Crackdown: the sandbox game that defines what next-gen is all about

[Brimstone]

It took awhile for me to look at the flood of game info released at E3, and I finally can conclude with great confidence, what game holds the most potential for being really fun to play. Crackdown is the tip of the spear of what next-gen is all about. I was looking forward to this game when it was announced, but it fell of my radar. It's definatley back on it again.

It takes the Grand Theft Auto premise in a different direction. The city is overrun by 3 different criminal syndicates and your an genetically enchaced cop trying to lift the yoke of tyranny the gangs and hooligans have imposed onto the city. As an added bonus, you can bring justice to the city along with another fellow player via online co-op.

The fights when you take on criminals look incredibly intense. You've got numerous people in the city streets and cars driving around while you do battle. Vehicles and people go flying all over the place. The graphic style is very rich in color and moody. The draw distance seems to be really far.


This video presentation on Crackdown is ace.

http://www.xboxyde.com/news_2993_en.html

 

[slider]

Dig the cartoony style of the gfx. But oddly the blurry stills look better than the video. How far til launch? If they nail down the lead characters movement within the game world it looks like it could be a blast.

I wonder what the dominant genre (as in known and spoken about by the average joe) is gonna be this gen? GTA types perhaps? The third person view seems to be on the up.

 

[rusty]

I wonder what the dominant genre (as in known and spoken about by the average joe) is gonna be this gen? GTA types perhaps? The third person view seems to be on the up.

i think sandbox style 3rd person games are definately only going to get bigger this gen...

 

[Brimstone]

i think sandbox style 3rd person games are definately only going to get bigger this gen...

I agree.


The "GTA sandbox" game style has a lot of potential gameplay types to explore. Not just about how you physically blow up the world, but how you manage resouces in the game world. The "sandbox" will grow larger by being extending other "mini games" to other platforms like mobile gaming. You aren't going to run around in 3d on your mobile game platform (X-Boy for example), but you might do some simple "sim city" style management.


I also think Will Wrights "Spore" will be an amazing game.