Reviews Crackdown 3 Reviews

[lashman]

Game Information

Game Title: Crackdown 3

Platforms:

• Xbox One (Feb 15, 2019)
• PC (Feb 15, 2019)

Trailer:

• Crackdown 3 – E3 2017 – Official 4K Trailer
• Crackdown 3 - E3 2018 - Gameplay Trailer
• X018 - Crackdown 3: Get The Jump
• Crackdown 3 - Step Up Your Boom: Suit Up

Developer: Sumo Digital

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 64 average - 24% recommended

Critic Reviews


GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 9 / 10

Forget Crackdown 2 ever happened, Crackdown 3 is the sequel we deserve. It takes everything that made the original game so great and expands upon it, leveraging the power of the Xbox One to make the experience bigger and better.

Star News - Rod Oracheski - 4.4 / 5

Long-suffering Crackdown fans finally have a worthy sequel. The campaign was every bit as campy and fun as expected, with Terry Crews a perfect addition to the cast, and the multiplayer proving to be surprisingly entertaining.

WellPlayed - Kieran Stockton - 8.8 / 10

Crackdown 3 revels in fuelling its superhero power fantasy with a fantastic open world to explore and destroy

GamingTrend - Travis Northup - 85 / 100

Crackdown 3 makes no sense on paper. Its story is nonsense, you spend way too much time searching for hidden orbs and leveling up, and the presentation isn't anything spectacular. And yet, the over-the-top madness and hilarious, memorable moments it brought me made it impossible to put down. While the PvP multiplayer mode falls short of what it's trying to achieve, there's a lot to love about Crackdown's long overdue return.

Culture of Gaming - John Powell - 8.5 / 10

Despite the setbacks and delays, Crackdown 3 has put the franchise firmly back on solid ground and that is mostly because of the exceptional work and dedication of developers Sumo Digital. They have not only addressed all of the shortcomings of Crackdown 2 but they have improved upon the core gameplay and the experience itself. Crackdown’s future is so bright the cigar chomping, slave driving, blow hard, sour puss of an Agency Director would be cracking a smile if he could. Good things come to those who wait and Crackdown fans have certainly had to do that.

Hobby Consolas - Daniel Quesada - Spanish - 84 / 100

It mantains everything that created a really enjoyable franchise: non-stop action and an enormously satisfying progression system. It's not a game changer and you won't be surprised by its graphics, but it will offer you some toooooasty action.

The Games Machine - Daniele Dolce - Italian - 7.2 / 10

Crackdown 3 comes directly from the past, from an era in which the open-world action games focused mainly on the amount of things to do, to the detriment of the overall quality and variety of situations. This does not mean that the formula proposed by Sumo Digital doesn't work, far from it, but it's linked to a now anachronistic concept of a genre that has evolved in the last couple of years into something that goes beyond the simple repetition of the same tasks throughout the duration of the campaign.

Press Start - James Mitchell - 7 / 10

Crackdown 3 is without a doubt the best Crackdown yet. It successfully builds upon the previous two games to offer an open world experience that, while formulaic, is still incredibly enticing. This is in part due to the very flexible combat system, which offers heaps of different ways to be as destructive as possible. It's structure has been seen before, sure, and as such Crackdown 3 doesn't break ground in many ways, but it's still such an enjoyable experience that I'm not sure it entirely matters.

Xbox Achievements - Dan Webb - 70 / 100

The term 'more of the same' is bandied about a lot in this industry, but when it comes to Crackdown 3, it is absolutely more of the same. With a few tweaks here and there, and a new city, there's no doubting that the gameplay still absolutely holds up. The structure and busywork tasks issues still persist from previous iterations though, which is perhaps the most disappointing aspect. Fun but repetitive best sums up Crackdown 3.

Twinfinite - Ed McGlone - 3.5 / 5

Ultimately, none of the flaws in Crackdown 3 are deal-breakers but they hold it back from being truly great. If you can look past them, and just enjoy Crackdown 3 for what it is: a game that gives you a wacky toolset to blast enemies away for 10-20 hours or more, then you'll definitely find value and fun here.

Shacknews - Sam Chandler - 7 / 10

There’s a time and place for games like Crackdown 3. It’s not bad by any means, it’s even quantifiably good and enjoyable. However, while games can be lauded for not following trends, there’s a difference between carving your own path and simply not innovating.

