Ouch.
That’s what someone at Microsoft has to be saying right now, looking at how Crackdown 3 has been received by critics (and buyers alike).
Take a look at the Metacritic page right now for Crackdown 3. Based on 73 reviews from different publications, the game is averaging a mere 60 (6 out of 10). Out of those 73 reviews, only six outlets scored it as 75 or above.
You may see those results and go ‘Ouch’ yourself. When the reviews for the game weren’t available until the day before launch, I figured we were in for some mediocre scores. (If you’re 110% confident in your product, it wouldn’t matter when you lifted the review embargo on your games. See embargo dates for the newest God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, etc. All at least a week before the game came out in the United States.)
But, is it that cringeworthy? I mean, I’ve played and loved plenty of games that were not critical darlings. (See WET on the last gen consoles and the Shaq-Fu remaster for example. Those games were just stupid fun in my humble opinion.) I had the opportunity to delve into the first few hours of the campaign during feedings and diaper changes of the little one and decided this would be a good time to revisit an old series I had started a few years ago. From that blog post:
A little background about this series, first of all. About three to five hours into video games I play these days is when I make the decision to either play it, or trade it back in.* With a husband, a puppy, and a 35 hour a week job selling video games, time to play them is short, and I’d rather not waste my time playing something bad. I’d rather move on to the next game on my list.
And life has only gotten busier, with a job that takes up 44 hours a week, AND a kiddo. So, my time is even more limited these days.
I should start with full disclosure; I haven’t played the other Crackdown games, and I didn’t have to pay for Crackdown 3 thanks to my job. I had planned on paying for a month of Game Pass to try it out, because, like a good chunk of people I had the chance to talk about it with at work, the numerous delays made me very iffy.
The first thing to notice about Crackdown 3 when you get into the game is the fact the game doesn’t shoehorn you into choosing just either a generic guy or girl. Now, I normally play as a girl when I get the chance, but when you have the opportunity to play as Terry Crews, you play as Terry Crews. There are numerous agents to choose from to play as, each of them with their own advantages.
Visually, the game enthralled me. The cutscenes have a comic-book feeling to them in terms of coloring and shading, and I was impressed with how they looked on my Xbox One X. I had no issues trying to navigate menus to upgrade my character, and no issues trying to navigate through the HUD or in-game map.
Combat options are a-plenty as well. Yes, you can shoot, throw grenades, and punch enemies that you meet in the world, but you can also run them over with vehicles, electrocute them with barrels, throw their departed comrades at them, and I’m sure even more ways that I have yet to find. I’m not a fan of how some of the controls were laid out, but using my Razer Wildcat, that’s not an issue I had to deal with for long.
(And for those without a Wildcat, or an Elite controller, the Xbox Accessories App gives the ability to remap buttons as well.)
When you take down an enemy, you collect orbs from them. (Think like Fable III.) Kill a soldier with a gun? You’ll get blue orbs to level up your firearm skill. Sideswipe a bandit into oblivion with your car or do a sick stunt? You’ll get purple orbs to boost your driving ability. Agility has been my favorite skill to level up, as that involves scouring the city for hundreds of green orbs strewn throughout the map and finding creative ways to reach them. Find enough of an out of the way spot, and you’ll find a Hidden Orb that boosts ALL your skills.
(There’s 250 of those orbs alone, in addition to the hundreds of Agility Orbs in the map.)
As for what’s holding me back for loving the game 100%? It is indeed a lot of repetition, as many outlets and users have stated. Go to new area, kill enemy, rinse, repeat. I almost feel like a much different Crackdown 3 existed two years ago than this final product, which is a disappointing feeling. Blowing stuff up is fun, but it’s the shrug-your-shoulders kind of fun that wears off after an hour or two.