Believe it or not, it seems like Crackdown 3 is actually coming together. Earlier this month, Microsoft finally unveiled the game’s Wrecking Zone multiplayer mode, which actually delivers the cloud-powered total destruction promised years ago. Windows Central recently sat down with Microsoft Studios’ creative director Joseph Staten and head of production Jorg Neumann to find out more about the game’s multiplayer, campaign, and post-launch plans.
According to Windows Central, the Wrecking Zone 5v5 multiplayer mode currently has two modes –- one involves collecting dog tags from downed enemies, while the other is a standard domination mode, with players attempting to capture and hold map points. Microsoft’s reps actually had more to say about Crackdown 3’s campaign, which is set in the corrupt Providence City and tasks players with infiltrating a corporation, which may have ties to a terrorist organization. The campaign sounds fairly meaty, with nine bosses and three factions to battle against, but it won’t feature the full destruction found in multiplayer. Staten explained the reason for that…
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“[The campaign is] friend-invite only. Crackdown 3 has very little structure, that’s always been the appeal of the game. It’s a big open world, with a huge set of guns, you can do things at your own pace. There’s no prescribed way to play through the bosses, for example. […] But ultimately we decided that this is a game about saving the city, and helping people, rather than reducing it to rubble. We wanted to make sure that we offered that, but it was in a separate mode that was entirely about destruction.”
Staten also touched on the post-launch plans for Crackdown 3.
“We’re not committing to [any post-launch plans] right now, we’re still experimenting with what’s best to do. We’re looking at what people find fun, tweaking the balance and so on. We also look at the long-term hooks. We know that we didn’t want to go with microtransactions. We’re not going with the concept of loot crates. There will be things you can unlock, increasingly cool things. Whether they’re rank based, or based on the number of matches, we’re honestly still playing with it. We’ve made hundreds of things to unlock. We can take that to many places.”
No microtransactions? Or loot boxes? Hundreds of things to unlock in game? Well, doesn’t that all sound refreshingly old-fashioned? Given all the delays, I guess Microsoft is feeling generous.
Crackdown 3 brings the boom to PC and Xbox One on February 15, 2019.
