Crash Bandicoot 4 It 39;s About Time Pc
Cheryll Witting
Crash 4 even makes concessions depending on your progress. For example, if you die enough times at a certain spot, it may add in a new checkpoint crate to help you along. Not that I ever had that happen, of course. Definitely not.
Do you ever wish you could wipe a few underwhelming sequels from history and pick up where the last good one left off? You know, like what Superman Returns or Terminator: Dark Fate tried to do? Well, with Crash Bandicoot 4: It\u2019s About Time, developer Toys for Bob actually pulls off the half-reboot, half-continuation idea. This is a direct sequel to Naughty Dog\u2019s original trilogy that concluded in 1998, and this team really gets Crash. It\u2019s all the characters and action platforming I loved about the old games but with a bunch of great new ideas mixed in so well that they feel like they were always supposed to be there.
Crash Bandicoot 4 makes rapid-fire homages to Crash\u2019s past, picking up where Warped left off and having Crash\u2019s biggest and most delightfully hammy villains, N. Trophy and Neo Cortex break out of prison along with Uka Uka and trot out a typical video game villain plan to take over the multiverse. Crash has always been about the action, but the self-aware, amusing script walks the careful line of winking self-awareness that this sequel has come so many years later while also telling a genuinely funny, personable story.
And it\u2019s one that Toys for Bob tells well through Crash\u2019s main campaign, which took me about nine or so hours to beat\u2026 but with only a 34% completion rating. The other 66% is, among other things, an entire gamut of challenges to complete. (More on that later.)
Crash 4 keeps the main story progression linear, reverting to an overworld map similar to Crash 1\u2019s rather than the hub rooms of Crash 2 and 3 that I personally preferred. My initial surprise with that decision aside, the setup works well enough to keep momentum going as I bounced from one pop-up storybook-esque time period map to the next, and Toys for Bob imbues even that overworld map with plenty of charm. From level landmarks to side characters waiting for their turn in the spotlight and obvious spaces for unlockable bonus levels, it\u2019s not only easy to get around but a visual treat, too.\n
This is true from large scale decisions like building each level with more objectives (such as finding a certain percentage of Wumpa fruit, unlocking all crates, finding a hidden gem, and only dying so many times) to design choices like putting you through increasingly long and complex sequences that require perfect dashes, jumps, and spins against enemies. Those make Crash 4\u2019s imaginative worlds some of my favorite of the series.
One of the very best new ideas comes when the four Quantum Masks are thrown into the mix and you get access to powers like gravity bending, time slowdown, and more. Gravity alterations always break my brain, and I died while mistiming a quick gravity swap and falling or ascending straight into oblivion more often than with any other mask \u2013 but what could come off as passing gimmicks in a lesser game feel smartly integrated into the challenge and flow of levels of Crash 4. Toys for Bob finds more and more unique ways to kill Crash... I mean test my platforming skills as the difficulty ramps up at a reasonable pace.
New enemy types like hungry sand sharks and giant lightning locusts, twisty jumping sections, and all of Crash\u2019s new moves blend together so it never has to resort to stale carbon copies of past challenges. If a memorable obstacle is repeated, it\u2019s often creatively revamped in a more challenging way, such as the return of Crash\u2019s surfing jet board from the original trilogy.
Not every new addition is a winner; I am not a fan of the fire-spewing crates added throughout levels. They don\u2019t add much in the way of complexity to the platforming, they just increase time spent waiting for the crates to cool down until they can be spun. The standard moving mine obstacle courses require more daring split-second decisions as TNT-throwing enemies and water currents affecting your speed are thrown into the mix. Also, some truly devilish endgame challenges use Crash\u2019s full arsenal, including the Masks, in some of the most difficult levels the series has ever seen. I died more times than I cared to admit, but completing them led to some of the most satisfying platforming in recent years.
And while Crash is tough, it\u2019s also largely great at teaching you its new tricks, minimizing the feeling of progress by trial and error that comes with some platformers. Yes, there are still levels where you\u2019re running toward the camera, and occasionally a hazard comes at you without warning, but nothing felt as mercilessly tough as Crash 1\u2019s infamous Road to Nowhere. Crash 4 doles out its challenges in smart succession, ensuring it always feel fair. The smallest addition \u2013 a circular shadow that appears underneath an airborne Crash \u2013 exemplifies this. What could be perceived as making things too easy by those who find estimating their position without it to be a hardcore challenge eliminates most of the guesswork that came with earlier Crash games for the rest of us. It allowed me to better put my focus on nailing a precarious jump, rather than trying to figure out where the landing point should or might be and hoping for the best. But don't worry, purists: you can turn it off in the options.
