Crackdown 2 (titled Riot Act 2 in Japan) is an open world, third-person shooter video game released on July 6th, 2010 for North America and in Europe on July 9th, 2010. The game is a sequel to the original 2007 Crackdown. Unlike its predecessorn the game wasn't directed by David Jones, nor worked on by Realtime Worlds.
Premise[]
The plot of Crackdown 2 unfolds ten years after the events of the original Crackdown game. Pacific City, once a bustling metropolis, has become a war-torn urban wasteland. The game’s narrative centers around the conflict between the Agency, Cell, and the Freaks, with the Agents caught in the middle of the three-way battle for control of Pacific City.
- The Aftermath: Following the “peace” brought by the Agency’s actions in the first game, Pacific City descends into chaos as a mysterious virus creates the Freaks, who overrun the city.
- Catalina Thorne: A former medical student and Agency scientist, Catalina Thorne, is expelled from the Agency for unauthorized experiments. She becomes the leader of the Cell, a civilian resistance movement against the Agency.
- The Agency’s Response: The Agency, now facing criticism for its initial lack of response to the outbreak, announces Project Sunburst. A plan that involves a network of beacons designed to successfully eradicate all the Freaks.
- New Agents: The Agency deploys a new batch of stronger and faster Agents to accomplish the goals of Project Sunburst and to dismantle Cell operations across the city.
The sequel maintains the open-world, third-person shooter mechanics of its predecessor, allowing players to explore and reclaim the city from new various threats.
Plot[]
Crackdown 2 takes place 10 years after the events of Crackdown. After "saving" Pacific City, there was a short time of peace. Then, according to the Agency, a new medical student named Catalina Thorne was accepted into the Agency as a scientist. However she was found to have been performing her own unauthorized experiments and was kicked out. Afterwards, her life was ruined, with her blaming the Agency. Later, she broke into the Agency cloning facility which housed the original agents, and introduced a virus into them which mutated the already genetically modified Agents, who became mindless and enraged, going on a killing spree before dying hours later. She then went on to destroy the research labs, sending the project back to square one and single-handedly destroying the Agent program.
Soon after, Catalina unleashed the "Freak" virus into the populace of Pacific City, turning the infected into mindless mutated monstrosities that kill anything they find. With no agents to combat them, the Agency and the city were left helpless as criminals also began to resurface in the absence of the agents and the weakness of the Agency. While the people were weaker and more desperate than ever, Catalina rallied their support, claiming the Agency has a cure for the virus but is keeping it secret. Desperate for hope, they formed the "Cell", a terrorist group devoted to destroying the Agency and making them give up the cure.
That's when the Agency unveiled Project Sunburst, in which a large bomb of direct sunlight is planted and detonated inside "Freak" lairs. The light is perfectly harmless to normal people, but the sunlight burns and destroys the Freaks. These bombs are dependent on generators to gather sunlight. Upon hearing of these generators and Project Sunburst, the Cell took over and stole the generators. The Agent must reactivate all of the absorption units, three per beacon for a total of twenty-seven. The Agent must visit each freak lair, summon air support with the beacon, and defend it against the freaks until it detonates.
During the final few beacons, Catalina Thorne hacks into the Agent's comm system and pleads with him to cease the beacon re-activations, but eventually is silenced by the Voice of the Agency. After the last beacon is detonated, the Agent must return to the Tower and activate the final beacon: the Tower itself. During the process, ex-agents turned into freaks, which were kept for research, break free and attack the three cores which must be defended by the Agent. After the beacon charges, Catalina herself attacks in a stolen and repainted Agency helicopter, firing at the core.
Ordered to stop her, the Agent, though damaged and bruised, leaps from the tower, firing at the helicopter as he falls. Catalina turns the helicopter when it is fired upon, causing the agent to hit the rotor blades rather than the cockpit. He is torn apart, sacrificing himself, succeeds in stopping Thorne. His hand lands in the helicopter as Thorne spins out of control away from the tower. The beacon fires and kills all remaining freaks in Pacific City, with the Voice of the Agency admitting he feels sorry for anyone who tries to stand in the Agency's way now. After the credits, a short video shows Thorne performing research, with the hand of the Agent in a test tube on the table in front of her. The downloadable content "Keys to the City" features the Agency after the events of Crackdown 2, now sporting newer and more advanced technologies, and the return of the Agent.[1]
Alternate plot[]
The plot, as given above, is not necessarily the true story in the game. Audio Log collectibles found in the game give a different story, which paints the Agency as evil and manipulating, having engaged in a multi-step program to once again give the public a reason to accept unconditional control by their forces and cover up their own involvement in the events of the first game. This alternate story matches the twist at the end of the first Crackdown game.
Prior to the events of the game, the Agency, after taking control of Pacific City after the events of Crackdown, invites a group of Pacific City journalists and Agency whistleblowers to a press conference and destroys it, blaming it on terrorists. Thorne, a doctor who actually wants to help the Pacific City populace, attempts to open a clinic to give free medical care to the homeless, but "freaks" left over from a Pacific City super-gang (funded by the Agency, as revealed in Crackdown) invade the clinic and kill almost everyone; the Agency blames this on wild animals. Following this incident, Thorne attempts to lead protests against the Agency and call for an antidote to the freak virus, leading the Agency to blame Thorne for creating the freaks in the first place by infecting the homeless she claimed to treat at her clinic.
The Agency then walls off the infected area of Pacific City and secretly creates an antidote, but only uses it on their own agents; as a side effect, the agents lose their superhuman abilities, which the Agency again blames on Thorne. They then send undercover police to instigate violence at Thorne's peaceful protests, turning the public against her entirely. The Sunburst weapon is built to supposedly deal with the freaks, but is actually built as an antipersonnel weapon, meant to kill anyone who might oppose the Agency. Thorne, in an attempt to stop the Agency's plan, leads attacks by the Cell on the Sunburst bombs, giving the Agency a reason to send their Agents back into the field.
New Features[]
Many new features have been added to Crackdown since the first game:
- A new storyline.
- The ability to go underneath the city in a vast space occupied mainly by the Freaks.
- Changed levelling system for Agility Orbs.
- New weapons & vehicles.
- New abilities for higher levels (such as the Wingsuit and Thrusters).
- Four player, drop-in/drop-out player co-op play.
- Competitive multiplayer.
- Ability to takeover Cell strongholds and use them as drop zones for vehicles and weapons.
- New character options.
Gallery[]
