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Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Game review

Game review 02 October 2020, 16:56

author: Karol Laska

Crash Bandicoot 4 Review – Crash Returns the Same, Yet Better

Playing the newest Crash I realized that I've seen it all somewhere before. Familiar mechanics, levels, animations... But you know what? These copied solutions go perfectly together, and we've just got a new king of 3D platformers!

The review is based on the PS4 version.

The new Crash isn't subtitled It's About Time for no reason. This is not only about the creation of a story continuation of part three after many years (not counting the relatively fresh remaster of the entire trilogy), but also about the main theme of these productions. Which is the aforementioned time.

So we leap with our cute bandics between dimensions, trying to get the same bad guys for the fourth time. However, it's impossible to hide that the theme also became somewhat of an artistic idea of the creators. They reached into the past but needed some base – the game Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy provided it. They also took a look at a few other platformers and borrowed some of the most interesting mechanics from them. And all of this was done in an audiovisual setting reminiscent of Pixar's best animated films of the past few years. The new Crash doesn't aim to be the trend-setter in the genre, just its leading representative.

But we've already seen it! So what?

PROS:
  1. playability, playability and playability again;
  2. beautiful cartoon graphics rich in environmental detail;
  3. steadily growing difficulty;
  4. brilliantly designed levels with loads of things to collect;
  5. same as before, only harder, bolder and better!
CONS:
  1. somewhat wasted potential of the story;
  2. the length of the game – the main story ends fairly quickly, and some side actions are mere fillers.

I really don't know what you could expect from this game. Because I understand both the players demanding fundamental changes, and the group of traditionalists, who want the new games to have as much fidelity to the original as possible. But I don't either any of them will be met with bitter disappointment.

You can see from the start that we're playing the same game, only better. The first movements we performed have an almost identical feel – and all the jumps, twists and other stunts were almost copied from the N. Sane Trilogy. In addition, the first locations look strangely familiar. We start again on the beach, and there's a lot of crates waiting to be smashed. Once again, you can fall into the apple-picking mania in between dodging deadly obstacles. The framework remains the same; we don't have to learn anything from scratch, but fresh players won't be suddenly overwhelmed by some advanced mechanics.

On the other hand, you can't complain about boredom, the levels impress with dynamism and colours already at the start, and the high difficulty becomes apparent right away. Some of you will probably ask: "Why play the same game again?” The answer: "Patience, lad, patience." Wait out the few initial stages. After a while, we move from the tropics to a desert straight from Mad Max and gradually begin to notice the novelties prepared by the developers.

Playing with time

About this stage in the game, we get to lay our hands on the new mechanics. However, they didn't come out of nowhere, and certainly not from some brainstorming conducted by the American studio. All these ideas can probably be associated with other platformer games; the first one to spring to my mind was the indie game Celeste. I wouldn't call it a brazen theft, rather a creative reinterpretation. But we live in the postmodern era, in which Quentin Tarantino, is considered one of the best, and certainly the most successful, directors, in spite of his work being strongly derivative.

Best bullet time since Matrix. Fact, not opinion.

But let's delve too much into cinematography and go back to the most important changes in Crash 4, because these make the game smoother and, most importantly, more appealing. So we have the standard gravity reversal, allowing you to jump from floor to ceiling with a single button. We can also turn into a purple tornado spinning at whooping speed, able to fly cover distances at the expense of balance on often unstable ground. We can also slow down the environment around us, allowing for the use of moving surfaces as temporary platforms.

To me, all these temporary "skills" remind me of the superpowers from the third Rayman. In both cases, they have been adapted to the overall style of the game and hint in some ways at the strategy we need to take for the next couple (or couple dozen, if the stage is difficult) minutes of the adventure.

They're not particularly impressive, as none of them are truly revolutionary. Still, I had a great time using the new mechanics – they simply make sense. This is not the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows casus, where the creators introduced the ability to fire a wand like a machine gun out of the blue. There was a lack of coherence and logic in that case, whereas the developers from Toys for Bob transfer other people's ideas into their game with such freedom and feeling as if they were their authors.

