I must be level with you for a moment. I did not play Crackdowns 1 and 2. I was busy killing Sims in my swimming pool for the graveyard on my property. But gazing into the past, I am witness to a franchise that, while not having aged well, amounts to a pretty fun time. The first Crackdown was an …

In the month of love, Xbox Game Pass is about to get even better. While Crackdown 3 is the biggest release of the month for Xbox Game Pass, it’s not the only high-profile game arriving. The second and fourth-best Batman games respectively, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Akrham City, are also on the way, with Square Enix’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider rounding out the new releases.

It has been a long and arduous road to Crackdown 3, one that began with an announcement at E3 2014 and saw numerous delays along the way. Honestly, I’m still amped for the title. It doesn’t need to be the best-looking game on the block, merely a satisfying power trip that gives you a sandbox to play in and plenty of explosions to hurl at anyone who gets in your way. Plus, having the 99’s Sergeant Terry Jeffords as the hero of the single-player campaign, makes for a pretty enticing product.

Crackdown 3’s multiplayer looks kind of addictive. Microsoft promised an orgy of cloud-powered destruction in the form of Crackdown 3’s Wrecking Zone multiplayer, which features two teams of five tackling one another in a highly destructible environment. See for yourself in the video below.

The game was supposed to be the big launch title for the Xbox One X, but saw a late delay again – this time to a nebulous February 2019. At X018 this weekend, Microsoft confirmed the game’s release date, which should – SHOULD – be final. It’ll be out on Xbox One and PC on February 15th, 2019.

Crackdown 3…will it ever be released? Well it certainly won’t be this year, as Microsoft’s launch window for its kills ‘n skills sandbox is only arriving in February 2019. While that date pits Crackdown 3 against games such as Anthem, Days Gone and Anno 1800, it’s still a hell of a lot better than the competition that it would have to face if it came out in jam-packed fourth quarter of 2018.

Despite being just a few days since it was revealed the game was getting delayed, a brand new gameplay trailer for Crackdown 3 has been revealed at E3

In a groundbreaking move. Microsoft has announced that all of its future first-party games will be added to its Game Pass subscription service on the day of their release.