Critical Hit - Sam Spiller - 7 / 10

Cracking the formula it set out with 12 years ago, Crackdown 3 delivers the solid and structured, though limited, gameplay of gunning down your enemies while leaping across vast distance and heights. Even if nothing especially new has been added to that formula. The multiplayer, however, feels more like a cop-out than anything.

Gamerheadquarters - Jason Stettner - 7 / 10

Crackdown 3 is a solid entry in the franchise, I was generally whelmed by it.

GamingBolt - Will Borger - 7 / 10

Crackdown 3 maintains some of the series's inconsistencies, but it does more right than it does wrong, and it's a blast to play when everything comes together.

GameMAG - Russian - 7 / 10

Crackdown 3 is not trying to hook you with incredible graphics, interesting story, original quests or unique multiplayer. This project is primarily created for fans of the previous two games, and it's just fun. Exciting progressing system and fun acrobatics with the ability to jump over entire areas in the city are still fascinating, just like in 2007.

Heavy - Elton Jones - 6.8 / 10

Crackdown 3 as a whole is certainly rough around the edges and more of a mid-tier 1st-party exclusive. There’s some fun to be had, of course. But its overall staying power is a step below other open-world games of its ilk.

Cerealkillerz - Patrice Naderi - German - 6.5 / 10

With it`s weak story, a soulless presentation and repetetive gameplay, Crackdown 3 is a total disappointment after all. The game feels like a Remaster of the first title and continues the series of mediocre exclusives with only few, but outstanding honorable mentions for the Xbox One. Fans of the series should grab the title via Game Pass, everyone else should find plenty of other and better options.

PCGamesN - Dustin Bailey - 6 / 10

Competent, with enough fun weapons and silly spectacle to make it inoffensive entertainment. While a half-decade of development hell could've ended with worse results, it's tough to muster much excitement for what's here.

VideoGamer - Colm Ahern - 6 / 10

The mission structure is repetitive, the story's utter wallop, and the baddies are there for shooting practice. But, damn it, it's fun being an over-powered superhero scaling a building in Crackdown 3.

Windows Central - Jez Corden - 3 / 5 stars

Crackdown 3 is a decent sandbox experience that falls short of modern standards, but as an Xbox Game Pass title, it offers some good mindless fun.

Attack of the Fanboy - William Schwartz - 3 / 5 stars

Short and not very good, Crackdown 3 has few things to point to as reasons to exist.

Destructoid - Brett Makedonski - 6 / 10

Crackdown 3 is a good Crackdown game, which, unfortunately, doesn't mean much anymore. Modern game design has surpassed the Crackdown model by leaps and bounds -- as high and far as an agent can jump. The most remarkable thing about Crackdown 3 is how unambitious it is. It's content to come off as dated, like a relic from a bygone era. That can be comforting in a way, but it's immeasurably more disappointing. Crackdown 3, just like its kin, is only a distraction and nothing more.

Telegraph - Olivia White - 3 / 5 stars

If you've played a Crackdown game before, then you'll know exactly what to expect from Crackdown 3.

Daily Mirror - JC Suttun - 3 / 5 stars

This latest dose of open world superhuman crime fighting action feels like a missed opportunity

GamesRadar+ - Jordan Oloman - 3 / 5 stars

Crackdown 3 is bonkers chaotic fun but also a case of wasted potential. The series deserved an iterative revival but instead, we have the tried-and-tested Crackdown backbone with remastered visuals and a touch more chaos, sadly squandering the promise of its few interesting additions in the process

TrueAchievements - Mark Delaney - 3 / 5 stars

It survived the purge where Fable Legends and Scalebound did not, but even in its best moments, Crackdown 3's campaign feels like it was born too late.

Guardian - Keza MacDonald - 3 / 5 stars

This simple action caper where players liberate a neon-clad city from a sinister megacorp makes 15 hours disappear easily

Game Revolution - Bradley Russell - 3 / 5 stars

Crackdown 3 has had years of build-up and, well, it’s just Crackdown with a tiny bit of new-gen polish. That’s not a bad thing, not by any stretch, but in a February dotted with potentially fantastic releases, it’s going to be an ultimate forgettable one.

DualShockers - Logan Moore - 5 / 10

Crackdown 3 has finally arrived and instead of being a next-gen iteration of the franchise, it feels like a lost relic of the Xbox 360 era.

