Leave the “Halo 3” talk at the door.

Seriously, I know you’re out there, you people who bought “Crackdown” just because it came with a key to the “Halo 3” beta.

That’s no reason to buy a game, especially one that deserves a buy on its own merits. At the very least, you owe it to yourself to at least try the game you just bought for $60.

The inclusion of the beta key spurred some initial fears that “Crackdown” wouldn’t be very good, that Microsoft was using the beta as a way to lure weak gamers into buying a bad game.

But “Crackdown” is good. Very good. In fact, its name probably should be shortened to “Crack” because I couldn’t stop playing it all week long, even after I beat the game’s main “mission” and even despite a considerable lack of depth. It’s easily the most fun I’ve had with an action game in a long time.

Here’s the story: You play as an employee of The Agency. You’ve been physically enhanced to be faster and stronger than a normal person, with great skill with guns, explosives and cars. And you can make yourself even stronger by gathering “agency supplements” (represented by glowing, humming orbs scattered around the city) and by taking out the bad guys.

Your goal: To clear the streets of three rival gangs who have created chaos.

I didn’t even mess with the gangs for the first few hours because I was having so much fun leaping tall buildings and tossing around cars with my bare hands. I alternately felt like Spider-Man and Superman.

Even cooler, as you increase your stats, your physical appearance changes, to someone older and more muscular. Even the Agency’s cars change appearance as you level your driving skill (the top-level car looks like the Batmobile).

When I say “Crackdown” lacks depth, it’s because there isn’t much to do other than filling your stat meters and taking out the gangs. You run and gun however you see fit, without any side quests or direction.

And yet, that kept me going for hours on end, seven days in a row. Imagine what ‘Crackdown’ could have been with more variety in missions and more bosses.

Not that it’s without faults.

The first quite literally popped up. Each of the gangs and their minibosses has an info window that covers the screen when you discover hideouts. Many times, I almost died because I was in the middle of a firefight when one of those screens popped up. It would have been better if there was something in the corner that notified you that a box was available, and you could click on it at your own leisure.

Also, there’s a fun, easily accessible co-op mode (which saves your accumulated stats even in a friend’s game), but only the host gets any “main-game” achievements. Other achievements count, but not those for which you worked so hard (and now have to go repeat on your own).

And speaking of game saves, you can only have one. So you can’t keep a leveled-up guy for co-op play and start a new game. However, you can go back into the game after defeating the final boss, and you have the option to turn crime on or off.

Some people may not like the graphical style. It’s similar to cel-shading, but it’s not. I personally liked it and thought it added a kind of “comic book superhero” feel. There’s also a stellar draw distance (how far away you can see objects).

It may not be as deep as other games, but “Crackdown” is so much fun that most people won’t care. So take that “Halo 3” beta card, put it in a safe place, and, for your own sake, play “Crackdown.”

I keep going back and forth on “Sonic and the Secret Rings.” One minute, I’m having more fun than I’ve had with a Sonic game in a long, long time, and the next, I’m so frustrated I’m throttling the Wii remote (that “clumsy gamer” wrist strap also doubles as an “angry gamer” restraint).

“Sonic” takes the usual mad-dash-for-coins roller-coaster ride that is the series and transforms it with the Wii’s motion-sensitive controller. You hold the remote sideways and control Sonic’s left-to-right movement by tilting in that direction. When in the air, you attack a target by pushing the remote forward quickly.

When the game was going well, I really enjoyed it. It’s kind of a hybrid of the whole old two-dimensional games and the new (worse) 3-D ones. It’s in three dimensions, but Sonic is limited to a set path with some leeway on each side, which is a big improvement over the haphazard, chaotic mess most of the more recent games have become.

At the same time, it’s missing the precision that you get out of hitting buttons. Because you’re using the Wii remote and moving at such high speeds, you don’t always do what you need to exactly when you want. Add to this the fact that Sonic moves forward on his own, leaving little room for error in timing, and you end up repeating levels over and over and over. And I hate that.

But, as I said, it’s still a major improvement over the most recent games, and Sonic fans with a Wii can’t go wrong by at least checking it out.

Reach Aimee Green at (402) 473-7326 or Aimee.Green@lee.net.