➤ Crackdown 3, the review of the Xbox One exclusive 🎮

A necessary premise: the following is the Crackdown 3 review based mainly on the single player campaign of the new Microsoft exclusive for Xbox One and PC. The Redmond-based company gave us the code for the multiplayer mode, called Wrecking Zone, a few hours before the embargo expires, so our impressions are enriched by a handful of hours spent with multiplayer. We would like to emphasize this because the most important feature of this title, that cloud computing heralded since the trailer since the announcement of E3 in 2014, was not appreciable for a few hours. It is a technological manifesto from Microsoft, a manifesto that has remained in the drawer for a long time and that in the meantime has already been used by others with very encouraging results. In conclusion, Crackdown 3 he could have been ahead of his time, instead he trudges in the times that run. A game that requires such a long gestation (five years), that it is postponed several times, which even changes the developer, could hardly reach memorable heights.

History

Those who have played the previous titles already know what to expect: Crackdown 3 is an action free roaming in third person where the protagonist, wandering around the city of New Providence, has the task of dismantling the TerraNova organization and its fearsome dominatrix Elizabeth Nobody. Technically you could reach the area where the final boss is located almost from the beginning, but the statistics would not allow it to last for more than a few seconds. Therefore it is advisable (if not necessary) to enhance them following the typical philosophy of the game: "more kills, more skills". There are five ability at our disposal: effectiveness with firearms, ability to handle explosive objects, strength in combat with bare hands, agility and skill in driving. While the first three are perfected by dint of shooting and sending enemies to the cemetery, the other two increase above all by participating in competitions which are the only diversions present in the Sumo Digital title. Each member of the TerraNova organization has dealt with a sector that allows domination over the city: we find Reza Khan who controls the toxic gas mines for the production of Chimera, the ultimate weapon; ROXY, the robot that takes care of the monorail; Vargas evil mind behind toxic waste disposal. In total there are seven that make up the pyramid at the top of which Niemand sits. Each of these areas is highlighted on the map; once they have all been freed, the position of the respective boss appears where you can go to give life to a spectacular fight to the death. THE boss they differ from traditional enemies above all for the power of fire and the amount of health, while we have not been able to appreciate particular strategies.

Crackdown 3, the review of the Xbox One exclusive

The protagonist is Terry Crews

The main character is agent Isaiah Jaxon, played by the actor / athlete Terry Crews (among his latest efforts we remember Deadpool 2). His stage presence has a good impact in the presentation film; unfortunately, during the game, using his avatar or one of the others available (some are unlocked by collecting fragments of DNA scattered around the map) has the only appreciable effect of seeing some abilities permanently modified. This is the ideal man if you want to punch everyone who comes in front of you, a little less if you prefer more control over the vehicles, but from here to say that the way to play varies depending on the character chosen, there is wants. The plot is a mere pretext to justify the action, but this may not be a limit. Titles that have not made the depth of the story their point of strength have been counted since the time of Duke Nukem, but at least the demented and quoted declination of a Saints Row was forgiving the excessive linearity of the events and the stereotyping of the characters. In Crackdown 3 not even a light-hearted irony intervenes, despite the voiceovers trying to convey it. More could be worked on on this point, as well as on the interlude scenes which, unlike the introduction, are represented by simple animated tables.

The combat system

The system combat Crackdown 3 is probably the best done thing: the action is frenetic and you shoot seamlessly at enemies that appear from every direction, including the air. The fact that health is not recharged by medkit but is recovered with kills (the same happened in previous episodes) means that the player never stays hidden in some corner waiting to find the right opening to hit with precision, but rather that it constantly moves from one side to the other, jumping and exploiting, in addition to the power of firearms, also that of bare arms. The variety of villains is discreet: in addition to the inevitable criminals, dressed in yellow or red, and some junkies with gas masks, we find robots of various sizes, some of which are very large. These are the circumstances where the game gives its best, between explosions that illuminate the screen and acrobatic evolutions of the protagonist. The number of weaponry it is varied and each involves a different approach from the others, but it seemed to us that the more powerful ones, such as the rocket launcher and the guided missile launcher, have a rather too large magazine.

