Crackdown Demo delayed...

If there's one thing you can count on with Xbox Live content is that when a release date is given for something, it ain't gonna happen.

Gamespot reports that the demo is held up in Microsoft's strict certification process but will still be out by the end of January, with the final game still set to ship on February 20th.

I've been excited to try the game since first reading GameInformer's unveiling of the title last year. The co-op elements in particular (which this demo supposedly focuses on) are what really interest me. There are so few games that do online co-op right (Gears of War) and plenty that do it half-assed, (pretty much every Tom Clancy game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance), or not at all.

Real Time World's plan for Crackdown's co-op seemed to good to be true and I've kept my expectations low, a cynical habit learned from my excitement and subsequent crushing disappointment over a game that was never released, called Project Ego, which turned into a game called Fable.

With any luck the co-op will at least approach what they originally planned, like being able to jump in and out of a friend's game at any point, and being able to "borrow" powers from people on your friend's list. Co-op seems to be so hard to implement in games, especially online, that the promise of a giant sandbox style game capable of keeping track of two players independently is one I take with a grain of salt.

I'll be extremely impressed if they can manage to keep the freedom and not restrict co-op play to small sections of the city or require players to stay close to each other. Or even worse, make the co-op a completely separate sequence of short missions as in Rainbow Six: Vegas or Ghost Recon:AW.