Publisher: Activision
Developer: Toys for Bob
Platform: PS4, XB1, PC, Switch, PS5, XS
Genre: Action-Platformer
Now I stopped playing platforming games for a long time, 3D platformers of course. Despite the dominance of 2D side-scrolling platformer games, Crash Bandicoot after N.Sane trilogy is here to stay. A seminal sequel to the incredibly difficult yet highly lauded linear platforming franchise. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time however, doesn't change the ballgame for every platformer out there. I mean after Mario Odyssey, the standards raised couldn't be met by any other action platformer games and besides this game, the other platformer released was....Balan Wonderworld and that didn't turn out well at all, not even remotely. Even though this game came out last October, it just recently got a current-gen update and PC release.
Now, despite some criticisms I've had for modern platforming games, not the 2D scroller ones, Crash actually delivers good fun. This is a trial and error type game that challenges every bit of your intuition, reflexes and intelligences to figure out most of the levels. This game can be pretty testing, while often being linear and easy to breeze through, if you're into collectitons, well get your fingers a bit in a twist, because this game will test your patience. Often times being harsher than it should have.
While this is a seminal game, it is by no means a completely different game. This is a Crash Bandicoot title, with some variations added to the formula. This without a doubt, plays the same in terms of gameplay and level designing despite being quintessential at both aspects. The formula of course is starting to show its age. Kind of feeling like they probably got to milking the formula, squeezing the money-maker of old IPs real tight, akin to the usual Activision business practice.
In Crash 4, the titular character returns as well as all the previous characters he met, including a female Bandicoot, Coco, playable on all levels. In here, time and universe have been distorted and are warping together into a singularity, which eventually will lead to the collapse of time and space as they know it. It's upto to Crash and the Bandicoot friends to stop Neo Cortex and Nefarious Tropy from dominating all the universes.
You play through various levels of each chapter of the same locales. Crash is super into jumping over enemies or doing his wildly Tasmanian-Devil spin to beat enemies off their paths. Meanwhile, as tradition, you jump on and break crates for mangoes. Lots and lots of mangoes, earning and breaking crates in each level earns you diamonds which unlocks new skins and access to different story levels.
Though this design is pretty archaic and is meant for mostly trophy and achievement hunters. Not exactly what I'd call a good addition to the overall fun factor, especially with today's standards for side activities within other platformer titles.
The most important part of Crash, are these odd puzzle sections. You'll come across levitating floors, fire hose passthroughs, cranes, railway slide sections, platforms, etc. Like, the game is designed in the most intuitive way for you to figure out and pass through sections of the levels even while dealing with enemies whom you have to improvise against often times. You'll die if you aren't careful and try to have a precision of sorts around these levels. In fact, these levels can test you at times, since they're pretty difficult to get through. Despite that, they're well intuitively designed and I kind of have to admit how far they came with everything from adding different personalities, appeal to intricate yet challenging sections of levels.
The most fun I've had was when you're just blazing through the levels, bypassing all the cartoony badguys blocking your path, you pretty much have little care in the world while you're enjoying the obscenity infront of you. But to truly play a Crash game like any other is to play the levels each, once then remember before going in, carefully observing what's around for your collectiton ambitions. Again, while it's easier to trudge through just to finish the game, it gets more difficult if you wanna 100% everything. Not cutting anybody any slack anytime soon.
While Crash and Coco are the main star of the game, he isn't the only character you play however. As the game pits you with Neo Cortex, Alternative Universe Tawna or Dingodile. Playing these characters with different gameplay designs like Tawna having a whip to slap enemies off a distance or grapple to the next section from far off. Dingo with his uh...vacuum gun thingy. But wait, there's more. Playing Crash throughtout the game, you unlock new totem abilities. One allows you to warp between objects existing in different realities. The other is this dark matter that lets you spin for very long periods and even jump in really high altitudes for reach. Though these abilities are used for certain levels by design without availability elsewhere. But they're really fun to use as they elevate the platforming sections further.
One thing to note, this game's levity doesn't let up. Like it's so funny and charming all throughout. I mean what is a Crash Bandicoot game without the zany humor. The writing is also terrific with such engaging characters, hairball scenarios, and a nonsensical story that mostly relies on the characters charm to not hold it accountable for being, well bad.
Then there's the boss battles, I mean what's a crash game where you die several times to figure out how to kill the boss before finishing the chapter or level to transition to another one. Bosses here are tough and take all that you've learned throughout the platforming to beat them.
Sometimes, a bit of your brain is going to be needed to solve some puzzling sequences before beating them up. Some are pretty easy, others downright painful.
Crash Bandicoot 4 has a colorful, vibrant world. The visuals look really polish, like slick and little mat in shade. Like basically a bunch of rubberized action figures, walking and talking, but it works well without taking so much of my PC's resources. This game is pretty easy on the hardware. To no shock, this was made using UE4. Everything looks latest, upto snuff for modern gaming.
The audio is bonkers, as it should be. I mean all of it is a retread of the previous games, but it also sounds refined. Very refined and still catchy. You're playing a game that only Disney wish they've really made. The music is just another complimentary nonsense to the entire Crash audio rosters.
Despite all these positives, I mean I did enjoy playing the game. There was a lot of questions at the back of my head. I had no interest of even trying to finish the extra milestones for each of the levels. I didn't try unlocking the skins behind them. Not only that, like this game will crush your spirit oftens, sometimes some of the sections I've gone through felt cheap to me in terms of difficulty. But worst offenders is the control, this isn't what I would call a fluidly playable platforming game. That's a bad negative aspect to be wary of for a game like this. Some parts of it kind of grinded my gears, so I've tolerated for funs sake.
Crash Bandicoot 4 is a fun sequel that improves so much of the early games while bringing in modernizing of its archaic appeal. But it isn't perfect, that actually feels a bit like lost potential.
A few pros and cons if you will -
Pros:
- Fun world, filled with whimsy and slapstick cartoony charm.
- Challenging gameplay makes you want to keep playing.
- Characters are pretty unique, including alternative versions of themselves.
- New ways to play thanks to totem abilities.
- Varied level designs that improves and elevates upon the older staples of the franchise.
- 4-player trial mini-game is actually pretty fun.
Cons:
- Not a fan of how the controls work. Often stumbles more than it should.
- Trophy hunting isn't exactly what I'd call a fun time.
- Some sections for collecting items are just really unfair.
