Analysis: Crackdown

The second title we are looking at is Real Time Worlds' Crackdown for Xbox 360, which the developers described as Parkour-inspired as part of a development diary just before the game's release. Bearing in mind our points about Assassin's Creed we'll now consider how Crackdown delivers its Parkour play mechanic, and whether it has missed any opportunities.

We'll then look at how well this fits with game as a whole before rounding things off by considering how authentically this is delivered. Finally, we'll look at how the game sold.

Success

Crackdown, early in 2007, literally took the leap from wandering the city streets of Grand Theft Auto and opened the player to limitless vertical exploration. It took what was essentially a pretty standard run and gun mechanic and introduced substantial climbing and exploration elements. Although not as directly referential as Assassin's Creed, what it lacked in technical delivery it more than made up for with a joy of exploration and play.

The player starts the game being able to pull off simple moves. He or she can hang off the odd balcony or jump up to a nearby room, but anything more substantial is unobtainable. These limited abilities mean that any ascent to free running is stuttering and haphazard at best. The player is not able to long string together many jumps or grabs.

However, as the game develops and the player's agility increases the game hits a sweet point where the Parkour mechanic shines through. The longer jumps and grabs acquired by collecting the agility orbs enable the player to develop a free running repertoire with landings, cat-balances, tic tacs and monkey vaults.

Unlike Assassin's Creed, this pursuit is specifically encouraged by its intelligently targeted Xbox Live Achievements. One called "High Flyer", for example, challenges players to climb to the top of the agency tower and revel in conquering the largest building on the map. "Base Jumper" then tempts them to jump back down to the water below, enough to put even the most ardent free runner's heart in their mouth.

Most interesting for us is the "Free Runner" achievement that makes explicit the reference to this current cultural touchstone. These achievements combine to give reason for players to engage with the free running element of the game. This is evidenced by the plethora of YouTube videos that attest to the robustness of the mechanic. A year after release and players are still achieving jumps, rolls and throws made possible by the simple joy of experimenting in the environment.

Problems

Although Crackdown does a good job of widening out their experience to encompass plenty of free running play, it falls short on some of the specifics. The environment itself soon becomes somewhat repetitive. The buildings and other structures in Crackdown are good for basic climbing, but only provide limited routes through a space. Developers Realtime Worlds have opted for a pre-designed route through their world that requires the players to read the landscape before they make their way through it.

This may bely a less robust engine than that of Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft seems more confident in letting the player pick their own path up a building. Its increased number of climb points show up Crackdown's more simplistic approach. Crackdown delivers the quantity, but falls short on the granularity and quality of climbing experience. This results in dampening the climbing, falling and tumbling joy of free running.

Furthermore, perhaps as a nod to this limitation, Crackdown continues to increase the player's agility to superhuman levels. Although this brings back some much needed interest to the play, it moves things away from Parkour and into superhuman territory. The sweet spot between the challenge of climbing and the climbers ability is soon blown out of the water as buildings are scaled in a single leap.

More restraint here may have delivered a more directed and authentic free running experience. That said, the player's increased abilities open other doors in the game that have gone on to provide more longevity. Accordingly, it would be hard to claim that the game itself suffers too much.

Sales

Crackdown was released early in the year and accordingly didn't have the swollen yuletide pot from which to draw. Many thought it had initially benefited from being tied into the Halo 3 beta invitation process, but opinion now considers it somewhat unfortunate to be overshadowed by such a heavyweight title.

The game received largely unanimous critical acclaim with an average 83% on Metacritic. This was followed up with a strong community following that, in the absence of other titles, were happy to stretch out their Crackdown experience hunting remaining achievements and fooling around with friends in the online co-op.