Going Hardcore in Pacific City
At A Glance
- Hardcore visits Pacific City and the Crackdown begins.
There are games that need to be jiggled to fit the hardcore mold, thought and deliberation are required to make them live up to the challenge we require. Crackdown™ is not one of these games. It is tailor made for our intense, excessive requirements.
An excellent angle for attack in Crackdown.
From the first moment you drop into Pacific City, the challenging gameplay you crave stands before you, and you can make the difficulty as brutal as you want. To that end, I've devised a few helpful suggestions to forego any simple success and hurl you right into the hardcore fire.
Agency Armament
Experimental chaos is what Crackdown is all about, and when tackling roving gang units you should feel free to use whatever weaponry your explosive arsenal can offer. However, when infiltrating the fortifications of a gang general or even the kingpin himself, stick with the basic weaponry.
There are endless options for experimentation,
and countless hours of creative challenges.
Revert back to the classic pistol and assault rifle the Agency originally provided you with and take down the boss with only those and you can prove that it was skill, not upgrades, that won the day.
Skip Los Muertos
You can put yourself to the ultimate test by going after the Volk first, not the Los Muertos. Skipping the first gang pits you against the kind of challenge you should be facing: Insane. The Master Tournament in Ninja Gaiden® has nothing on the controller-pitching, hair-pulling challenge of going straight to the Volk.
Save Co-op
Romping through Pacific City with a buddy on Xbox LIVE® is pure, unadulterated videogame joy, but when it comes to missions, assistance is strictly prohibited. Hop into any friend's game and give them all the help you want, but there's no better way for you to say you can't hack it than begging a friend for help. The gangs, their generals, and the kingpins are your responsibility alone, so take pride in your work and leave the co-op for the fun times with your friends.
No acrobatic escape maneuvers necessary.
Let 'em Run
Effective grenade use is a tricky thing that's easily nullified by shooting your opponents in the leg, letting them drop to the deck and then dropping a grenade on them. Want to prove your explosive worth? Net kills without using this technique. Whether it's using one grenade to make them scatter and leading them into a deadly second grenade, or another technique, find a way to make skill and strategy the fundamental factors in your explosive success.
Save the Races
Half the fun of Crackdown is scaling the countless skyscrapers in search of one more agility orb. That's all well and good and I certainly endorse such activities, but save dedicated agility challenges and street car races for the very end. They not only provide excellent diversions when you're running out of challenges, but it will also give one last kick to your driving and agility skills.
Bring the co-op help to your friends, not the other way around.
Public Transportation
Use the Agency vehicles to explore, and maybe even to help break down gates and run down gang members during missions, but otherwise, leave them be. When you attempt a street race or a car stunt, stack the difficulty by tackling them with normal vehicles. From hatchbacks to jeeps and vans, floating through a stunt ring or shattering a friend's race time without the use of a tricked out Agency supercar is worth writing home about.
Crackdown was built as a playground for the hardcore. There are endless options for experimentation, and countless hours of creative challenges. February 20 shall be a day long remembered by the hardcore gamer.
Article by Hardcore
