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Crackdown 2 (titled Riot Act 2 in Japan) is an open world, third-person shooter video game released on July 6th, 2010 for North America and in Europe on July 9th, 2010. The game is a sequel to the 2007 video game Crackdown. The game, unlike its predecessor was developed by Ruffian Games, wasn't directed by David Jones, and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios.
Plot[]
Crackdown 2 takes place ten years after the events of the original game. A war-torn Pacific City has become ravaged by zombie-like monsters called Freaks. Due to the Agency's initial lack of response to the outbreak, a group of civilians have formed a resistance movement locally known as Cell, led by ex-Agency scientist Catalina Thorne. The Agency announces Project Sunburst, consisting of a system of interconnected beacons which are to eradicate all Freaks in the city upon activation. The Agency also deploys a new batch of stronger and faster Agents to accomplish the goals of Project Sunburst, as well as to dismantle Cell operations across the city.
Development[]
Wilson and lead designer Billy Thomson had previously confirmed that Crackdown was designed from the outset to be a long running series of games, stating that sequels for the game are very likely to be produced, especially if the original Crackdown performed well commercially.
However, during the Industry All Stars event in September 2007, Wilson confirmed that Realtime Worlds was not working on a sequel to the game, saying "Microsoft [was] a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2, and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things".
However, Shane Kim, a corporate vice-president for Microsoft, states that Microsoft still holds the intellectual property rights for Crackdown and that a Crackdown sequel is still a possibility. Realtime Studios manager Colin MacDonald clarified that if they have the resources after completion of APB, they could approach Microsoft to discuss a sequel. Industry reports that Ruffian Games, a Scottish studio formed from members from the Realtime Worlds team, may be involved in the development of a Crackdown sequel.
At Microsoft's E3 conference on June 1st 2009, Crackdown 2 was officially announced, with an accompanying trailer, which suggests that the game will still follow a crime-fighting theme, but with the creatures let out of a test facility in the later gameplay of the first game, playing a huge role, appearing at night, with a vast part of the storyline devoted to the agency trying to destroy all of these "freaks".
On June 21, 2010 a public demo was released to all Xbox Live members. The 30-minute demo features 4 player co-op, and the ability to earn achievements that will unlock when the retail version of the game arrives -- a first for an Xbox live title. Not long after the demo was released, a glitch that froze the demo timer was discovered, allowing players to fully level up their Agents. About a week later, the demo was patched and the glitch fixed.
New Features[]
Many new features have been added to Crackdown since the first game. Below is a summary.
- A new storyline
- The ability to go underneath the city in a vast space occupied mainly by the Freaks
- Changed levelling system for Agility Orbs
- New weapons & vehicles
- New abilities for higher levels (such as the Wingsuit and Thrusters)
- Four player, drop-in/drop-out player co-op play
- Competitive multiplayer
- Ability to takeover Cell strongholds and use them as drop zones for vehicles and weapons
- New character options
External Links[]
Gallery[]
