day One.

 

[thecouncil]

The game isn't as complicated as you'd like to believe. :lol

Things like picking up new guns, entering/exiting vehicles, reload, etc. are always popping up giving you notification.

hah.. no, i know that... i was just saying it in reference to the targeting switching.. like, maybe it was covered in the controls screens they presented to me at the start... i know its not complicated. i played the first one... it was just an uncontrollably brief screen of text and, therefore, pointless.

 

[C Jones]

Again, I just don't understand the negativity, it's the same fucking game (possibly to detriment)... anyone who feels it is inferior to the first game needs to take off their rose-tinted glasses and realise this is the first game improved.

Day One.

Rose tinted glasses? If anything I would think Crackdown 1 fans WANT to like this game. What benefit to they get from slamming it? Most Crackdown 1 fans wanted a Crackdown 2.

I played a ton of the first Crackdown and this just feels kind of off. The darker visuals, the draw distance (I thought this was supposed to be better than the original, but everything looked hazy to me in the distance), the character models seem worse (the faces were terrible, but then they throw a helmet on them before you know it so the whole point of even choosing a character seems pointless).

I'm still getting the game day one and and I'm sure I'll have fun with it, but this kinda feels like a Treyarch/COD situation. No disrespect to Treyarch, I'm just saying it's like the same game but just...different.

 

[StriKeVillain]

Was so excited for the game after playing the first and watching a couple of the trailers. I am very disappointed with the demo and will probably get the game way down the road when it's around $20-30. Excitement = way wayyy down.

 

[Striker]

In the time I played it, only once for 30 minutes, I thought the draw distance was improved. I'll have to play more before the actual game releases.

 

[C Jones]

In the time I played it, only once for 30 minutes, I thought the draw distance was improved. I'll have to play more before the actual game releases.

Really? I hope this is the case. I didn't collect a ton of orbs so I didn't get to go very high, but looking down the streets into open space it seemed kinda hazy. Hope you are right though.

As "off" as the game felt to me in comparison to the first I still want to play more.

 

[Stripper13]

Rose tinted glasses? If anything I would think Crackdown 1 fans WANT to like this game. What benefit to they get from slamming it? Most Crackdown 1 fans wanted a Crackdown 2.

I played a ton of the first Crackdown and this just feels kind of off. The darker visuals, the draw distance (I thought this was supposed to be better than the original, but everything looked hazy to me in the distance), the character models seem worse (the faces were terrible, but then they throw a helmet on them before you know it so the whole point of even choosing a character seems pointless).

I'm still getting the game day one and and I'm sure I'll have fun with it, but this kinda feels like a Treyarch/COD situation. No disrespect to Treyarch, I'm just saying it's like the same game but just...different.

Unfortunately this scenario happens often. Nearly any game with a zealous fanbase almost always has difficulty delivering a sequel that everyone approves of.

That aside, I just really don't see how the game can seem 'off' to anyone. I dropped into the demo, and apart from the disappointment of not starting in the agency tower and selecting a vehicle - it felt no different than the original. The graphics border on identical... any issues with the visuals in this game are more a matter of preference.

I agree about selecting the characters - although to be honest, of all the dozens of hours I put into the original game - I only thought about what character was using once or twice. It was such a minor part of the first game, and personally, I think the helmet-wearing agents look 100x more badass than the CD1's agents.

The biggest issue I have with the game so far (apart from the aiming priority) is the lack of transforming agency vehicles. I don't understand why they weren't improved and added to a lot more cars, let alone completely removed from the game... it makes no sense, and really makes me question what the point of upgrading the driving ability in this game is?

 

[The Librarian]

This is bad. The explosions are worse, the shooting is worse, the melee is worse. Jumping and movement are about the same. The voice of the agency is much worse, the structure is worse, the enemies are worse, the world is worse, the HUD is worse, the menu is worse. It was obvious that the hacks at Ruffian didn't understand Crackdown and that this game wouldn't live up to one of the greatest games of all time, but I at least thought it would be a fun action game. Even my lowered expectations were too high.

This post is worse.

 

[Nelo Ice]

Unfortunately this scenario happens often. Nearly any game with a zealous fanbase almost always has difficulty delivering a sequel that everyone approves of.

That aside, I just really don't see how the game can seem 'off' to anyone. I dropped into the demo, and apart from the disappointment of not starting in the agency tower and selecting a vehicle - it felt no different than the original. The graphics border on identical... any issues with the visuals in this game are more a matter of preference.

I agree about selecting the characters - although to be honest, of all the dozens of hours I put into the original game - I only thought about what character was using once or twice. It was such a minor part of the first game, and personally, I think the helmet-wearing agents look 100x more badass than the CD1's agents.

The biggest issue I have with the game so far (apart from the aiming priority) is the lack of transforming agency vehicles. I don't understand why they weren't improved and added to a lot more cars, let alone completely removed from the game... it makes no sense, and really makes me question what the point of upgrading the driving ability in this game is?

instead of transforming cars u just get a new fully upgraded car every driving level

 

[Reknoc]

I like the demo. From what I played the jumping and climbing stuff feels alot better than the first game which is great because I really couldn't get into climbing in the first game.

 

[Risette]

Meh.

It's too similar to the first game and the differences... aren't for the better. Crackdown is one of my favorite games this gen but I don't want to pay $50 for a worsened version of it.

 

[_Bro]

Meh, so boring. There isn't any difficulty and there is no real benefits to leveling up. "Bu-bu-butt you can throw cars at people!" I can also just punch them.

The creativity just seems lost, the world doesn't make sense, and your purpose is lost. You can't make a sequel and not add. Like, Crackdown 1 didn't allow me to hold on to the top of a friend's car and then let go so I could slingshot across the map and into a base. Why wasn't this sort of thing added for Crackdown 2? It's just more get in car, hit jump, land on pedestrian. I want to freefall horizontally across the map and land in a crowd of Freaks so they explode.

 

[Annihilator]

Played the demo twice and that agency guy needs to stfu. Every minute he says something and it gets annoying hearing him talking all the damn time. I like in CD1 where he just said stuff every once in a while.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The explosions really are worse though. They're bigger, yes, but they also look like crap and not stylized and volumetric like the first game.

Yup. This was probably my biggest disappointment from the demo, and from all the footage I've seen. They're of the "wall of fire" variety of explosion, not the chunky, smokey, contrail-laden explosions of the first game. The explosions in Crackdown had a style all their own, here they're just kind of generic. In most games that wouldn't be a big deal, but explosions are a big part of what Crackdown is about, so I think it's a decent sized knock against the sequel.

 

[HorribleJames]

demo had unimpressive graphics and gameplay -- imo. the hordes of zombies are kinda cool, I admit, but the problem is the core action just isn't satisfying. shooting feels unimpactful and boring. there's no real aiming. I just don't "get" this type of game. it's full of action but the action just isn't fun or satisfying.

 

[Raxus]

Played the demo twice and that agency guy needs to stfu. Every minute he says something and it gets annoying hearing him talking all the damn time. I like in CD1 where he just said stuff every once in a while.

He was pretty chatty in the first one too at the start. Once you start clearing out bad guys and learn all the new mechanics in the game I am sure he will pipe down.

 

[The Librarian]

He was pretty chatty in the first one too at the start. Once you start clearing out bad guys and learn all the new mechanics in the game I am sure he will pipe down.

Or you can just turn his voice off.