Crash 4 even makes concessions depending on your progress. For example, if you die enough times at a certain spot, it may add in a new checkpoint crate to help you along. Not that I ever had that happen, of course. Definitely not.\n
And there are plenty of challenges to tackle. Beyond the main story path, there are truly white-knuckle flashback levels: of the handful I\u2019ve tried so far, all are pure platforming skill tests. These side levels take more turns at Crash\u2019s ensemble of playable characters, time trials, local multiplayer and co-op, and the impressive N. Verted mode. Co-developed by Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled developer Beenox, N.Verted is Crash 4\u2019s take on mirror mode \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t just invert the look, it adds a host of unexpected challenges that have tested me even on the levels I\u2019ve played a dozen times already. Take, for example, the earliest levels \u2013 they turn Crash into an echolocating bandicoot (bat-dicoot?) whose every spin shoots out a burst of light that temporarily illuminates the level beyond his immediate vicinity. I had to more methodically plan each jump, time my spins so I didn\u2019t accidentally fall off a cliff, and more. All of that is an added incentive I didn\u2019t know I needed but now adore as I attempt to 100% Crash 4 as a whole.\n
The only real downside is Cortex and Dingodile\u2019s weapons can be a bit tough to aim, with no target reticle or way to aim with any finesse: you just shoot in the general direction your character is facing. It led to a handful of flubbed shots on my end, and is something a full spinoff or additional takes on these ideas should consider reworking.\n
Crash\u2019s more linear track through its levels, however, allows Toys for Bob to really flesh out these landscapes like never before in the series. This not only leads to epic introductory shots of levels with a wide scope that tease trials to come, but also means every character, crate, and collectible has fun bits of detail slathered all over them. From the bits of exposed dynamite in TNT crates to the goofy designs of pirate octopi and the many wacky costumes Crash and Coco can wear, Toys for Bob has given this game the look of the Crash Saturday morning cartoon I wished I'd been able to watch as a kid.
And that\u2019s evident in the character designs. Crash stays true to his original form, but his dopey, happy-go-lucky attitude is in Looney Tunes-esque top form here, with Coco providing a more level-headed approach to the adventure. The new take on Tawna redeems the barely-there damsel in distress of the original, making this version a badass with a heartbreaking past. And Dingodile\u2019s kind of just...there, but it works, as his personal endeavors to open and then repair his restaurant collide with the others\u2019 story. How Toys for Bob integrates these characters\u2019 full arcs is great \u2014 they make sense if you just blast through the story, but playing their specific levels offers deeper personality.
It\u2019s all aided by a level-appropriate soundtrack, which all sounds in step with the classic Crash scores\u2019 affection for driving, jangly percussion tracks molded to fit all the various time periods. And, like much of Crash 4\u2019s joys, the score has a few delightful surprises of its own: I\u2019m a big fan of the twist on the sound that comes when you don any of the Quantum Masks.
The next day (June 19), the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee filed a rating for the game, revealing its title, box art, and a short plot synopsis. Said box art also revealed the game's developer, Toys for Bob, as well as the game being slated for release on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Four new masks can be seen on the artwork.
On June 21, a live-action teaser featuring the 100% ending of Warped and the title of the game was unveiled through the official Crash Bandicoot social media channels.[2] The announcement trailer came out on June 22nd, 4pm BST.
During Summer Games Fest, an official trailer was shown, showcasing new worlds and four new Quantum Masks, known as the Phase Mask Lani-Loli, the Dark Matter Mask Akano, the Time Mask Kupuna-Wa, and the Gravity Mask Ika-Ika. Using Lani-Loli, the player will be able to change phases of certain elements, while using Akano, the player can hover and glide over the platforms or even break and knock back things that the normal spin can't, using Kupuna-Wa, the player will be able to slow time to a crawl, and while using Ika-Ika, the player can reverse gravity to walk on ceilings.
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