Crackdown's Cooperative Playground

The evolution of cooperative gameplay has been on a fast track since the inception of Xbox LIVE®, and has already seen its fair share of classics—the intense two-man war against the Locust horde in Gears of War®, the strategic stealth gameplay in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Chaos Theory™, and now the complete cooperative freedom of Real Time World's Crackdown™ on Xbox 360™.

Untethered Gameplay
What's immediately noticeable about any Crackdown cooperative experience is the complete lack of constraint. Put simply, the game doesn't care what you do, where you go, or where you are in respect to your buddy.

Two agents are better than one … until they turn on each other.

You are simply dropped into the world to do as you please, and this very freedom opens up untold opportunities for experimentation. In fact, it is only the depth of your creativity that will set a limit on the gameplay options before you. Common examples of ad-hoc gameplay include:

• Wheelman: Start both Agents at the keep with the supercar and pick a supply point to race to. With no predetermined route, the most creative and skilled driver will win the day.
• Top of the Keep: Once both your agents have unlocked level three agility, there are few more intense cooperative challenges than a race to the top of the Agency Keep. The vertical trip is anxiety-ridden enough without adding competition to the mix.
• Car Gymnastics: Whether it's seeing who can score that third back flip in a vehicle, or simply setting new personal records for longest car jump, creative car challenges are always fun and easy to set up.
• Explosive Carnage: A sixty second race to see who can explode the most vehicles is always cause for a good time, and when playing cooperatively, you can station the inactive agent atop a nearbybuilding to count up the tally.
• Sanctioned Races: Of course, taking part in any of Crackdown's predetermined agility and street races is cause for celebration. It's one thing to boast a better overall time than your friend on the leaderboard, but when you're racing real-time against one another, grinding wheels and tapping bumpers, it affords a different level of bragging rights.

Who'll reach the supply point first?

Mission Assistance
Of course, the most obvious benefit of cooperative play is having a second set of guns handy when tackling gang generals and kingpins. Whether you're splitting up and squeezing the enemy gang from both sides, or you're both beating down the front gate together, the odds of survival are substantially higher when playing cooperatively.

Impromptu Deathmatch
All that need be said is that Crackdown offers no friendly fire rule, and while the bulk of your cooperative play will be helpful or merely competitive, occasionally a citywide "player versus player" rampage is in order. With fully experienced characters, an agent on agent battle can reach epic proportions of skill and carnage.

Equipment Upgrade
For those looking to jumpstart their Crackdown career, try tempting a friend who has completed the game to drop into your city. Any weaponry they bring with them can be unlocked in your campaign mode, allowing you access to a truly explosive arsenal. Los Muertos beware!

Giving the Volk a handful.

Playing Crackdown with a friend or even a complete stranger online gives this sandbox action title a fresh new perspective. The flavor of the game changes completely with the simple presence of another Agent, and the sheer volume of gameplay opportunities is staggering. Like Gears of War before it, Crackdown simply begs to be played cooperatively.

Article by Ryan Treit