The aiming system (in the lower difficulty levels there is aim assist) works well; the movements are fluid and it is possible to make aerial evolutions easily and the uncertainties of the camera are minimal. The famous interaction with the environment, in this mode, is extremely limited: you can pick up and throw some flammable bins and a few other objects (chairs, cabinets, pieces of destroyed robots) that only serve as a means of offense. Taking advantage of the destructibility of structures to take out hosts of enemies is not on the agenda and therefore one of the key points of the game is missing, at least in this case. The driving model is forgettable and the fact that there is no GPS that indicates the best way to get to the selected point means that the use of cars is sporadic and limited especially to speed challenges. Artificial intelligence is not evil: i enemies more advanced ones adopt the most effective offense techniques they are equipped with, even if they hunt down the player following basic patterns. Understand for yourself, however, how the bad guys are nothing but meat that helps keep the game's explosive engine running.

The destructible scenario

The theme of the destructible scenario This is nothing new to the world of video games: since the very first Red Faction, some titles have leveraged the physical capabilities of the game engine to attract attention. Indeed, Ageia, before being acquired by NVIDIA, had launched the PPU PhysX, a chip dedicated to the management of the homonymous library. The results had been encouraging as testified by Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Mirror's Edge. We are talking about the Jurassic era (2006/2007); nevertheless, the limited resources of the latest generation consoles have not shifted the balance much. Hence the choice to exploit the servers Microsoft Azure through the Cloudgine engine to help Xbox One in the daunting task of maintaining a decent frame rate while the dozens of polygons that make up the buildings splash everywhere. It is an API developed by the Scottish company of the same name, whose founders include Dave Jones, the creative director of the first Crackdown, as well as other successful titles such as the Lemmings saga. The software house was acquired by Epic last year.

The city of New Providence

New Providence it looks like a futuristic version of Sleeping Dogs' Hong Kong: it is divided into eleven small neighborhoods and each has its own stylistic register. Nonetheless, we had the feeling of wandering through the streets of a colorful ghost town. The inhabitants, who appear here and there, are simple puppets placed just to fill the spaces, and do not interact in any way with the player except by running away when a pawn is run over. There are no shops to visit or bases to develop; in reality there is really no possibility to explore the buildings, despite the initial promises, so all the action takes place between the buildings of the metropolis. For all of the above, the exploratory section is rarely stimulating, and the numerous blue globes scattered in the most unlikely points are of little use, because in the end you can live very well without them. A hardly forgivable lack for a free roaming it is the shortage of secondary activities. The liberation missions are almost all identical to each other (it is basically a matter of besieging enemy forts by destroying some neuralgic structures) with the only and pleasant exception of the radio towers which represent demanding reflex challenges, requiring excellent coordination to reach points impervious jumping from one platform to another. The character does not have a lair (only checkpoints from which to restart in case of death), nor can it be aesthetically customized, so the whole evolutionary tree is entrusted only to the field experience we initially wrote about.

PC System Requirements

Test Setup

Sistema operativo: Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Memory: 16 GB of RAM
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080

Minimum requirements

Operating system: Windows 10 64 bit
Memory: 8 GB of RAM
Processor: Intel Core i5-3470 or AMD Athlon FX-6300
Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti o AMD Radeon R7 260X
Disk space: 21 GB

Recommended Requirements

Operating system: Windows 10 64 bit
Memory: 8 GB of RAM
Processor: Intel Core i5-4690 or AMD Athlon FX-8350
Scheda video: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 o NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 o AMD Radeon RX 480

