Crackdown - Page 2

Is there a chain of stores that broke release date in the US ? I've been seeing a few folks on my friends list playing this the last 2 days, but everybody in Vancouver says the 20th.

I feel the same way. Halo beta or not, I've played through twice, got what I wanted out of it, and am now done (particularly if you can't level your character any further than you can in the demo). Anyone else have a lot more fun jumping around and collecting orbs than doing any of the "missions" or engaging in gunplay? Driving was horrendous, shooting with any kind of accuracy was impossible, and I missed the storyline of a sandbox game like Saint's Row (I can't believe I just typed that....but it gives you an idea of how shallow Crackdown feels).

I almost feel like Crackdown could have been used far more effectively as an engine for a different game entirely. Give your guy some, or all, of the powers initially and get rid of all the gang warfare crap. Instead, insert actual plot-lines with a superheroes/buffyverse/sci-fi melodrama that take you inside some of these great looking buildings (many look awesome...but you do nothing with them other than leap around them). Because, to be honest, powering up your character and running about is about all the game has going for it. It's like they took this great sci-fi, open world concept and inserted the play mechanics we see for contemporary titles....and it didn't work for me at all.

Why this genre can't ditch auto-targeting once and for all is beyond me. I had a real problem with a great deal of the graphics as well. This may have been the art style, but for every gorgeous building, explosion, or particle effect, there was a jerkily animated pedestrian or crap looking wall.

Are you sure they aren't just playing the demo? Check their achievements and see if they have gotten anything.

They have. It's odd because usually once one store does it, they all do it. I'll have to keep an eye out this weekend, can't say I have any desire to head over to the mall on a Saturday though.

My real question is (leaving aside the inconvenience that I don't actually have a 360) when I've already got Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, do I really need this as well?

See, in Hulk, you can't level up. In this you can...

My guess is that Target or Wal-mart must have gotten a shipment in and they went ahead and put them out. Unless it's a Halo or Guitar Hero, they usually put them out when they get them.

So the more I play the demo, the more I like it.

I keep discovering great details, and frankly, I just love jumping around the city, and being superman-esque while still having gunplay (and without being huge and green).

I tried the co-op online recently for the first time, and ended up basically having a deathmatch against the other player-- Man, it was a hell of a lot of fun. The abilities alone make the chases really exciting and different (although I never play online, so what do I know), and it was thrilling when we'd stumble into a boss hideout while fighting, and have them coming at us on all sides.

I can understand the limited potential people are debating, but as I said, the more I play, the more I like. And since I have gamefly, this is a no-brainer. I can't wait to see the other worlds and actually get completely maxed out. I've gotten agility to four, and strength and firearms to three, but nothing else above two. At a four in agility, jumping from roof to roof and across the streets is great.

crackdown get!

I will be online probably throughout the day.

I still can't decide if I want this. The only reason I would purchase would be Halo 3, but honestly, H3 isn't even in my top 5 of "most anticipated" games. I'm still debating...

Went to Blockbuster earlier today to try and pick it up, but the woman working there said that they hadn't gotten around to putting it out, so I couldn't check it out. I look over and see an entire box full of copies of the game, but because she doesn't have the time to scan a copy of the game into the system and check it out to me, I'll have to wait till sometime later tonight or tomorrow to get it. I almost canceled my gamer pass right there.

Fag! (Sorry, just got done watching Idiocracy).

Seriously.. I can see H3 not being one Top 5 games of all time. Hell, it probably won't be one of the Top 5 games of the year. But to not have it as a Top 5 Anticipated games of the year? Wow - someone needs their geek card revoked.

I'm picking this up today. I want that H3 demo. Plus, whenever I play GTA I always end up just going free-for-all against the populace so CRACKDOWN definitely appeals to that part of my nature.

Yay tonight!

I nabbed this at lunch today. From the hour or so that I was able to play, all I can say was the abilitiy leveling in the demo was greatly accellerated. I picked up most of the agility orbs that got me to a 3 star rating in the demo and I'm just over a 1 star now. I don't seem to soak up as many rounds either, as I bit the big one a few times.

