GET CRACKING FOR SOME MINDLESS FUN.

Byline: Redmond Carolipio

Staff Writer

If you're going to try and find something emotionally profound in the "Crackdown" experience, don't bother. When it comes to stuff like storytelling, character development and internal struggle, "Crackdown" is as deep as a driveway puddle.

But that doesn't mean you can't have fun.

Instead of attempting to guide players through an intricate story line, "Crackdown" appeals to an adult's classic playground sensibilities -- you get a few simple ground rules, but you're essentially free to just run and play. How much fun you have depends entirely on you.

Realtime Worlds, the developer, has taken this playground theme and applied it to the very mature concept of extremely forceful crimefighting.

You play a genetically enhanced supercop whose sole mission is to eliminate all gang activity in the vast expanses of Pacific City. You've got guns, you've got cars -- kill 'em all. That's about it.

At the heart of the gameplay is the ability to upgrade key attributes of your nameless agent. You don't create him, but you pick from a stable of dudes that cover various ethnic groups. It's a Rainbow Coalition of pain.

The attributes are strength, agility, firearms, explosives and driving. Taking out hordes of gangsters in the cel-shaded, open-world environment of Pacific City will upgrade any or all of these talents to freakish levels.

For instance, running around and kicking everyone to death will jack up your strength. Every time you reach a new level, you'll get treated to the sight of your guy floating in the air, followed by a big shockwave bursting from his body. The stronger you get, the bigger you get -- which leads to your agent being able to pick up a garbage truck and throw it at a small hit squad.

The real single-player magic starts when you upgrade your agility by finding green orbs scattered all over the city. Better agility leads to inhuman leaping ability, and within a few hours you could cleanly leap over buildings and climb up skyscrapers.

At its best, the upgrade system could lead players to ignore the main story and just cultivate their agent, like a really violent virtual pet. Top explosives ability means you can almost nuke away truckloads of bad guys and watch them fly into the air.

Then, there's online co-op, which is where the true value of the game is measured. A buddy on Xbox Live can "jump" into your game, and the both of you can clean up the city together.

With the right person, "Crackdown" co-op turns into a example of wild, free-flowing and mean-spirited gaming bliss. I tossed a car (with a friend in it) onto a freeway overpass to avoid having to drive all the way around to the entrance. I've played baseball using a hatchback as the ball and my leg as the bat. I've had a friend toss a car into the air so I can blast it with a rocket.

The problem with all this is that like any playground game, you eventually get bored. In single-player mode, you won't get much deviation from the rinse-and-repeat pattern of find- and-kill the gang leader.

With a souped-up agent, the action can get really tedious, as there's really no force in Pacific City that can handle you and your surreal talents once they're maxed out. However, hurtling from rooftop to rooftop never gets old.

You also can't enter most of the buildings, as the game forces you to jump and climb around to find the right path to your targets. It's a logistical nightmare that never really gets addressed -- why can't you open a door? Because the game says so, that's why.

There's an annoying tendency for you to be able to target dead bodies, and the camera has a habit of zooming in so close that you can't see your agent.

With all that said, "Crackdown" still makes for a pretty solid, if not special, game playing experience. It may not weave the most memorable tale, but it gives you plenty of tools to have your own brand of fun.

CRACKDOWN - Three stars

Platform: Xbox 360.

Rated: M for Mature.

In a nutshell: Not deep but fun.