When I first heard about Crackdown I figured that it would be really popular, simply due to the fact that it has the Halo 3 beta as an added extra. Or should I say because it was an added extra of the Halo 3 beta. It has very obviously proved me and a legion of other reviewers very wrong indeed since everywhere you look there are extremely positive reviews. Crackdown could so easily just have been a filler until the time the Beta (note that capital b there) was activated and no one would have been surprised. Instead you can see the effort that Realtime Worlds has put into making a game that is extremely enjoyable.
The game has been generally classified as a Sandbox category game, very much in the spirit of the GTA games that Dave Jones has already had a hand in creating. It’s fairly obvious that if you enjoyed GTA then Crackdown should definitely appeal to you. Don’t mess with a tried and tested and above all popular formula is a catch phrase everywhere. This is not strictly true in this case as Crackdown is similar in nature to GTA, but not a clone. This was an extremely good decision since it is one of the key factors that increase the amount of free play time you will enjoy, while playing to their major game development skills.
"Say hello to my little friend"!
The Crackdown storyline is fairly basic, but it gives them enough to hang the game on without it becoming boring and too repetitive. There is an element of repetition, but there are very few games without that element, simply to shorten the development time. In the game you are a new breed of law enforcer that is apparently the last bastion against all out criminal chaos and anarchy. Your "task" is to help rid
Pacific
City of a trio of gangs that are on the point of overwhelming what passes for a police force. On your side is a capacity for regeneration that is second to none and evolution based on your actions in the game. Not on your side are twenty-one gang bosses and uncountable bodyguards and underlings.
A lot of thought has obviously gone into the design of Crackdown since a few fairly common faults seem to be conspicuously absent. The ability to go anywhere in the city straight away is good, although you can often land yourself in more trouble than you can handle. The ability to move from one area of the city to another through the agency supply points is a definite benefit. It’s less important than normal since you can roam freely throughout the city anyway, but in an emergency it makes for a great, quick getaway. You can feel the different levels of difficulty as you move through areas controlled by the different gangs, so you know when you’re out of your depth. I found the rag doll physics particularly good, although finding female gang bosses lying in very exposed positions on the stairs was unexpected.
Cars will fly at you. 
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