Support NeoGAF

[ManaByte]

Crackdown 3 Was Underrated In 2019

We make the case for why Crackdown's comeback deserved more love.

www.gameinformer.com

No one was wrong for not liking Crackdown 3. It was far less ambitious than what was promised, and felt much more like a throwback to Crackdown than a modern reimagining. That being said, the product they sold was a fun power fantasy with great controls and inventive toys to play around with.

Really agree with this. It's basically Crackdown 1 in HD, and it's probably one of the most FUN games I played this generation. But since they didn't turn Crackdown into a slow walking/talking cinematic game; people ignore it.

 

[Ixiah]

Sure...thats why Breath of the Wild got all the 90% ratings, Slow walking and Cinematic Story....

 

[Insane Metal]

Nah it's just bad.

 

[stranno]

It has nothing to do with the original Crackdown, that was a great game, but at least it is far better than Crackdown 2, that was a terrible mod of the original game.

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[BigLee74]

Game I enjoyed most this year to be fair.

 

[SleepDoctor]

GI is trolling right? Lol

 

[Hobbygaming]

Who paid for this? I'm only kidding. But they really should have left the cloud stuff out and just focused on the campaign and MP without it

 

[Nikana]

I liked it but it was pretty much a remake of the OG with some new features. I will say the Free DLC was actually pretty legit and I wish it would of been there from day one.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Gamestop must have an influx of used copies they need to move.

 

[ManaByte]

I liked it but it was pretty much a remake of the OG with some new features. I will say the Free DLC was actually pretty legit and I wish it would of been there from day one.

It's Crackdown 1 in HD with some new traversal stuff.

 

[Shrap]

It would've been a better game if it was called Crackden 3 and you go around gunning down drug dealers and junkies.

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

yeah you are right OP. The game sucks.

 

[diffusionx]

Except I can play the actual Crackdown 1 in HD/4K on my One X; what's the point of playing a new one 12 years later that is the same shit?

If you like it, great, but surely there are good reasons for not liking it.

 

[Contica]

I played Crackdown 1 just before Crackdown 3, and I can hands down say I had much more fun with C3. It's a better game. Better action, better level design, and so many small tweaks to make you enjoy it non stop. No dead time.

It got ripped. Mostly for being too similar to 1, and for not being enough of a leap for people who can't see beyond what they expect shit to be.

Take C3 for what it is, a super fun and simple action fest, and you'll leave smiling.

 

[Vawn]

It should never had even been released. After all the talk about "power of the cloud", Crackdown 3 was just an embarrassment.

 

[GC_DALBEN]

I liked, it was a lot of fun

 

[Xaero Gravity]

For better or worse, it was basically a prettier version of Crackdown 1 with some new traversal elements. I think that's why I liked as much as I did since that's what I wanted after Crackdown 2 felt as disappointing as it did to me.

 

[Danjin44]

I never liked that series but I'm grateful for it, without it Gravity Rush wouldn't exist. Toyama got its inspiration from original Crackdown for Gravity Rush even tho they play nothing a like.

 

[MiguelItUp]

This just makes Game Informer's opinions bizarre. It was "underrated" for a reason, it deserved what it received. Are there worse games out there? I'm sure! But this sequel was in this bizarre state of development hell, and what was released was a dated looking sequel that was incredibly meh if anything.

This is really bizarre to me.

 

[Thief1987]

But since they didn't turn Crackdown into a slow walking/talking cinematic game; people ignore it.

Lol what a pathetic excuse for trash game. You just like trashtier games, it happens, nothing else.

 

[Javthusiast]

 

[dorkimoe]

I enjoyed it, but glad it was free (gamepass). Its a $29 game at most. But that doesnt mean its not a fun game at all

 

[The Alien]

I enjoyed orb hunting in the campaign. While I had fun, to me, it was clearly not a great game...but fun. I also think it deserved a slightly hired score than a 60.

One other issue it had at launch (aside from the notable delays) was it was sandwiched right in between Sony's big launches of God Of War and Spiderman. That didn't help and only put a magnifying glass on it.