HOT SEAT

The authors also made sure you can play Crash with your friends, and in the most classic form that harks back to the elementary school days and the days spend playing Heroes of Might and Magic III with your gang. Everything happens through a single controller, and players have to wait their turn.

This applies both to the story mode, in which the controller is passed on to another participant after each death, as well as to the new mode – a simple multiplayer based on achieving the best time on the given stage. Extras are modest but welcome.

That's not all, of course. We have familiar sequences that force us to move constantly and reward good reflexes, as well as separate levels where we can play other characters. And yes, there have been some excesses in previous parts, such as playing as the series' main antagonist, Doctor Cortex, but here, these stages are the norm and appear regularly. To be clear, they involve not only changing the character model, but also a range of other basic skills.

Each character requires a different approach.

The aforementioned dwarf villain has a laser gun that turns opponents into stone and jelly, Dingodile is a massive lizard wielding a box blower and insects of all ointment in his hand, and Tawna Bandicoot, or Crush' crush, can boast some serious dexterity and a Just-Cause kinda hook.

I have to admit that each of these characters felt very different to me, but definitely not unpleasant. Avid fans can also control Coco, what's more – she is one of the two main playable characters, but it is a matter of our choice, as she has the same set of moves as Crash.

Timeaholic

The developers deserve praise for maintaining consistency of gameplay with the story. The Crash series has never been famous for particularly complex narratives, even in this part there are autoironic lyrics about the heroes going in circles – everyone seems to understand that the evil will be defeated just to eventually return. That's the climate we have, apparently.

Even so, each character here is used for something specific. Tawna's job is to save the main characters from dying too soon, so she tries to be a few steps ahead of them in every part of this crazy multiverse. Dingodile, on the other hand, feels like Shrek – someone entered his property (i.e. a farm) and devastated it, and while trying to save his legacy, the lizard fell into a space-time loop. The paths of all the characters cross eventually, in a typical, epic finale. And while we're getting something like that I...

I can't help the feeling that the creators could act a tad more boldly, with some more esprit and elan. The plot is limited to well-executed cutscenes, and the rest is a silence with occasional humorous cut-ins made during our wanderings. It's a bit of a shame that the game didn't get a little more life and love. Generally, it I wouldn't be a bigger problem, because I don't expect a Disco Elysium level of narrative from Crash. But I had this strange impression that the game was at first promising something new in terms of story, and then decided there was no point trying, cause no one carse. Well, Mrs. Game, I do.

Especially with a theme like interdimensional travel, the potential is literally infinite. A similar premise will be used by next-gen Ratchet & Clank, and I have a strange feeling that they will do a lot better. Still, it's quite enjoyable, and some of the dialogues can be really amusing.

Cut-scenes are great, but they could use some more content.

It's almost Pixar

My disappointment with the unsatisfactory story is somewhat mitigated by my great admiration for the audiovisual layer of this game, as it brings to mind the best Disney feature films. And we all know how touching these can be. Crash can also squeeze out tears, but tears of a very different kind. For now, however, I would like to focus on these lovely graphics, which – and that's noteworthy – has undergone some changes compared to the N. Sane Trilogy.

Maybe not at first glance, but you can see that the setting has become a lot more cartoonish. While people from Vicarious Visions carefully cel-shaded every blade of grass a few years ago, now they focus more on simplicity and picturesque nature of individual objects. Our beloved bandik also looks different – there's a little more expression and flexibility straight from Looney Tunes.

But don't be fooled by the word "simplicity" – the truth is that there's no game in this series that would be more advanced in terms of individual levels. They are linear, but the world around us is alive, not to mention the flavors hidden by the creators (and I counted at least three Spyro dragons hidden in different places).

AND THE MOVIE? It's planned.

My dreams of a Crash Bandicoot feature movie could come true as courtesy of Sony Pictures. The company wants to tell the story of this crazy animal in an upcoming animated film, but we don't know much about the project at this point. What's certain is that it will be based on the events of the game, so Cortex will get the fifth beating.