The graphics

From the point of view graphic there is little to add to what the images say. It is clearly a title that suffers a lot from the weight of the past years and that tries to mask the paucity of details with a pleasant and not too marked cel-shading, but the eyes of the users are now used to other standards. The explosions are still well made and there is no shortage of spectacular moments, especially during firefights with many enemies present at the same time, thanks also to the support for HDR, but it is really too little to say that the Unreal Engine 4 has been exploited. properly. The buildings are of a disarming flatness, the animations are reminiscent of those of a mobile game; the textures are few and recycled. The characters themselves are characterized by a character design that will certainly not go down in history. At least the frame rate (unlimited as far as the PC is concerned) is stable. Even the audio is not particularly noticeable: the dubbing it is only in English and the composer certainly took inspiration from the previous chapters and looped a remix of the original soundtrack. All in all, the noises of the explosions are pleasant. Longevity, in light of what has been written so far, is below the standards of similar titles. In theory, the final credits could be reached within five or six hours, leaving out most of the secondary bosses. To complete it adequately, however, it is necessary to at least triple this amount of time, for a value that remains low in absolute terms. The mode a cooperative it should add some spice to the single player experience, but we haven't been able to fully test it.

The multiplayer

Microsoft provided us with the code for the online client just before the embargo expired: this allowed reviewers to challenge each other in two private sessions each lasting a couple of hours. We realize that it is too little to give a definitive judgment, and we reserve the right to change our positions once it is available to all buyers; therefore expect a dedicated special in the coming weeks. However, we do not want to exempt ourselves from telling our experience. The choice of the character skin is purely aesthetic and does not affect the way you play. There are two modes, both in teams with a maximum of five players each: they are named Agent hunter e Territory. In the first one you have to collect the badge dropped by an opponent killed within ten seconds of his death: after this time he self-destructs and the team will not get any points. The first of the two teams to reach 25 (or, alternatively, who will be in the lead after ten minutes of the match), will be the winner.

In Territories, on the other hand, it is necessary to conquer and defend an area of the map: maintaining it will allow you to win points. Initially there are a couple of them, each of which can provide a maximum of fifty points. Once they are exhausted, two more will appear on the map, until a team has managed to get 250 points. The maps are completely different from that of the single player, and not only in terms of design: they are in fact completely destructible and the number of polygons that move on the screen is considerable. There remains the doubt about the actual usefulness of so much destruction, as the extreme mobility of the players can hardly be limited by some building that falls to pieces. The only appreciable tactical variant is that you cannot hide because the game highlights the position of allies and enemies and therefore it could be tempting to bazooka a wall to get directly to the opponent. You can carry two types of weapons: a heavy one like missile launchers, which however is slow and requires open space, and the light one which ultimately proved to be much more effective. You can choose one of two gadgets to equip: an additional shield or a contraption to make vertical jumps, absolutely useless.

One choice that we have frankly considered inconceivable is self-aiming: once hooked it is almost impossible to get out of the reach of an enemy. The only explanation is the cross-play between Xbox One and PC, a platform where players, being equipped with a mouse and keyboard, could have too obvious an advantage over those who use a joypad. Scattered around the map are red orbs that are supposed to boost the character's stats but whose usefulness we honestly struggled to appreciate. Unfortunately, our trials have left us extremely frustrated. The matchmaking it was really long, but this could be justified by the small number of participants. In an hour and a half of rehearsals we managed to take part in only six games. We have seen in a couple of cases problems in the balance of the teams, in particular in Territories where we found ourselves playing in a team of three components against another made up of five people. In still others the server did not return correct values: for example, despite having made five kills, the computer reported only one. But the real problem was the lag. In one game the server literally crashed, leaving us unarmed wandering around the map. In all the others it was almost impossible to play due to the delays in the response that teleported us from one point to another on the map.

Comment

Tested version PC Windows, Xbox One Digital Delivery Xbox Store, Windows Store Resources4Gaming.com

5.0

Readers (45)

5.1

Your vote

Crackdown 3's single-player campaign betrays the troubled development of this game. The obvious carelessness of certain details makes us understand Microsoft's desire not to throw years of work into the trash, but at the same time we perceive the lack of awareness with which this project has been brought to the finish. We are facing a slightly enhanced version of the first Crackdown: but a lot of water has passed under the bridge and the mechanics that worked well twelve years ago are no longer sufficient to guarantee noteworthy results. Finally, multiplayer has shown itself in such a catastrophic guise that we find it difficult to judge.