Crackdown 3
Crackdown 3 drops us back into this crazy universe of gangs, freaks, super soldiers
and plot twists, but it has been a LONG time since the last installment in the series and
there was an entire secret story hidden in the second game, so why not join me for a
recap of the complete story so far!
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The original Crackdown took place in Pacific City, and like every video game city from
this era its districts were divided up amongst various islands.
Each of these islands were controlled by different crime organizations and the local police force,
called the Peacekeepers, have been overwhelmed and lost control of the streets.
So they sought out the help of a group called “the Agency”, who hooked the Peacekeepers
up with some better gear and provided them with additional man power in the form of “Agents”.
This is where you the player come in as one of the Agents, tasked by the Director of the
Agency with systematically bringing down each of the three major gangs.
This is a pretty massive undertaking but you’re no normal human and thanks to a series of
cybernetic and surgical upgrades you’re essentially Captain America.
[CLIP]
The story from here is...well pretty simple.
Smash up the gangs, defeat their kingpins and shut them down for good.
However in the final cutscene of the game there is a twist as the Director reveals that
there was an ulterior motive
for the Agency’s actions.
[CLIP]
10 Years after “Saving” Pacific City we have the beginning of Crackdown 2.
Now this game has 2 layers to its story, the first is what you will experience if you just
play through the main story, however there are hidden audio logs within the game that
actually reveal the truth, but before we get to that we need to look at the basic story.
In the years since the end of the first game there has been relative peace in the city,
however recently things have taken a dark turn.
A medical student named Catalina Thorne was fired by the Agency for performing secret
experiments, and is now trying to take revenge on them.
She began by releasing a virus into the Agent
Cloning facility wiping out the Agency’s greatest source of power.
Then she unleashed the virus onto the people of the city, turning them into monstrous “Freaks”
who would come out at night and kill any humans they could find.
The city fell into anarchy and she used the chaos to rally the public around her, claiming
that the Agency had a found a cure but were keeping secret.
Those who followed her became known as the terrorist group Cell.
This was when heroic Agency unveiled project Sunburst, a series of bombs that would unleash
direct sunlight and wipe out
the Freaks.
However when Catalina got word of the plan she ordered Cell to steal the generators that
powered the bombs.
This is where you the player come in and spend the game traveling around the city reactivating
the bombs and fighting the Freaks and Cell operatives.
After running around the city doing this for a while you are ready to activate the bomb,
but in the final moments Catalina arrives.
[CLIP]
Now if you just played through the main game you would have the impression that Catalina
is evil and the Agency are the heroes who stopped her and saved the city.
However the audio logs hidden within the game tell the true story.
Catalina is no mad scientist turned terrorist, she is actually the true hero of the story.
Long before the start of the game she was hosting a gathering to help homeless people
in the city when they were attacked by the Freaks.
She and the other survivors tried to warn the Agency and the public, however the Agency
covered it up, claiming that it was just an animal attack.
The truth is that the Freaks and the virus were actually a creation of the same man who
created the Agents and they didn't want the truth to get out.
In an effort to reveal what was really going on Catalina formed Cell as a pressure group,
but the Agency continued to ignore their warnings.
Then when the virus began to spread they blamed it on her instead, painting her as the villain
in order to discredit her.
Shortly after this the Agency did in fact find a cure that would work on humans, but
when they tested it on their infected Agents it caused them to lose all their superhuman
powers, so they had them all terminated and swore not to release the cure.
They blamed this on Catalina as well, claiming she broke in and released a virus which killed
all the agents and destroyed their labs meaning they couldn't make an antidote.
Throughout all of this Catalina and Cell had remained peaceful, however this was soon to
change.
The Agency sent in undercover Peacekeepers into Cell gatherings to initiate riots and
violence, and as such Cell became branded as a terrorist group.
Then we have Project Sunburst which the Agency told the public was harmless to humans but
deadly to the Freaks.
However like everything the Agency says it was a lie.
Along with the blast of light the Sunburst system was also designed to emit a form of
mind control that would give the Agency complete control over the population, I’m not exactly
sure how UV rays can be used for mind control, but that’s hardly the most bizarre thing
in this story so let’s just roll with it.
When Catalina learned about this new plan and realised just how evil the Agency really
was set about using Cell to take over the city and stop the project before it was too
late.
However thats where you came along and messed everything up!
In the final cinematic of the game Catalina was making one last ditch effort to stop the
Sunburst, however she was unsuccessful, and that’s where the story so far ends.
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Catalina escaped and in the final scene of the game we see her studying the dismembered
hand of the Agent we were playing, so we will have to see what impact that has on Crackdown
3.
In the new game we will be in the city of New Providence, and the Agency is once again
thrust back into action when a terrorist group called Terra Nova kills power around the world.
However undoubtedly there will be another twist in this story so look out for hidden
secrets as you play through the game!
As always this is James for Curse saying thanks for watching, and enjoy the game!