CRACKdown: It's in the Title
I have been playing Crackdown for about a week now and, good God, what an addictive game. It's funny, I haven't even scratched the surface of gaining achievements or taking down any of the three gangs in the game. How can I when I'm having too much fun jumping rooftop to rooftop collecting those little green orbs?!?
While the game has been receiving a legitimate amount of praise, one of the more consistent complaints I've seen has been the lack of story. I beg to differ. Not that there is a lack of story (the 2o2p review was able to sum it up in two sentences, and, yah, that's about it), but that the lack of story is a negative.
I feel that Crackdown is a next-gen hommage to gaming past. I never needed a story to scroll left to right shooting baddies along the way playing Contra. I certainly didn't need a story for the hours on end I spent playing Pac-Man or Gauntlet. So why do I need a story to spend hours on end running around a virtual city performing amazing feats of strength?
I know that there is currently a very high expectation about what next gen games bring to the table, and, when the story is a good one, it can make all the difference. For example, I am playing F.E.A.R. as well right now, and were it not for the story, it would be just another run of the mill shooter. Instead, it is hands down the most terrifying game I've ever played. I'm also playing Zelda on the Wii and... Well... That game is on a completely different level... Let's not bother going there.
Anyway... My point is that I am certainly not "anti-story". However, I am "anti-putting-a-story-in-just-to-please-the-masses". Evidently, the creators of Crackdown felt that letting the player have control of a super cop whose abilities they can upgrade as they see fit would provide enough fun without having to tack on some arbitrary, been-there-done-that story line. And I agree.
It's interesting. When I was a kid, I actually used videogames as a platform to expand my imagination. Most games didn't have stories, so I "made the story" myself. Why is this spaceship shooting those aliens slowly decending on me? Because I am its captain and I need to save my planet from imminent attack, thats why!!!
As games have evolved, they have been doing the imagining for us. But now with Crackdown, I find myself wandering the streets, searching to increase my superpowers. And even though I'm now 30 years old, the little kid in me thinks to myself, "Why am I doing this? Because it's my city and I need to take these guys down, that's why!".
Story or no story, I highly recommend Crackdown. It's as addictive as... Well, I'll let you use your imagination...