Microsoft is cracking down on the lack of Crackdown games available for its Xbox One console. Near the end of its E3 press conference, the hardware maker took a break from showing monsters being blown up, zombies being blown up, and enemy soldiers being blown up to show the careful step-by-step process that is involved in an evil gang leader being blown up.
With its crazy amounts of neon, superpowered crime-fighting, and intimidating narrator guy, the clip is undeniably Crackdown. A little harder to pin down, however, is what exactly the game is. The trailer doesn’t put a number or a colon after the title, so this new Crackdown could just be a fancier remake of the Xbox 360 original. Considering that’s basically what Crackdown 2 was, it’s probably safe to be a bit wary for now. We do at least know that the new game is being overseen by Dave Jones, the creator of the original. That’s usually a good sign.
The first Crackdown put you in the shoes of a cop tasked with murdering the leaders of several prominent gangs. Along the way, you were guided by a disembodied voice that turned out to be kind of a fascist asshole in the end. Of course, some players probably just remember Crackdown as the free bonus that was included with their $60 copy of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta. It was a blatant ploy from Microsoft to trick people out of their money, but it worked out for everyone in the end, because Crackdown was secretly much more interesting than Halo 3. It’s not like people still talk about Halo these days, right?