How Terry Crews Influenced Crackdown 3

Crackdown 3 - Terry Crews
(Image credit: Microsoft)

During this year's San Diego Comic-Con Microsoft and Reagent Games unleashed some new content for Crackdown 3, the upcoming third-person action game featuring Hollywood actor Terry Crews. While Crews may not be voicing Doomfist in Overwatch, he's managed to land a gig in Crackdown 3 and even found ways to influence the design of the game.

In a video interview over on IGN, writer Jon Goff explained what sort of influence Crews had on the production of the game, after the hosts asked what it was like trying to write a character to match the enthusiasm and over-the-top energy that Crews brings to a project. Goff explained...

We try to write as big and bombastic as we can and then once [Terry Crews] gets it in his voice, in his attitude, his positivity and his energy just amps it up. And he'll play with things from time to time but he's good at, like, taking the words and however we might have imagined them being larger than life, he just amps it up.

Terry Crews takes on the role of Commander Jaxon, a super-powered Agent, and he will be playable in the game along with the other agents in the title. The story itself takes place a decade after the events of Crackdown 2, and it centers around an island city controlled by the Terranova corporation that consists of a collection of villains who have come together to control the city. Given that the Agents in the game are super-powered, Goff mentions that it was necessary to elevate the threat level of the villains and find ways to make sure that each of the bad guys in the game felt as if they were a match for the player-character as the player levels up the Agent and gets stronger.

The duo also explained that Crews' energy was unmatched for Crackdown 3 and that due to his energy it seemed necessary to ramp up the power-level of the Agents from level 5 to level 6, so the art team came up with a special design for Crews' Commander Jaxon. Unfortunately, we don't get to see what that suit looks like all maxed out, but if the levels in the first Crackdown were anything to go by, hopefully, it's a cool looking outfit. You can, however, get to see some of the in-game action that was on display at this year's San Diego Comic-Con with the seven minute clip below that IGN managed to showcase, featuring some of the new weapons in the game, such as the singularity vortex cannon, which sucks everything nearby into a black hole of sorts. Check it out below.

During the video, we also learn that Crews provided some motion capture work for the game and that he really gave it his all.

Whether or not it actually plays a role in improving the overall gameplay remains to be seen, but we do get to see that a lot of the standard gameplay elements from the original Crackdown and Crackdown 2 have returned. Assault rifles, rocket launchers, and grenade weapons are back, along with the ability to pick up some environmental objects, such as poles, dumpsters, cans and some barricades.

Crackdown 3 is scheduled to release on November 7th for Windows 10, Xbox One and Xbox One X.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.