To say that Crackdown 3 is a good Crackdown game and should be scored as such is to pretend every series exists in a universe by itself, wherein only games with the same name may set the standards by which a new one can be judged. The reality is that we all live and play games in a universe where thats not true, and countless other games are out there to compare it against. So yes, Crackdown 3 is in some ways an improvement over the original, but if that same original game were to have come out today, it would likely fare poorly by modern standards.
Source: N4G PC Crackdown 3: Why a Good Deal Doesn't Make a Game Score Better