Crackdown: More 'Down' Than 'Crack'?

Crackdown developer David Jones has made some frank comments about the game's lack of appeal. Speaking to MTV about the marketing of Crackdown the Real Time Worlds founder said, "This game does not look good in screenshots."

Elaborating, he said "That is probably the biggest thing I've struggled with… In screenshots, it pales in [comparison] to a great-looking, realistic-looking shot."

That said, he doesn't think the game's bad, just a hard sell. "Like we've always said: It's a game player's game. It's not something that's going to sell in screenshot." He says that once players get into the game it will start to appeal more.

So, it's a gradual sell, apparently. In the focus groups players were unimpressed for the first 15 minutes or so. "People weren't quite sure, because at that level, you're kind of like most characters in most other games," said Jones. As their characters started to strengthen up and do all the jumping-over-building type stuff the game promises players started to brighten up, Jones reckons.

It's because of all the above that Halo 3 Beta access was thrown in with the game. "We kind of knew 'Crackdown' would need as much help as it could get to get into players' hands…90 percent of the fight is just getting people to try something."

Which is all fair enough. SPOnG's all for giving something a go before passing judgement. But those are hardly fighting words, are they? Maybe, if Real Time Worlds wants to make games that sell, it should make games that are more accessible and visually appealing in individual screens? Apparently not. "Somebody's got to take risks," was Jones's response to the suggestion.

Crackdown will hit UK shops on February 15th. SPOnG will wait until then before it passes judgement. If, however, you've played the demo and want to let us know what you think then head on down to the Forum.

Read our initial Crackdown hands-on right here!

^{Source: MTV}