For those concerned that the demo showed the majority of the city should be plesantly surprised. I didn't drive around all that much, but I'd say the map doubled in size.

I'll be playing a good chunk tonight, so give a holler if you want!

pretty impressive stuff. I have almost collected 100 orbs and am still a 2 star rating in agility. The game's powers are paced much better in the full version versus the demo. One thing that takes some early work though is building up your driving rating enough to the point where you can control your cars. I am a 1 star driver and found the ramp truck outside the pier fantasy land or whatever and I am not attempting to gain some big air. I cant maneuver very well if im not in the agency SUV, but you do get driving points for catching air.

I will want to try the online mode tonight just to screw around. and liquid i noticed your invite but I was jumping off in 10 minutes anyway.

Blue Dragon, BioShock, Mass Effect, GTA4, RE5, Lost Odyssey, Turok (Yeah, I said Turok, fuck off), etc etc

Doesn't matter anyway, I just picked up Crackdown. I'm such a fucking sucker.

So, it has the H3 beta sticker on the box, do I need to do anything else?

***edit***

Nevermind, there's a card inside that explains how it works.

Nope! You just need to still have your copy of Crackdown when the Beta rolls out. Fellers at GameStop said that will be mid April, but I think that is pretty well known.

Fazer, sorry I missed ya. We'll have to blow some shit up together soon!

Normally I don't play games for more than a hour at a crack, but this one sucked me in for 3.5 hours. That was just long enough to take care of the Muertos (along with some orb huntin').

I have to agree that the ability pacing is a lot better with the full version. While I can't wait to be that 4-star muthafucka, making you work for it makes those interspaced ability powerups that much more enjoyable.

There's a nice blend of terrains to jump around in. I can't remember if the demo let you get to the North Island while fighting the Muertos, but it changes in to a woodsy, moutainous area where the last two naughty men are camped out. Haven't even been to the other two islands yet, so I can't say that it's a return to the building-hopping or not.

So, is the full version really worth $60? Or is it exactly the same as the demo, just with slower leveling and a bigger map?

i think its worth the money. granted i have only spent 3 hours with it...but they were 3 glorious hours...and yes I want the halo 3 beta.

This game is good though. At first it seems a bit limiting with what you "can do" when you compare it to San Andreas, but in reality you basically create tasks for yourself. Yes its just a lot of mindless shooting brain dead enemies and bosses with bigger lifebars, but it epitomizes the overused term "emergent gameplay". I tackled the gang bosses from the demo in totally different ways in the full version i.e. I am going to kill this guy only by throwing shit at him.

Also, the vehicular stunt work is ADDICTIVE. I cant wait to set shit up in co-op and watch the carnage.

Word to the wise: get a custom soundtrack rolling for Crackdown play. The in-game music is crap on a stick, so making your own soundtrack of badassery is highly recommended.

And now I'm going back to wasting the Los Muertos while I listen to some Dropkick Murpheys.

GONNA BE A BLACKOUT!

Picked up Crackdown this afternoon.. had the day off so been playin it pretty much nonstop the past 8 hours or so.. I'm only a few leaders away from having beat the entire campaign.. which is kind of disheartening considering a majority of that time was spent randomly jumping around looking for orbs.. but then again thats probably still longer than it took for my first beating of Gears.. so I guess i cant -really- complain too much.. I'm just scared of when jumping from roof to roof and kicking gangbangers cars back at them loses its appeal..

The co-op definetly seems broken at the moment though, from what I'm reading in the xbox forums.. whenever someone joins your game it forces you to reload everything, and again when they leave.. so its no instant jumping in and out of friends.. I didnt have too much issues with lag myself (in a game I joined), but it's also another common complaint going around.. and it took me a solid 20 minutes of trying both quick matches and trying to load up every custom match available before I found one that would let me join

However.. the player-skin that 'develops' that badass looking face-mask when his ablities start to max from the freebie addon pack is AWESOME

Yeah, I think it's a good game. Much mayhem is ensuing.

