TGS 06: Crackdown Hands-On

TOKYO--Microsoft and Realtime Worlds are teaming up to deliver Crackdown, a Grand Theft Auto-like mission-based action game that takes place in an open world and puts you in the shoes of a secret agent with bionic abilities that improve as you play. So if you develop your character's strength, you'll eventually be kicking cars out of your way. You'll also get better with weapons, develop the ability to jump extremely high, and so on. Placed into an open-ended, mission-based world, your secret agent appears to be able to get into trouble pretty easily, but he's also got the tools to get out of it.

The version of Crackdown we saw was the Japanese-language version, which will be published under the name Riot Act. We got to try a few different things, including a timed checkpoint race. Taking on a checkpoint race makes glowing gates appear for you to drive through. Also, it looks like your best time in these races will be recorded and sent in to an online leaderboard, as taking on the challenge caused an Xbox 360 gamer picture and another player's best time to appear on the screen. The game will have you fighting off gang members, and one of the tasks we completed during our brief time with the game was climbing to the top of a high building and eliminating a gang leader known as Juan Martinez. After doing so, the game paused for a bit and it sounded like taking that guy out severely neutered his gang's presence around town.

Crackdown uses the power of in-game physics to its benefit in a lot of different ways. Cars explode nicely, but your ability to pick up and toss other large objects, like cars or light posts, definitely makes the game more interesting. It also comes into play when simply driving a car, as the cars seems to have a tendency to flip over pretty easily when you crash into something. The game has a control scheme similar to what you'd expect from a GTA or Saint's Row-like game. When you're in a car, the triggers are used for gas and brake. Hitting Y will get you into and out of cars. When you're out of the car, the game behaves like a standard third-person action game. The camera does a good job of following you around, there's an onscreen reticle for your weaponry, and so on.

Crackdown also stands apart from the rest of the open-world action genre with its visual style. The game cel-shades a lot of major elements in the world, which sort of gives the whole thing a comic book feel. As for sound, the game appears to follow the GTA route as far as music is concerned. Every time you hop into a car, the name of an artist and track appears. Unfortunately, due to the loud volume present on the show floor at TGS, we were unable to get a good sense for the game's soundtrack and other audio elements.

Crackdown is due out in early 2007, and so far, it's looking pretty sharp. Look for more details as they become available.