This past week, one game has been on my mind. That game is Crackdown, a great co-op game for the 360. As is my nature, I always find the good games months and years after they come out. However, sometimes being late to the party can be nice, since I was able to discover Crackdown without the pretense of the Halo 3 Beta fury that was associated with Crackdown at that time. So, in the past week, I've been experimenting with the game and thoroughly enjoying the co-op experience.
I should first thank my Crackdown teammate, yimmt666, who I met randomly and is now my "Crackdown guy." So together with my fellow Crackdown gamer, I discovered the great fun that is Crackdown.
Hilarity described in detail, after the break.
First off, Crackdown is great for co-op gamers mainly because accessing co-op is fairly easy, and even to this day, there are plenty of people playing the game. Also, unlike some games, the addition of an extra player doesn't make it a cakewalk. I have many fond memories of mowing through enemies with my buddy, only to be blown out of the water by a rocket, thus necessitating a re-spawn at one of Crackdown's supply points.
As much as I love co-op games, I am an equal fan of single-player games, so I was surprised to find that the single-player and co-op modes of Crackdown are really the same and play the same. Also, the character you play as in single--player mode is the same as the one in co-op, and any improvements you make in the co-op mode transfers to the single-player mode, and vice versa. However, Crackdown is, to me, a game about great moments. So, instead of continuing on with my paragraphs of discourse about the game, I will give you some of my memorable moments in co-op.
- After locating an enemy boss, my teammate and I fought through hoards of enemies to get to the boss. Our solution to defeating the boss? Dual rocket launchers. Now, certainly we could have killed him in a much easier manner. But there's nothing quite like watching an enemy flying, rag doll-style, while constantly being bombarded by rockets. That is until he bursts open, letting loose experience-giving orbs, like a sort of perverse pinata.
- My teammate has an affinity for explosives. That's great and all, but the problem is that with explosives, you cannot necessarily determine who you are going to kill. More than once, I have run at my enemies, all gung-ho, only to be blown back by a stray rocket, followed by a "oops sorry." However, when you are a human tank, it doesn't really bother you much when your teammate accidentally blows you up.
- My teammate and I were doing clean up after defeating a tricky boss residing on an oil derrick. After scouring the base for enemies, my teammate remarked "well, there's two left." Two seconds later, I located one of the two remaining and disposed of him via rocket. "One remaining" was quickly followed by another enemy meeting a rocket-related doom, to be replaced by my "no remaining" comment.
These are just a few of the memorable moments I had while playing co-op in Crackdown. I quickly discovered why I loved Crackdown's co-op: playing as a superhero with a superhero for a teammate is very rewarding. Along with generally fun gameplay, Crackdown also is a fun game in general, especially when you have with a teammate to enjoy destroying enemies.