The thing about Crackdown is that it’s a sandbox game. There’s no major storyline to be had. No character development beyond your abilities. No characters to support you on your journey. There is no journey. Just an open world for you to go nuts with. That’s what makes it so fun.

Bought this game recently for $10 via NewEgg and it was well worth the purchase. Heard a lot of comparisons to inFamous and after having an awesome time with that game, I figured why not see what the deal is with this game. Turns out they’re really two different games. Similar in the open world super-powers way, but it really ends there. Crackdown is all about mindless violence which is definitely not a bad thing.

What I really liked most about the game is the way you take down the bosses. There are so many ways to go about it whether you want to jump from a roof into the building or rush right in from the first floor. Then there’s the system of taking down weaker bosses first in order to weaken the big boss. Or you can just go in to the main HQ guns blazing and take down the big boss first. It doesn’t really benefit you and makes that boss fight much harder, but the fact that you have that option adds to the openness of the game.

I also really enjoyed the fact that they threw in a cheat mode. Throwing on God Mode and amping up all of the abilities just so you can go on an unstoppable rampage is a great way to relax after a long day. Though this mode is best enjoyed after beating the game. Being unstoppable really does reveal how shallow this game can be. Find a boss, kill the henchmen, kill the boss, repeat. There are some variations to the missions such as a bit of platforming for the best way inside an area or destroying an area to get the boss out in the open. It really is a sandbox game in that you make the fun you want to get out of it. You can take a direct path to the boss but it’s more fun trying to figure out what buildings to climb in order to get closest to the boss with less resistance possible.

Overall, great game and would have been worth the standard budget price of $30. Thankfully I can save that $20 for something else.