Crackdown 2 previews

After playing around in the Crackdown 2 demo for four hours on the day of release continuously, I can safely say Crackdown 2 has taken the original's open ended fun and cranked it up a notch.

In Crackdown 2, developing your skills actually rewards you with unlockable talents, abilities, vehicles and weapons, so now you actually have a reason to mindlessly explode hundreds of objects and go on a mass road rage! Setting the story aside, it's amazing just to jump between buildings like a superhero, and pick up trucks and cars and throw them around like toys.

Storywise, the game is not very strong, it does have a plot but I'm sure most people will be concentrating on exploration and just going around doing whatever they want. The graphics are a big improvement over the first Crackdown; the cel-shaded look returns and looks better than ever. It's much sharper and more colorful. The sound isn't going to win any awards, with the annoying announcer commenting every two seconds, but at times the music does go well the game.

Many aspects of Crackdown have returned. The orbs are back (time to spend days finding the last ten…) and so are stunt markers. There are many new collectibles, such as renegade orbs, which force you to chase them across rooftops and busy streets. It feels just like the first game, but newer and fresher and rivals other ‘sandbox’ games such as Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto.

Co-op is also retained and strengthened. Four players can seamlessly join one another's game and cause havoc, tackling objectives and challenges as a team or competitively. There is no lag at all, and exploring the city as a team is very fun. The demo had me and my friends playing for hours, attempting the demo's achieve­ments. Yes, for the first time ever, a retail game's demo contains achievements, unlocked to your account when you purchase the full game.

All in all, Crackdown 2 is a fantastic addition to anyone's collec­tion. It will keep you satisfied for hours and contains something many games these days are missing: pure fun.

I have played the demo of this game and it already looks like one of the coolest games I've played. So much to do and so much to shoot and blow up. And at night when all the freaks come out, there is the sense of invincibility as you take on hundreds of freaks at a time. New cars, new weapons and a whole lot more explosions.