I really grew to love Crackdown, to the point that I will occasionally delete the saved game to replay it and relive the experience of upskilling and upgrading all over again. Not many games are ‘keepers’ for me, so I always value a title that has something about it I want to revisit on a regular basis. (Think of oldies like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D … How many times did you go through THOSE?) Crackdown 2 might not have been what some were expecting, but now that I have bought it and had a chance to play it, I would say that if you liked CD, you will grow to like CD2 as well. The graphics have had a nice coat of paint, and one of the most noticeable things is the slight sideways shift in the palette in the ‘Watchmen’ direction: the same cell-shaded cartoony effect as CD with a bit of gaudiness injected into the scheme. While some have bemoaned the fact the the graphics have not leaped ahead like a frog after a nine shot flat white and three Red Bulls, the developers are always faced with some difficult choices in following up a title, and I think the subtlety of the changes work more effectively towards creating a real kinship between the two titles, as opposed to ending up with too jarring a break from a total rework. One decision which has drawn some skeptical criticism was to set the game in exactly the same city, but after some time and general societal degradation have had the opportunity to rough it up a little. Some thought it a sign of a lack of imagination, or laziness, or both … The step has really grown on me as being an interesting and creative one. It's actually cool – so long after playing CD – to go orb hunting and realize as you turn up in an area, ‘Hey … I KNOW this place! Wow .. It's really gone to the pack!’ There's a really interesting mix of recognition and surprise at key areas all over the city. Again, this leads to quite an effective organic connection between the games, like an expansion pack on steroids. All that to say: don't judge too quickly. If you can get this at a good, non-release price (as you can here at the moment), buy it and try it. Let your expectations sit in the back seat for a bit (or better, send them out for snacks) and try to connect with what the developers have tried to do with CD2. And don't feel it has to be compared too much to the first CD and set in opposition – get BOTH. There are enough similarities and differences in the two to make them a worthwhile ‘set’ to own.

I'm disapointed to say the least on this title, Ruffian games have been lazy and wasted 3 years of development time. Now, it is Crackdown, which is great because it still holds what made the original great, the sandbox fun.

But you can have that fun, that exact same fun, with the original game for 1/4 of the price.

The story is non existent, like the first game, no change there, the mission structure is do the same thing 9 time over and over, no change there either. The best part of the game is blowing stuff up and collecting orbs to level up..no change there from the original.

Now there is 4 player co-op, the original had 2 player and two has multiplayer which is great, but once again Ruffian has been lazy or something, I wish I knew what, because you have 4 player co-op but have been supplied with a useless map, no waypoints.

The graphics are on par with the original, they are a bit grittier to give the feel that pacific city has gone down hill but overall feel similar, but neither of them are “next-Gen”.

You still have the old favorites weapons wise, machine guns, rockets, grenades etc… but Ruffian did come to the party with cool UV weapons, shotguns that will clear streets, grenade with twists and tanks. Hats off for adding to the toy box there Ruffian.

I love Crackdown, the first game took me by surprise and became one of my all time favorite games, it pains me to write this, but people just go and buy Crackdown 1 for $20 or something and have cheap fun.

A roaming game with hardcore violence, vehicles and a numerous assortment of brutal weapons. You will find Pacific city fun, exciting and challenging, because you will soon find out that there is not only zombies to kill but terrorists as well! Good luck with the second installment of Crackdown!