Screen Rant - Mansoor Mithaiwala - 2.5 / 5 stars

Sumo Digital's Crackdown 3 releases on Xbox One and PC on February 15.

GameSpot - Chris Pereira - 5 / 10

Crackdown 3's campaign is short on new ideas and relies too heavily on its core loop of collecting orbs and throwing heavy objects around.

Stevivor - Luke Lawrie - 4 / 10

Crackdown 3 feels too similar to the game that came before it; it's like Sumo has made Crackdown 2 again

Metro GameCentral - 4 / 10

A tragic end to Crackdown 3's long and painful journey, with an unremarkable campaign mode and a multiplayer that is a disaster in terms of tech and design.

Polygon - Colin Campbell - Unscored

Crackdown 3 is a playpen of combat and destruction that sets itself up as a liberating journey into a barbarous fantasy of wanton mayhem. But its central proposition — the freedom to do as I please — is undermined by frustrating design compromises.

USgamer - Tom Orry - Unscored

Crackdown 3 isn't an instant hit, but after a slow start it rapidly builds into an action-packed shooter with brilliant character control and movement. While orb collecting is the key for prolonged play, the campaign in Crackdown 3 is always entertaining and visually there's a lot to appreciate if you look at the bigger picture. Crackdown is back.

VG247 - Nic Reuben - Unscored

All things considered, Crackdown 3 being this enjoyable represents a minor miracle, and I’d love to see what these teams are capable of with the franchise without being dicked around by corporate for half a decade.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - John Walker - Unscored

It reeks of development hell, as demoralising to play as I imagine it was to make. Yes, clearing a map of its icons can be readily distracting, and it fulfils this role at least.

 

[Blizniak]

Seems like it just didn't work out after all those years. Shame but I'll still give it a try thanks to gamepass.

 

[lashman]

Seems like it just didn't work out after all those years. Shame but I'll still give it a try thanks to gamepass.

it looks to me like it's basically "more of Crackdown 1" ... which is EXACTLY what i wanted from this game ... so i'm definitely looking forward to playing it

 

[ScreamingTrees]

I loved the first one, even found some enjoyment in the second so I was really hopeful for this game. The reviews are really disappointing. I'll get a cheap gamepass subscription for a month to try it out sometime

 

[K-putt]

Looks as expected. If you liked the previous games.. you'll enjoy this one is basically what i'm getting from these reviews.

 

[lashman]

Looks as expected. If you liked the previous games.. you'll enjoy this one is basically what i'm getting from these reviews.

pretty much, yeah ... which means i'm gonna enjoy the hell out of this game!

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

Too bad at the scores, but I'll still play through it.

 

[lashman]

Too bad at the scores, but I'll still play through it.

same ... i never really let scores dictate what i play, they're mostly just a curiosity for me really

 

[uraizen]

Let's see... One of them says it's a good crackdown game.

I see nothing wrong here.

 

[Stygr]

Ooof, that lower than expected.

 

[Ge0force]

Ouch, that's less than I expected. Microsoft really has a problem with anything 1st party that isn't Halo/Gears/Forza.

And lol @ Hobby Consoles using the 70-100 scale for AAA games.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I know the reviews haven't been kind but I'm maybe halfway through the campaign (or more probably) and I'm having a pretty good time. It's a clumsy, fun game that feels like an HD Remaster of a true sequel to Crackdown that came out later in the 360's life. But once you start leveling stuff up it does feel good to run and jump around and most of the guns are fairly satisfying and actually do feel more different than just your typical pistol, machine gun, shotgun sort of thing.

It's not a great game, and for a game that was in development for so long you'd expect a better end product, but I'm still having fun with it.

I do recommend playing on Legendary difficulty as that actually makes things feel more dangerous but you can still largely play full speed ahead since you get health/shields from kills. Only at the start did I really have to duck away to regenerate. Also, dying is nearly inconsequential since progress on whatever objective is typically saved. One of the bosses I tossed myself at four or five times to get all of its health down since it kept the damage I had done to it.

 

[Kurt Russell]

I'm having a ton of fun with it (playing through GamePass). First I played like 3 hours in one go, wasn't so fun at the beginning due to lack of agility orbs, but as soon as I got a few of those the game opened up. It's as Wibble says, more like a Crackdown remake than anything else. Considering I also loved Agents of Mayhem, I guess that's "my" thing