Turok?!?!?! To quote Dirk Diggler "Hello, exactly!!"

I'll be picking this up today or tomorrow. Looking forward to wasting sterotypical Mexican bad guys for my enjoyment.

Yeah, what's with the plugging of Mexicans in games lately? Rainbow Six: Vegas, Crackdown, Viva Pinata...

Don't forget GRAW and apparently GRAW 2. I think the bad guys in GoW might be really pale Mexicans. No one can be sure.....

It's fun, but I've got about 200 markers and I'm just shy of my 3rd agility star (at 4 stars you're maxed out, correct?) and I still haven't left the first island.

Sucks doing a rooftop race with 50 checkpoints and missing your jump around #47.

Grenades take to long to explode.

My driving skill isn't going up, mostly due to dead peds.

Thats gotta be my problem too. My driving skills have hardly moved and I was starting to wonder why.

From what I have read, the majority of agility orbs are on the first island, somewhere around 200. I'm still on the first island and am on the third level of agility. This afternoon I climbed all three towers of The Keep and then jumped off into the ocean. Good shit.

you have to WORK HARD in the beginning (use the SUV) to mow down as many los muertos as you can early. once you get two starred in driving (i think) you get much better air control making it easy to do stunts to increase your driving skill from then on out.

This game does a real good job of making the player feel like a superhero. I have unfortunately played Superman Returns and it doesn't hold a candle to this game. Say what you will about the length of the game, it is awesome just to take a flying leap between skyscrapers and just barely catch the ledge. I'm having a blast.

Yeah, I played co-op last night. My friend has a 4 star driving, so when you drive the supercar at 4 stars, it turns into the goddamn Batmobile with gun turrets on the front. The SUV can jump-hop and the truck transforms and has a turbo boost. I was laughing the whole time riding shotgun.

I really, really like this game. I like how you build up. It feels like you earned it when it happens.

Really? I think the leveling is just monotonous. Shoot a ton of bad guys. Fire rockets at a ton of bad guys. Drive over a ton of bad guys. Punch a ton of bad guys. That's everything, except agility, which you can max LONG before you're close to the end of the game and LONG before you collect all the orbs.

It's a fun game, but you never do anything different than what you do in the first ten minutes.

Climbing, then leaping from, the central tower was cool.

It's infuriating how often my guy decides he doesn't want to grab a ledge.

I can see how some would get tired of the monotony but I have to say I can't seem to put this game down. While it's light on missions, it does leave you with so much you can do if you put your imagination to it. Raiding one of the Muerto hideouts I decided to try something cool. So the place has a guarded gate and a ton of baddies at said gate. My resolution? I put all 8 of the sticky 'nades on my car and drive it towards the gate. I dive out just before I hit it and as it goes through the gate I set off the charges killing like 15 baddies in the process, making it much easier to get through the front door. There's just so much you can do and so many ways to do it.

And free skins to download was nice as well.

*Not having to start the game over to check out all of the skins is nice too.

My open letter to Pacific City.

Dear *insert name here*,
I have recently received a tip that you may or may not be partaking in gang related activities. Please be advised that crimes like looting, murder, looting, speeding, looking at me wrong, looting, driving a car, looting, shooting, being a part of the police force or even looting are punishable offenses. You will be appropriated and then judged according to the law. At which point I will then decide to either throw you into the ocean or set your body ablaze by exploding it. You have been warned and I thank you for your co... er, patronage.

Your friendly supercop,
Johnny Chopsocky

Jump from the tallest tower and land in the little tide pool (right next to the race marker) and you'll earn an achievement (in addition to the one you get for climbing the highest tower).

I'm addicted to hunting for orbs, but that's pretty much the only part of the game I really like. And I still think Hulk did the building-jumping better.

