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Epic's oft-repeated motto for Gears of War 2 was, "Bigger, better, and more badass." For Ruffian's follow-up to Crackdown, it feels like the motto was, "Don't rock the boat." Here is a sequel that feels near identical to its predecessor in just about every way. The open world action formula is the same. The game's location is the same. The graphics look about the same. And the shortcomings, well they're about the same too.

Is it fun? Yes. That hasn't changed either.

Of course, not everything in Crackdown 2 is identical to its predecessor. There's four-player co-op now, some new weapons and gizmos, a few new vehicles and missions, as well as a 16-player arena combat mode. And, of course, there are more orbs. Tasty, tasty orbs. But before we get to all that, let's take a step back to get everyone up to speed.

In the years since the events of Crackdown 1, mutant freaks have destroyed much of the beautiful Pacific City. Marauding terrorists who call themselves The Cell have done their best to destroy the rest. The city is on the brink and it's up to you, a superhero member of the Agency, to restore order so that the good citizens can go back to life as usual. That's the introduction you'll get at the start of Crackdown 2, and you pretty much won't get any more exposition outside of collectible audio logs until the disappointing finish. To say that Crackdown 2 has a story at all is being generous.

At the outset of Crackdown 2, you'll find yourself in the shoes of a general badass, capable of doling out pain and stomping squads of freaks. You've got a few guns in the arsenal, a decent car, and your athletic abilities are well above average. That's only the beginning. By the end you'll be able to leap from rooftop to rooftop with ease, pick up and toss cars and trucks, fill the sky with homing missiles, and even glide through the air like a flying squirrel. To become that ultimate superhero, you'll have to collect orbs. And that is really the whole point of the game.

Orbs for the driving skill can be earned by running over enemies, winning races, doing little stunts or soaring through rings in the air. Grab enough, and you'll unlock new cars. Similar progressions work for strength, guns and explosives. As you use these skills in combat, you'll earn streams of orbs and be rewarded with new weapons and special moves.

But Crackdown 2 is really a game for people who like collecting things. The main prize is agility orbs, found on rooftops or other places that require a bit of platforming. You can also find hidden orbs, or the new renegade orbs -- which annoyingly run away from you -- and Xbox Live orbs which can only be snagged while playing online co-op. Add in some audio file collectibles and you have roughly 1,000 things to seek out. It may sound like an odd focus to build a game around, but this platformer-meets-pac-man formula is seriously addictive.

If you played Crackdown 1, this probably all sounds very familiar to you. That's because it is, though small tweaks have been made here and there. There's now an echo ping feature that will tell you if orbs are nearby, cars are unlocked instead of just having one transforming vehicle, and melee combat has a few extra combos. A couple of new side quests and weapons have been included. Add in mutant freaks of various sizes to fight, a helicopter and a tank, and a few new moves like the wingsuit glide and you've got Crackdown 2.

Once again, it all boils down to collecting orbs and then creating your own sandbox fun with friends. Some of the new gadgets and gizmos make this process a great deal easier and more enjoyable. Helicopters are great for orb hunting. And the mag grenade -- an explosive that can first stick several things together -- is the perfect addition to a friendly little rampage. Riding around with friends and laying waste to an already wasted city or hunting orbs with a few friends is just plain fun, and it really makes you feel like every other sandbox game that doesn't have co-op is missing a key ingredient.

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GAMEPLAY

The game is modeled similarly to its predecessor Crackdown, a third-person shooter in open world game play. The player character is an advanced super-powered officer for the city-funded "Agency", known simply as the "Agent". This time around, players choose one of four faces and armor colours (eight colours if you preordered it), instead of just the preset heads offered before. Along with that, the orbs have been carried on from the first game, and the Agent's powers are expanded and enhanced such as the Agility Skill which now allows the Agent to jump higher than in Crackdown, glide, and gain access to the helicopter landing pad at the Agency Tower. Driving is also available in Crackdown 2. Youre able to commandeer any number of vehicles in the game, including Agency vehicles, Peacekeeper Cruisers and a large number of civilian vehicles that the Cell have armor plated. Checkpoint races are back, both Road and Rooftop versions. Like Crackdown, the game will allow for on-line co-operative play in the main game, but will now support up to four players. The game will also feature competitive multiplayer modes for up to sixteen players. While the original Crackdown supported System Link playing for co-op, Crackdown 2 won't be featuring the same option. Microsoft Producer Peter Connelly stated: "It would've taken a half-day of work, for something that only a tiny percentage of gamers will ever use." The player will fight both the Cell, a terrorist organization, and "Freaks," strange infected mutants. Both can be killed with melee attacks, explosions, and bullets but there are special UV weapons made for the Freaks, who can't survive in sunlight. There are 5 skills to be leveled up: Agility, which the player increases by collecting Agility Orbs and Renegade Agility Orbs, by doing Rooftop Races, or by killing enemies from a highly elevated location; Firearms, which is increased by shooting both handheld and mounted guns; Driving, which is increased by running enemies over, power slides, handbrake turns, completing Road Races, jumping through Stunt Rings and collecting Renegade Driving Orbs; Explosives, which is obviously increased by using explosives, both Launchers and thrown Grenades; and last but not least: Strength, which is increased by using hand-to-hand attacks, throwing objects, beating people with those objects, or using the moves you unlock as your Strength increases, such as the Charge or Ground Slam.

Gameplay Rating: 8.5/10

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MULTIPLAYER

Multiplayer playlists include game modes such as Rocket Tag, Vehicle Tag, Capture the Orb, Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch.

A Co-op game type allows you to party up with up to 4 friends. In co-op, you can obtain special orbs known as "Online Orbs" or "Xbox Live Orbs" which give an overall bonus to all your skills. There are no limitations to the co-op mode. It plays like single player except the campaign missions will only advance for the player that hosts the game.

Multiplayer Rating: 8/10

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CONTROLS

Left Trigger (Hold) - lock target
Left Trigger (Hold) - brake, reverse (vehicles only)
Left Trigger - fire left helicopter turret
Left Bumper - reload weapon, decrease helicopter height
Left Bumper (Hold) - fire vehicle weapon
Right Trigger (Hold) - fire weapon
Right Trigger - throw object, fire right helicopter turret
Right Trigger (Hold) - accelerate (vehicles only)
Left Thumbstick - movement
Left Thumbstick - crouch (toggle)
Left Thumbstick - steer, air control (vehicle only)
Left Thumbstick (Hold) - helicopter speed boost
Back Button - game progress screen, call helicopter
Start Button - intel screen
Y Button - wingsuit (toggle)
Y Button - use turreted weapon, enter or exit vehicle
Y Button (Hold) - look at
X Button - swap weapon
X Button (Hold) - pick up weapon
B Button - h2h attack
B Button (Hold) - ground strike, barge, pick up or drop object
B Button (Hold) - horn, fire vehicle weapon (vehicles only)
B Button - jump (suv only)
A Button or Right Thumbstick (Hold) - jump
A Button - handbrake (vehicles only)
D-Pad Up - orb ping
D-Pad Left - decrease music volume
D-Pad Right - increase music volume
D-Pad Down (Hold) - cancel race
Right Thumbstick - look, aim, precision targeting
Right Thumbstick (Hold) - look behind (vehicles only)

Controls Rating: 8/10

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GRAPHICS

The graphics in this is game are fair. I think that its supposed to like "Cartoonish" if you look at the cover.

Graphics Rating: 7.5/10

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Overall Rating:

8/10

This game is a "Must Buy" if you like Free Roam games!