 

[01011001]

Crackdown 3 is great if you want an arcade open world jump n shoot game. it has decent platforming and arcady gunplay with some nicely designed arenas.

the only thing I gotta say tho is... it absolutely sucks on console, doesn't matter if base Xbox One or One X... the 30fps already hold it back from feeling truly fluid during battles, but then they also decided to let a monkey design their controller layout, of which you only have 2 very weird and bad options to choose from.

Crackdown 3 is a solid 7/10 on PC... and a 6/10 on console

 

[Gavon West]

Was rocking this just a couple of weeks ago. The game is legitimately fun AF! It straight got robbed.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

Underrated: A game over 70% of players hate but i love.
Overrated: A game over 70% of players love but i don't .

Just play and enjoy what you want and don't look to other people to validate your opinion.

 

[Panaphonics]

Well, nothing new. MS exclusive games are always underrated.
And Sony exclusives are OVERHYPED AF! And so damn overrated. It’s ridiculous.

 

[Gargus]

GI is trolling right? Lol

No, they are just retards.

I mean the magazine is created and owned by lamestop afterall.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

I wouldn’t know, I didn’t play it nor will I.

If MS’ plan is to buttress first party with subscriptions, you’re going to see many more receptions like Crackdown 3 got. They seem keen on all titles adopting GaaS in some form or another and building on them over time.

 

[01011001]

Well, nothing new. MS exclusive games are always underrated.
And Sony exclusives are OVERHYPED AF! And so damn overrated. It’s ridiculous.

well that's somewhat true I guess... we live in a world where most games are just mediocre, but some are held up like they are some sort of god like creation, and some get tossed aside.
when in reality most modern AAA games such massively in one way or the other, and usually when a game sucks at presentation is gets really low ratings, and when it sucks at gameplay but is extremely good looking and impressively motion captured it will get praised to the havens even if it is an extremely shallow game in every way.

the there are games that get praised because they are actually really good but should be the baseline by now, instead they are the above average game that only rarely releases these days.
Jedi Fallen Order for example... I like that game more than I should because I am used to so much worse that it feels better to me than it should, same with God of War... that game is so average in every way but because most games are just so much worse it seems to be better than it is IMO.

I wouldn’t know, I didn’t play it nor will I.

If MS’ plan is to buttress first party with subscriptions, you’re going to see many more receptions like Crackdown 3 got. They seem keen on all titles adopting GaaS in some form or another and building on them over time.

Crackdown 3 has almost ZERO GaaS elements... like... basically none

 

[Cert.in.Death]

well that's somewhat true I guess... we live in a world where most games are just mediocre, but some are held up like they are some sort of god like creation, and some get tossed aside.
when in reality most modern AAA games such massively in one way or the other, and usually when a game sucks at presentation is gets really low ratings, and when it sucks at gameplay but is extremely good looking and impressively motion captured it will get praised to the havens even if it is an extremely shallow game in every way.

the there are games that get praised because they are actually really good but should be the baseline by now, instead they are the above average game that only rarely releases these days.
Jedi Fallen Order for example... I like that game more than I should because I am used to so much worse that it feels better to me than it should, same with God of War... that game is so average in every way but because most games are just so much worse it seems to be better than it is IMO.



Crackdown 3 has almost ZERO GaaS elements... like... basically none

I wouldn’t know, as I mentioned above (no desire to ever play Crackdown 3). And I may be wrong, I just am not envisioning how MS recoups its lost revenue from license fees publishing everywhere without adopting GaaS across the board. They need adoption numbers for the mode to reach peak efficiency, but it could allow leeway to release non-GaaS titles if they can ride the wave their big titles achieve (not the most efficient, but perhaps necessary to keep their stable as diverse as possible).

Also Crackdown 3 really was sent out to die. Its development was painfully protracted and predated the shift in business strategy.

