Interscription

If you take one part grand theft auto, one part super Mario bros. and just a taste of midnight club, you’d be in the ballpark.   Last night, dragonwyntir and myself, eagerly threw off the shackles of our day-gigs and raced home (obeying local traffic laws and not ticking off any of the local factions), to download the highly anticipated crackdown demo. 

I haven’t been this excited for a game since Oblivion, and that makes sense since the Crackdown hype machine is a spectacle.  While the demo didn’t make me commit to a now-through February 20, hunger strike, it didn’t disappoint either. 

Without doubt, it isn’t the prettiest game you’ll ever see on the 360.  It’s cell shading is an acquired taste, and certainly a matter for personal aesthetics.  I’m not really a fan, and see it as sort of a cop out, at least in this case (Viewtiful Joe and Okami both showed how stunning this art style can be), but, in Crackdown, it’s more of a concession than a declaration of defeat.  What it lacks in nonsensical bump mapping, it makes up for in volume.  The draw distance and detail are just staggering.  Pretty much everything in the city is going on, all the time.  I’m sure there’s some smoke and mirrors, but the effect is flawless, and really makes you feel like you are free to explore. 

The other thing that makes me want to jump up and down with delight is the clever addition of depth to the game.  Just Cause did this fairly well, but Crackdown takes that formula into an urban environment and gives you a character with an entirely improbable long jump, to let you hop from building to building Mario style.  Again, the effect, is to take a familiar and tired genre, and add something truly refreshing to how you interact with the world.  It’s finally a game that feels equally comfortable on foot as it does on vehicle. 

My biggest gripe with the demo is the @#$%$## time limit.  Really guys, you already put up the peaceful blue “demo” walls, limiting my ability to explore to the pre-carved area, so what exactly was the discussion like in the board room?  Well, we can’t let them play for more than an hour, if they’re enjoying the demo that much, they’ll never buy the game? Seriously, this is always a lame idea.  Cancel the demo after I achieve a few objectives, or, as you did, box me in while showing me an enormous and exciting metropolis beautifully drawn in the distance; only $60.00 away. 

Overall, I’m still really excited about this game, and I have to imagine that the multiplayer is going to be an absolute hoot.  The frame-rate is flawless, the action is nonstop, and the creative possibilities are pretty endless.  With this and Saint’s Row both solid 360 titles, GTA IV, will really have to bring something unique to the table.

Further discussion from DragonWyntir:

I’d have to say the above characterization of Crackdown is pretty spot on.  (Please bookmark this post as one of the few times Khidr and DragonWyntir agree on something…)

As far as the cel-shading approach, I don’t think it was a bad one, and the visuals are, while not "impressive", are certainly competant and "hi-def".  The difference here seems to be that, as they (Real Time Worlds) really only implemented the finality of the visuals near the end of development (they always knew they were doing cel-shading, but didn’t have the final assets implemented until the very end).  I’m sure most folks would say, "DragonWynitr, EVERYONE does that!!!", and generally you would be correct.  The difference here is that, in the opinion of this humble editor, cel-shading (or any art style, for that matter) is something to be embraced, not "added".  (The same can be said for music or movies, to be frank).  The examples cited by Khidr are ones that PLANNED on a cel-shaded art style from inception, making the art-style integral to the gameplay in many cases.  Not doing so pretty much shows in the execution, since there are no clever uses of the art-style’s inspiration: comic panel transitions, goofy sound bubbles, eye-catching fonts, etc.  All we have here are visuals with an outline (the MW definition of cel-shading, it would seem), and while I personally feel it looks great, it doesn’ t have the INSPIRED and FOCUSED direction of a Gears or a Lost Planet.  It’s more upsetting in the perspective of squandered potential than visually offensive.

That one piece not withstanding, I found myself cackling with glee last night as I ran around with superhuman speed, lifting things with superhuman strength, and blasting fools with superhuman skillz.  The technical feat of rendering large distances with no pop-up, buttery-smooth framerate, and TONS of onscreen activity is a feast for the senses, and truly impressive by any test.  Leveing up your character by doing what you like to do is a great concept (brought to us by Oblivion), and it works just as well here.  It really shows the potential of having a balanced pairing in the forthcoming co-op experience (I’m a great driver, you’re a big-ass bruiser, let’s make beautiful music together!).  There are "seamless activities" throughout Pacific City; the two examples I found were both races, one in a vehicle and one a rooftop race.  Activating one of these is as simple as standing in a purple beam of sky-originating light for a few seconds.  The whole affair is very accessible, and truly capitalizes on how fun this type of game can be.  I can only imagine how many fun activities will be available in the retail game.

Yes, the time limit is dumb.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

Bottom line, download this and have an absolute blast; it is the most fun I’ve had with this genre in a very long time.  (Khidr is the open-world whore).