I have mixed feelings about the sceneries presented in the game, because on the one hand, we have to traverse generic winter or tropical maps (the bane of every platformer), and on the other hand, we will find some real gems, including the beautiful neon city of the future, as well as the memorable music level in climates taken alive from Cuphead.

Those pirate maps are kinda cool, but a little formulaic, no?

And it may not yet be a new generation promising no charging screens, and therefore very elaborate and monumental levels, but I was quite impressed with some of the landscapes a few times. I was particularly impressed by the huge climbing walls – the player looks at them with a slight disbelief and awe; they act like one big mechanism, in which every sprocket counts, and after all, you will have to climb them, and the delight will disappear, inevitable giving way to frustration.

Hurry slowly

And I'm not going to beat around the bush – Crash Bandicoot 4: It's Aabout time is, in my opinion, the most difficult title of the entire series. Although it should be noted that only from the purely gameplay perspective, because less experienced players can choose an easier mode, in which we have an infinite number of lives, and after a certain number of deaths, we get assistances such as more frequent checkpoints and masks that inhibit some damage (I confess – and I took advantage of both).

Plus, the latest production from Toys for Bob is a beautiful piece of work. On almost every level there was a stage that cost me at least a few lives. Not to mention the final sequences that have sent me to grave more than 50 times. Don't be fooled by this cute envelope; it's still the kind of Crash we know well, so if your little sister or brother wants to try playing these innocent pets, warn them.

I finished the game in less than 8 hours, and it should be noted that after a while, I started to ignore apples, because all that mattered to me was survival and winning the struggle against myself. The hardcore players will have more to do here; they might actually feel they're in paradise. For picking fruit, we obtain crystals that can be spent on unlocking many fancy skins for the main characters. In addition, after completing a stage, one can try to pass it on time, as well as in a special inverted mode, which actually offers a mirror image of the same map.

Sekwencje ucieczkowe sa bardzo satysfakcjonujace, choc potrafia zalezc za skóre.

And it's seemingly cool, because you have to work hard to reach 100%, but it's actually a shame that it requires completing the same stages in different ways. It seems to me a bit like artificially lengthening the playing time and thus compensating for the campaign that could be considered short. Still, perfectionists shouldn't mind that much extra fun.

Everything works like clockwork.

It's impossible to say that the new Crash took the easy way because on many levels it even pushed the series forward, certainly cementing its position as an all-time 3-D platformer classic. It's living proof that some genres don't need rediscovering. Revolution is alright only when it's really needed. And let us say it openly that this particular genre has been in serious decline for some time, and only titles such as Yooka-Laylee, Spyro Reignited Trilogy or Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy have kept it afloat.

So it's good to live with the thought that there's a game like It's About Time on the market because it's not only the about time – it's also the best time to consistently strengthen the position of this form of arcade gameplay. And the Toys for Bob studio has just showed us their prime contender.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I've never played the original Crash or even Croc. My childhood was dominated by such classics as Kao the Kangarooand Rayman . The remakes of Crash and Spyro ignited in me a lifelong love of three-dimensional platformers, and today I'm reviewing another great entry from this genre. Life writes beautiful stories.

Karol Laska | Gamepressure.com

Karol Laska

Karol Laska

His adventure with journalism began with a personal blog, the name of which is no longer worth quoting. Then he interpreted Iranian dramas and the Joker, writing for cinematography journal, which, sadly, no longer exists. His writing credentials include a degree in film studies, but his thesis was strictly devoted to video games. He has been writing for Gamepressure since March 2020, first writing a lot about movies, then in the newsroom, and eventually, he became a specialist in everything. He currently edits and writes articles and features. A long-time enthusiast of the most bizarre indie games and arthouse cinema. He idolizes surrealism and postmodernism. He appreciates the power of absurdity. Which is probably why he also tried soccer refereeing for 2 years (with so-so results). He tends to over-philosophize, so watch out.

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