'Crackdown' Is Free to Celebrate 'Crackdown 3’s Impending Launch

Crackdown 3 is poised to -- finally -- release on Thursday. And to celebrate the game finally hitting Xbox One and PC, after numerous delays, Microsoft is giving away the original Crackdown away for free.

That's right, if you click right here, you can download and play the original 2007 Xbox 360 game that kicked off the series for free. And the better news is you don't have to dig out your Xbox 360 to enjoy it, as the game is playable on Xbox One via backwards compatibility.

What about Crackdown 2 you ask? Well, for some reason that isn't free. So if you want to play both of the games that came before this newest one you'll need to fork over $19.99 to Microsoft. In other words, $20 for two classic Xbox Games, not bad.

Of course, you don't need to play either to enjoy Crackdown 3. The series is far from an epic multi-title narrative. It's more about it's over-the-top chaotic gameplay and just having fun in an open-world sandbox. Besides, a world where Terry Crews is in Crackdown, I don't know if I'd want to go back to Terry Crews-less Crackdown.

If you plan on picking up Crackdown before playing Crackdown 3, be sure to have 6.83GB of space cleared, which is interestingly more space than Crackdown 3 takes up.

Making Crackdown free before Crackdown 3 is a pretty smart move by Microsoft. On the same day Crackdown 3 hits, Metro Exodus, Far Cry New Dawn, and Jump Force all release. In other words, its stiff competition for mindshare and playtime. And so Crackdown 3 needs everything it can get in terms of anticipation. Far Cry is a big series, Jump Force will have the anime parts of the Internet busy, and Metro Exodus looks excellent. Tough competition for an entry in a series that has never really set the world on fire.

Crackdown 3 is poised to release on Xbox One and PC, priced at $59.99. As with any first-party Microsoft release, the game will be available in Xbox Game Pass starting at launch.

For more news, information, and media on the Xbox One console exclusive, be sure to peep all of our previous coverage of the highly-anticipated title by clicking right here.