I love the original Crash bandicoot trilogy. Then the games went downhill until last years Crash of the Titans came out and gave the series the reboot it needed. So needless to say I was highly anticipating this newest entry in the series but does it continue with the past games trend or is it more crap?
Thankfully we get some that is almost more of Titans but more open ended and in the scheme of things more flawed. Not saying it's a bad game or unplayable but a few annoyances hinder the game a little.
Unlike the last game this one has an open world interface. You start off outside Crash's hut which worlds as a hub of sorts. From there you have three paths. They lead to new locations. if you've played a platformer before you can guess that a desert theme and ice theme will be found. From those locations you find more.
It's not as open as that because you can only go to the ruins first and from there more spots open and as you gain new monsters to sue you can access the other areas. This means a lot of backtracking and if you're aiming for all 1000 achievement points then you'll become annoyed quickly because some of them are tedious.
A new addition, and one of the few new pluses for this entry is the ability to store a monster. It's a great idea really and makes it slightly easier to access hidden locations, as long as you can find it. See, just like the last game you can jack a monster. Beat it up until a star forms and then you can leap onto it's back and control it. They do major damage and this time around they gain experience, as does Crash when he's solo, and they get stronger. It's a good idea but some of the creatures feel useless and finding any decent spot to advance them will bore you after a while and yes there are achievements linked to levels.
The games biggest flaw though is the constant back tracking which gets tedious after a while. You just know you're running from the right path back to the left over and over and it's always because you don't have that one creature needed to pass an object and the annoying part is once you have fought that creature once it's appears everywhere else in the game as well.
The game does mix platforming and action rather well and despite being more 3D than 2D this time it's still fun and doesn't feel as half assed as past entries. Thankfully the game looks good too and runs smoothly. The locations, while not overly original, are bright and colorful. My favorite thing is the cut scenes which are totally random and use different art styles each time. It's highly amusing and one of the things that kept me going.
The game also has a decent plot with Cortex uses an all-in-one headset to control the world. So it's up to our hero Crash, who is oddly played off as being dumb, to save his friends. It works and the plot adds some nice homages for long time fans.
Control is a little spotty at times and can hinder some of the platforming bits in the later levels. I also found the constant switching between creatures to be tough as you have to really keep an eye on all of it in the middle of a jump.
All in all thought the game is fun. Not too long but it's amusing and offers enough things to distract you for a fw extra hours. Plus it's a "bargain" game since it's retails for $50. Maybe not worth that price but for $30 or so I'd say it's worth picking up. otherwise it makes a perfect rental.
Story - 7/10
Graphics - 8/10
Control - 8/10
Sound - 8/10
Game Play - 8/10
Replay Value - 6/10
Final Score - 8/10
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