“Crackdown” provides cheap thrills, lots of fun

"Crackdown" is the new Xbox 360 game where you play a super-powered cop cleaning up a gang-infested city. It's free-roaming, it's easy and it's dumb. I love it, and my brother Griffin is a bit more lukewarm. So this week in the gaming column we're trying something new, a point/counterpoint review. But point/counterpoint sounds like something you'd watch on the MacNeil/Lehrer Zombie Hour. So we're going to call it "You're Dumb."
Justin McElroy: Griffin, opening statement. GO.
Griffin McElroy: I like the MacNeil/Lehrer Zombie Hour.
JM: No, something about the game.
GM: Oh.
GM: I couldn't be more done with “Crackdown”, and I haven't even come close to beating it.
JM: C’mon that’s not fair at all. Was that always the case? Was there some sort of honeymoon?
GM: Oh yes, when the game first came out, we had many late evenings together. But then, as the haze of love wore off, I saw it for what it really was.
JM: Tell me what you liked about it.
GM: Well the single player game was one of the most repetitive gaming experiences I've ever had.
JM: That's what you liked?
GM: Yes, Justin, I loved it. It never kept me guessing or confused, I knew that around the corner, there would be gang members, and I would shoot them with some sort of exploding gun. No, before you interrupted, I was going to say that the single player was awful, but the co-op was brilliant.
JM: It's not awful though. I loved increasing my skills by killing gang members and improving my jumping by collecting agility orbs around the city. But I think I'm probably way more susceptible than you to that sort of carrot-on-a-stick incentive thing. But, to be fair, I haven't fully upgraded all of my abilities, my interest could wane after I've done that.
GM: I haven't either, but as I see it, once you're able to jump 20 feet in the air, you can pretty much imagine what jumping 25 feet in the air must be like.
JM: Fair enough.
GM: The super-powered abilities were neat at first, but the novelty of jumping from building to building like a badly-dressed Spider-Man quickly wears off.
JM: You'd be right, if it weren't so fun collecting the agility orbs. Figuring out exactly the right jumps to make to collect them makes it almost like a puzzle. I'm still enjoying that. My problem with the single player is the boss encounters. They're all kind of similar, and they don't really have much (read: any) personality.
GM: I don't know, that one gang leaders has a hook for an arm. I'd like to know what he's all about. Hook arms usually have awesome stories behind them.
JM: Let’s talk co-op. With Xbox Live, at any point you can have a friend join up in the fight with you. Why was that so much better for you?
GM: Well, when you kick an enemy in the game off of a rooftop, it's pretty cool. But when you kick your brother off of a rooftop, sending him sailing downward 30 stories to his gooey doom, well, that's a visceral thrill the likes of which I've never experienced in a video game before.
JM: So, you're giving it a thumbs-up?
GM: I don't know. Definitely rent it, I think it's perfect for one of those weekends where you'll have nothing to do but play video games. But it gets too old too quick, in my opinion. But it does have free entrance into that Halo 3 beta, which I hear will be available in April. So keep that in mind.
JM: Here's my favorite reviewing scale: How much would you pay? For me, I think $60 is a good deal. I've really enjoyed the single player, there's tons to do, and (when I can get one set up) the co-op is stupid fun.
GM: I don't know about $60, but it's about as fun if not more fun than most other 360 games out right now, so maybe $60 is an alright price.
JM: Well, that's really logical. You're dumb.
GM: No YOU'RE the one who is dumb, sir.

Griffin McElroy is a student at Marshall University who doesn't know much about what makes a good video game. Justin McElroy is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch and video game expert who's also the one who wrote this bio.