Yeah, I got High Flyer for the climb and Base Jumper for surviving the fall. I like how when you completely max out your explosive ability (so instead of a number it reads '--') you don't get in trouble for blowing up civilians. Gang hit squads getting you down on a crowded street? Collateral damage be damned!

(Looks at obscene number of buyable special moves and upgrades in Hulk)
I fail to see the distinction.

I made it to the top of the building, and got the High Flyer achievement. And I have a thing about heights, so for some reason this little journey made me really nervous. Then I jumped off, thinking I was totally over water, until a tiny pipe started getting bigger on the screen. I slammed into it at approximately 250 miles an hour.

Best thing about it was the narrator, when I reached the top, said, "Hey! I can see my house from here!" and when I hit the pipe, he said, "That's just sad."

D'oh! The comment was just made in jest. I'll probably pick this up when it comes down to $30. Until then, I've got enough to tide me over.

it's weird how on the first couple of nights playing this I couldn't put it down. Logging in 2-3 hours of just jumping around the city exploring for orbs. Now I can't be bothered to track down the bosses or do any more exploring.

Co-op solves this easily as I've linked up with co-workers and friends here and there decimating folk. The games network code impresses the shit out of me. Haven't seen anything glaring so far that would ruin online play.

Mostly, as I fight off this flu I've been gaming in spurts here and there increasing my attributes in Time Trial mode.

Tip: To get the 175 run over gang members achievement do Diaz (Los Muertos) time trial. Steal a car and drive up and down the stairway repeatedly. The gang members spawning nearby will climb up the stairs...all you need to do is reverse. Then when there aren't any more gang bangers spawning drive the car up the stairs and just drive around the loop. Insanely easy to rack up your driving skills.

I just wanted to give this thread a bump, to express how much fun this game can be. I've been playing a ton lately, and building my character is just great. Plus, I figured once you get to a certain spot, the "bad guys" would be pretty easy to kill. But, they do a pretty good job of making each gang a little tougher than the next.

Other than that, I'm just working on getting more driver stars and firearms stars. Well that, and running the races, trying to increase my time. Okay, I'm working on getting my achievements also. As soon as I get four stars in agility - it's off the top of The Keep I go.

A damn purdy expansion pack is available today, including:
3 vehicles (dune buggy, racecar, and a fuckin' tank!)
5 weapons (new rocket launcher, minigun, cloaking sheild, fuckin' HARPOON...)
4 gametypes, including various races (against 11 others, but only 1 via Live) and something called Rocket Tag

800 MS points. Find me on Live and you can try 'em out!

10 dollars? Seriously- FUCK that noise. The game has so few features as it is, this should be available for free. Is there any word on it becoming free eventually? (Damn work computer blocks game sites)

I'm excited about the material, but ten bucks feels like too much.

I agree, 10 bucks is a little steep.

i have to say, compared to other DLC debacles, Crackdown's for pay content (they are also releasing a ton of free stuff) actually seems legitimately worth money. Ppl wanted more gametypes, more co-op game modes, more guns, and more vehicles...and real-time worlds is delivering on all of it.

While 10 bucks for anything is a lot, in this case it feels like 10 bucks that would go to good use.

Yeah, MediumDave and I were playing a round the other night and while a lot of fun, the core stuff is pretty shallow. I'm actually glad that the new stuff is more toys for the sandbox vs. more missions. Well, that is unless the new missions became more involved and goal-directed.

The only way I can justify this is the utter lack of decent XBLA stuff that has been coming around. I've had 2,000 MS points sitting around for months and every time I get stoked for a new release I'm bored to tears with the demo. Still, 800 points is a bit steep, but as we've seen, prices won't go down. I was hoping that the Guitar Hero songs would come down after all the backlash, but nada.

Did they add a feature where you can play through the game again with your beefed up statistics? He asks not having beat the game once yet.

Yeah, what I gleaned from IGN was that with the free download you could respawn kinpins and such. There was also mention of being able to spawn ramps and a new auto impound yard.