Hitting store shelves today is “Crackdown”, the first of 2007’s highly anticipated new games for the Microsoft Xbox 360. Developed by Scottish game company Real Time Worlds and from the mind of the same programmer that created the original “Grand Theft Auto”, “Crackdown” lets you explore the futuristic crime-filled streets of Pacific City and attempt to bring law and order to its frightened citizens.

You can roam all across the massive city and carry out mayhem using a wide array of weapons and vehicles but “Crackdown” has some new tricks that you won’t find in any “GTA” games. For starters there’s a co-op player mode that lets two gamers get involved in the action. There’s also the ability for your character to develop their skills to make them stronger, faster, tougher; the more you play, the better your character gets. And with the game’s open-ended physics engine, the destruction that you create in the city doesn’t go away. Want to block off a street so the criminals don’t run away? Barricade the intersection with cars and then blow them up. Problem solved.

Even with all that going for it, “Crackdown” has another must-have reason for buying it: by purchasing a copy of the game you gain access to the “Halo 3” multiplayer beta that’s scheduled to happen this spring. It’s a limited time offer and for those players that can’t wait for the final chapter of this legendary gaming saga, this is the closest they can get to playing the new “Halo” until its fall release.