Crackdown 2: Review Round-up

The first Crackdown arrived in 2007 with little hype, yet still sold a crapload. How? Well, the fact it was packaged with the Halo 3 beta almost certainly helped. However, I like to think it was mainly because Crackdown was rollicking good fun – critics hailed it as one of the best ever open-adventure games three years ago, and it maintains a devoted following in 2010. All of who will no doubt welcome Crackdown 2 with a warm, loving embrace. Won’t they? Er, well …

Joystiq (full review HERE) feels that the sequel doesn’t do enough to build on the fondly remembered original, criticising the game’s repetitive missions and multiplayer:

“This is usually the part where I’d say “but if you loved the first game, this is more of the same, so you’ll probably love this” but if you really loved the first game, you’d probably be expecting something worthwhile and fresh in exchange for your hard-earned cash and three-and-a-half-year wait. Unfortunately, you’re not going to find it here.”
3 out of 5

Eurogamer (full review HERE) also attacks the malnourished multiplayer mode, but seems to have a jolly good time otherwise:

“Everything clips into place sweetly and creates a game that, beneath its generic coating of crime, mutants and street-battling, is surprisingly hard to classify. Pacific City is snug compared to the likes of Just Cause 2 and in the very early stages you may find yourself longing for the speed offered by Rico’s grapple hook – but you’re rewarded with more detail and thought per square inch than Panau could ever afford you, and a gradual expansion of your own powers that makes your progress intoxicating.”
8 out of 10

Destructoid‘s Jim Sterling (full review HERE) lays the smackdown on Crackdown 2, with the game’s lowest score yet:

“Ultimately, this game is a very sub-par offering that has no real reason to exist. Everything that is good about Crackdown 2 is already in the original Crackdown, and many of the problems in Crackdown 2 are unique entirely to this installment. In essence, all Crackdown 2 does is take the original game and make it worse.”
4.5 out of 10

Videogamer (full review HERE) argues that Crackdown 2’s time may have been and gone, but still claims the game is “expertly crafted with fun in mind”:

“Many top-notch sandbox titles have graced us with their presence over the past few years, and while Crackdown once set new heights in the genre, the sequel has failed to keep up with the times.”
7 out of 10

See also:Lots of other Review Round-ups

[Via Metacritic]