This Week In Co-Op: Crackdown

June 04th, 2008 at 12:14 PM Blake "broodax" Corner

This past week, one game has been on my mind. That game is Crackdown, a great co-op game for the 360. As is my nature, I always find the good games months and years after they come out. However, sometimes being late to the party can be nice, since I was able to discover Crackdown without the pretense of the Halo 3 Beta fury that was associated with Crackdown at that time. So, in the past week, I've been experimenting with the game and thoroughly enjoying the co-op experience.

I should first thank my Crackdown teammate, yimmt666, who I met randomly and is now my "Crackdown guy." So together with my fellow Crackdown gamer, I discovered the great fun that is Crackdown.

Hilarity described in detail, after the break.

First off, Crackdown is great for co-op gamers mainly because accessing co-op is fairly easy, and even to this day, there are plenty of people playing the game. Also, unlike some games, the addition of an extra player doesn't make it a cakewalk. I have many fond memories of mowing through enemies with my buddy, only to be blown out of the water by a rocket, thus necessitating a re-spawn at one of Crackdown's supply points.

As much as I love co-op games, I am an equal fan of single-player games, so I was surprised to find that the single-player and co-op modes of Crackdown are really the same and play the same. Also, the character you play as in single--player mode is the same as the one in co-op, and any improvements you make in the co-op mode transfers to the single-player mode, and vice versa. However, Crackdown is, to me, a game about great moments. So, instead of continuing on with my paragraphs of discourse about the game, I will give you some of my memorable moments in co-op.

  • After locating an enemy boss, my teammate and I fought through hoards of enemies to get to the boss. Our solution to defeating the boss? Dual rocket launchers. Now, certainly we could have killed him in a much easier manner. But there's nothing quite like watching an enemy flying, rag doll-style, while constantly being bombarded by rockets. That is until he bursts open, letting loose experience-giving orbs, like a sort of perverse pinata.

 

  •  My teammate has an affinity for explosives. That's great and all, but the problem is that with explosives, you cannot necessarily determine who you are going to kill. More than once, I have run at my enemies, all gung-ho, only to be blown back by a stray rocket, followed by a "oops sorry." However, when you are a human tank, it doesn't really bother you much when your teammate accidentally blows you up.

 

  • My teammate and I were doing clean up after defeating a tricky boss residing on an oil derrick. After scouring the base for enemies, my teammate remarked "well, there's two left." Two seconds later, I located one of the two remaining and disposed of him via rocket. "One remaining" was quickly followed by another enemy meeting a rocket-related doom, to be replaced by my "no remaining" comment.

These are just a few of the memorable moments I had while playing co-op in Crackdown. I quickly discovered why I loved Crackdown's co-op: playing as a superhero with a superhero for a teammate is very rewarding. Along with generally fun gameplay, Crackdown also is a fun game in general, especially when you have with a teammate to enjoy destroying enemies.






 



Reader Comments

DjinniMan at 12:51 PM on 6.4.2008
Nice article! I may pick up this game eventually, it seems fun. I don't get much chance to play 'M' titles. (Yay being a dad!)
 
bapenguin at 12:53 PM on 6.4.2008
This one isn't too bad in terms of gore etc, really I'm not sure why it got an M.

This and Gears of War are easily my two favorite Co-Op games this generation. I absolutely love this game, and I cry to think there isn't going to be a sequel.
 
rafoca at 01:04 PM on 6.4.2008
Those who havenīt played Crackdown in co-op mode donīt know what they are missing :p

This game is awesome. My only complain is that it lacks aerial vehicles, as well as a vehicle for two people (where one drives and the other fires).
 
CooVee at 03:15 PM on 6.4.2008
This game was made to be played in co-op. The single player is alright but it isn't nearly as fun without another person playing with you. I always enjoyed lifting up a giant truck and decking my partner with it.
 
Kacey3 at 03:58 PM on 6.4.2008
Crackdown was one of the first games I bought for the Xbox when I finally picked one up this March. It was nice because it was cheap and easy to find used, but to my amazement, it was fantastically entertaining. I had a lot of fun playing solo, but once I roped some friends into playing with me, we were in hysterics over our co-op antics. Definitely a "Must Have" for Xbox co-op!
 
justabaldguy at 08:10 AM on 6.5.2008
I finally got around to beating Crackdown last month. I had help from Rimmer and FiveSki, both guys I met here on these boards. It was pretty nice in co-op mode but I will say it has its issues.

Several times in co-op I got lag. Not sure why, could have just been the night. Also a few programming issues bothered me, mainly the lengthy portion you spend on the ground after taking a big enough shot. VERY annoying! Also, the enemy seems to track you instantly, regardless of where you are, after you make one single shot.

I would have liked a little bit more team work integrated into the experience as well. When the game was just coming out, I remember reading in Game Informer an interview with the developer where he said one strategy would be to have one player get in a car and the other player throw the car over the compound wall, allowing the first player to land in the car and start driving around, causing havoc. I was never able to pull this off, as every single time I picked up a car they shot it so quickly it blew up in my hands!

Anyway, it is a good game with a good player backing you up, and a sequel would have been nice but evidently that's not happening now.
 


Total Comments: 6

Was bored and felt like reviving this old post just to say that I LOVE the premise of this game...wish they had more info availa
I would be up for that, for sure. Let me know what night works best.
Anyone interested in a meet up for some co-op castle crashing? I'd prefer a week night, around 8PM CST or so. Right now Mondays
Castle Crashers has finally arrived, and we couldn't be happier.  Is the game worthwhile?  Do the network issues break the deal?
I thought I had seen that happening while I was watching people at the demo booth, but I wasn't quite sure. It also looked like
There really is no way to have split-screen co-op on the Wii for any game without really shrinking the bounding boxes.But it is
Yeah you can. The hard drive can go in any 360.
The lack of local co-op is a deal breaker for me.

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