 

[Deleted member 740922]

I enjoyed it a lot. Couldn't give a fuck what anyone else thinks really

 

[pr0cs]

I enjoyed it, it was fun.
Just didn't do enough different than the older games to make it feel different.
Like most of Sumo Digitals titles it was a buggy mess which really hurt the experience.
I personally have no idea why they keep getting opportunities, they fucked up little big planet 3 and didn't improve their defect average much with Crackdown 3

 

[01011001]

I enjoyed it a lot. Couldn't give a fuck what anyone else thinks really

This is my mentality now too... and has been for the better part of this generation.
I literally don't read/watch reviews anymore and I don't look at review scores, because it literally doesn't give me any advantage at finding games I like. I look a 5min of gameplay and know more than after watching a 15min video review... so why even bother? especially since many reviewers are just incompetent as fuck, like that idiot that said Astral Chain is the "worst action game on Switch" and said in his review that the game doesn't even have a rating system at the end of levels and enemy encounters... which is true, IF YOU PLAY ON EASY OR VERY EASY. you literally can't review a hack n slay game like Astral Chain on fucking easy and very easy and tell people if it is good or not.

and after many of examples like this I decided that I wouldn't take any review seriously anymore if I am not SUUUPER familiar with the reviewer and know that they aren't incompetent idiots... and the last one of these died 1 and a half years ago and his name was Totalbiscuit. adn he didn't even really review games, he just gave his impression of the first few hours usually, and he gave you more and better information about the games than any full review I've ever seen elsewhere.

 

[Grinchy]

I had some fun with it, but it's basically a perfect embodiment of "average." Scoring it with 5/10 is pretty much the correct score, if you're not IGN.

 

[EverydayBeast]

What does underrated mean to gamers? Microsoft has very few AAA games outside of Gears, Forza and Halo and you don't see anyone saying Horizon or Spider-Man is underrated.

 

[nowhat]

Really agree with this. It's basically Crackdown 1 in HD, and it's probably one of the most FUN games I played this generation. But since they didn't turn Crackdown into a slow walking/talking cinematic game; people ignore it.

Yeah, all those cloud-based awesome destructible environments (some of which were shown at Gamescon, something like six months before release) that were complete bullshit couldn't have had anything to do with it.

 

[01011001]

What does underrated mean to gamers? Microsoft has very few AAA games outside of Gears, Forza and Halo and you don't see anyone saying Horizon or Spider-Man is underrated.

huh? because they aren't underrated?
I would argue that Spider-Man is highly overrated if anything... and don't get me wrong, I really liked it... hell it is 1 of only 3 games on PS4 that I bothered getting a Platinum trophy in... but that game is nothing special in any way shape or form, yet it is a ~90% rated game... like how?
part of this is due to game rating systems being completely fucked to begin with, where most people see a 5/10 rating as something only a really really bad game gets, and anything below 8 is just about tolerable, but even aside from the score this game gets way too much praise for what essentially is a Spider-Man game like any other... but slightly better polished.

 

[Nikana]

I enjoyed it a lot. Couldn't give a fuck what anyone else thinks really

I enjoyed it but I don't think you can argue it didn't really evolve in any way.

 

[Arachnid]

Lmao @ having Crackdown 3 and underrated in the same sentence. That trash was rated exactly where it should have been rated.

 

[Stuart360]

Even the orig game was pretty basic for the time, and Crackdown 3 was almsot the same but with better graphics. I was never keen on the orig game (too brainless), and tried to watch a playthrough of Crackdown 3 but could only manage a few parts before being bored to tears.

 

[Smaller than Atom]

It simply ran beautifully with the ultimate power of the cloud. Just like they promised.

 

[VAL0R]

I liked and had fun with it. The multiplayer was rubbish though and should have been cut.

 

[RPS37]

I was an apologist, but honestly, I never even finished it.

 

[The Pleasure]

Xbox ass kissing is back in vogue i see. Care to regale me with another game informer? Per chance a yarn about teevee teevee teevee?

 

[ManaByte]

Xbox ass kissing is back in vogue i see. Care to regale me with another game informer? Per chance a yarn about teevee teevee teevee?

 

[Contica]

I enjoyed it, but glad it was free (gamepass). Its a $29 game at most. But that doesnt mean its not a fun game at all

I find this opinion strange. Sure, there are bigger, more ambitious and more polished games out there. But I had more fun with Crackdown 3, so why should I pay less for it?

Not that it matters since anyone with gamepass will get it, but still.

 

[Ichabod]

I've never played any of the Crackdown games but hearing 3 is a prettier version of the first has me baffled. Crowbcat's comparison video shows the first game outshining the third on much older tech.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

But since they didn't turn Crackdown into a slow walking/talking cinematic game; people ignore it.

I was about to say something nice about this Xbox Exclusive until I read this.

Death Stranding got tons of shit reviews for that very same reason so.....