There is a playful side to the action in Crackdown 3, the voice actors clearly hamming up their performances as much as possible, but Sumo Digital's faithful take on the series won't convince naysayers who didn't board the Crackdown train in 2007. Do you wake up each Valentine's Day morning wishing for a card that has a picture of Barry on it, with the slogan "Bee Mine," Barry pointing suggestively to his crotch? Or do you have a longing for a lot of mindless action, high-powered weaponry, explosions, and 1000 orbs to find in a large playground? You can answer yes to both, but Crackdown 3 probably isn't for you if you're only interested in the former. It's at this point where you probably have to take a look at yourself. Crackdown 3 has some really cool looking boss fights. This is not a unique and inventive take on progression in an open-world action game, but it does the job and there's always a lot of stuff to get on with.
Eventually, once all core locations have been taken down, you get a crack at the boss, usually tucked away inside a mech, robotic suit, or attack ship. Blow up enough infrastructure, enemies, or vehicles in one of these locations (you're always told exactly what to do) and you'll take over that area, weakening the sub-boss' resilience to attack. Each leader runs multiple locations on the map, which act as strongholds of sorts. You're required to take down numerous leaders in order to open up the Central Tower for a final assault. (I think it's the wonky facial hair that throws off the whole look.) You don't have to play as Terry, but why wouldn't you? Other agents have bonus XP in different skill areas, but I ask again: Why wouldn't you choose to play as Terry Crews?Įven though you're basically Hulk, you can't take on Elizabeth until you first weaken her defenses. He's actually called Jaxon, but he is a virtual version Terry Crews with a slightly odd face. You play as a super-powered agent (capable of leaping higher than buildings and throwing cars) working for The Agency, with the new Commander being Terry Crews. It's a suitably evil task, but one that feels more like it fell from a Pinky and the Brain script than the next Avengers movie. The big bad, TerraNova-headed by CEO Elizabeth Niemand-has set up shop in the fictional city of New Providence to shut down electricity throughout the world. Structurally and plot-wise, Crackdown 3 does little to excite. In 2007, inappropriate pollination had nothing on Crackdown's orb collecting, and now we've finally got the sequel it deserved.
I don't own a t-shirt with the entire Bee Movie script printed onto it and I don't watch 'hilarious' edits of the film on YouTube in which 'funny' changes are made every time the word "bee" is said (although I do admit that the Nicholas Cage screaming dub has its merits). I'll be honest, I don't understand how people gravitate around bad things. While Crackdown became little more than a memory, trotted out on internet forums to reminisce about the good old days, every thought about Bee Movie's bestiality acted as a virtual swig of Red Bull to get the meme juices flowing. The suggestion that such an impossible relationship could work has overjoyed an entire generation over the last decade. The following 12 years didn't play out as I expected.īee Movie focused on Barry, a bee, and Vanessa, a human, who were seen by many to have romantic and sexual feelings toward one another.
Although initially snubbed as the game that came with the Halo 3 demo, this open-world explosive shooter with a superb sense of movement resonated with players, making it one of the most loved Xbox franchises. Crackdown, an Xbox 360 exclusive from Realtime Worlds, released in the same year. I watched Bee Movie that year and more or less instantly forgot everything about it. It's truly bizarre how some things manage to stick around whilst seemingly more important contributions to entertainment and culture disappear without a trace.