The 3D platformer is a difficult genre to create - and often complex to play - which in recent years has attempted a sort of restart and rediscovery, thanks to triple A and indie studies but which nevertheless has never fully matured. One of progenitor series of the genre, however, returned in full swing in 2017 thanks to Crash Bandicoot: N.Sane Trilogy, part of a plan to rediscover past glories by Activision, able to catalyze attention again on the mascot originally created by Naughty Dog. Building on the success of the remaster, developer Toys for Bob took the reins of the series to create the true first sequel of the original trilogy that we finally played in the PlayStation 5 version: here is our review of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.
We also take this opportunity to remind you that the game was originally released on 2 October 2020 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, was then released on 12 March 2021 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X / S, Nintendo Switch and has just been launched. even on PC.
90b43bf13-0.jpg">Artistically and technically the game is a real spectacle, thanks also to the jump to Unreal Engine.Crash Bandicoot did it again. Neo Cortex is again irritated and his faithful henchmen are ready to follow him in yet another plan to conquer the universe that this time will also take him on a beautiful journey between various spatial and temporal dimensions, hopping between eras, settings and various raids. There plot of Crash Bandicoot 4 is simple and childish but still well told by several pre-rendered sequences, which characterize the funny and funny protagonists who have not lost their 90s aura thanks also to a Italian dubbing very convincing. Across ten total worlds, each with five or six levels of play, well differentiated and characterized, the adventure of Crash, Coco and Aku Aku goes on for about ten to twelve hours with new allies, old acquaintances and new quantum masks capable of giving peculiar powers to the protagonists. If you were to be passionate about the lore of the Bandicoot world then know that yes, Crash 4 is actually a direct sequel to Crash Bandicoot: Warped from which it therefore inherits a very thin narrative line that guides some events of the new plot. Nothing transcendental of course, but an element that confirms Toys for Bob's desire to establish itself as true heirs of the Naughty Dog series.
Toys for Bob actually picks up the series from where Naughty Dog left off twenty years ago
But what certainly lacked the cagnacci in the 90s was a brand new console full of teraflops, SSD, 3D audio and so on and so forth. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time was originally released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but this old-gen nature doesn't negatively impact the result. The first approach with the title is stratospheric: the very rich polygonal mass fills the scene in every frame, corroborated by an enveloping lighting and cartoon animations cinematic level. The character models have undergone a great redesign that makes them fresher, the interface has remained pleasantly old-fashioned while instead the effects have benefited from noticeable improvements. The resolution in 4K is 60fps makes the cleanliness of the image practically perfect, destroying in one fell swoop the aesthetic appeal and playability of the past N.Sane Trilogy on consoles which now looks like an archaic product. The visual variety of the levels is impressive, as is the artistic research of each of them, and is amplified by a sound compartment nostalgic but updated, engaging and also well spatialized. In fact, the game supports PlayStation 3's 5D audio for a perceptibly superior result to the performance on PlayStation 4.
90b43bf13-1.jpg">The only sour note of the game's cosmetics are the horrendous photoshop basic course visual filters applied to inverted mode.Having overcome the first and overwhelming audiovisual impact, the first levels of the title spin quite smoothly and without hitches, in a sequence of patterns already seen in the world of three-dimensional platformers. There mobility of the protagonists is improved compared to the past: double jump and loaded jump, combined with greater precision of the controls, improve gameplay feedback without however diverging it too much from the original one. The introduction of the new quantum masks also gives more variety to the mechanics, for example through the alternation of gravity or the slowing of time. Nothing that has ever been seen, mind you, however these characteristics have been well amalgamated in most cases. On the other hand, the levels dedicated to other characters, which we will not reveal for spoiler reasons, which exploit the different physical peculiarities to propose variations in the gameplay. Unfortunately, all this is done in a fairly patchy way, with levels created ad hoc, in which the new mechanics seem glued without particular care. For example, we are far from the wisdom with which Nintendo has been able to integrate characters with different characteristics in the same levels of Super Mario 3D World, just reviewed on the occasion of the launch on Nintendo Switch.
90b43bf13-2.jpg">Quantum masks give good variety to the action.This lack of care is unfortunately also found in the general feeling of the gameplay. Far from the precision of other competing titles, Crash Bandicoot 4 features platforming mechanics true to its origins, with leaps from pixel-perfect precision, little inertia in the movement, lack of feedback in the hits towards the enemies and a general difficulty in judging the landing point of the jumps. Aware of the problem, the title's designers thought of optionally inserting a landing indicator - a crude palliative to an underlying title problem. I'm not a game designer and I'm not sure where the cause is, but the consequence is very simple: the gameplay platform of Crash Bandicoot 4 is inherently frustrating and obtusely difficult. Judging distances is too difficult and almost random, calculating jumps often becomes complex and understanding where to land is often a reason for luck and not for skill. For these reasons, the 2D sections are the funniest in the game: more precise and faster, these are the real witnesses to the lack of quality of the title's mechanics when transposed into 3D. A pity, especially in the face of the undeniable quality of level design which effectively alternates cathartic moments with others that are more relaxing and exploratory.
The checkpoints are quite abundant, and new ones are added if you just can't continue as a further method to decrease the level of difficulty of the game, Toys for Bob has even included a modality called "Modern" where lives are infinite and each death causes a simple respawn at the checkpoint. Quick reflexes and speed with the joypad are absolutely necessary to complete some levels that hide petty traps, sometimes intentional, other times less. In short, completing the game is a mini-undertaking in itself: good luck to the daring who want to aim for 100% or platinum.
The title is very rich and long-lived in content
If from the point of view of playful mechanics the game is not convincing, from the content point of view the proposal is absolutely interesting. Each level can be completed in normal or inverted mode, the latter worsened with inexplicably hideous mandatory visual filters, which give new life to the replayability of the levels. Each stage also has various gems to collect according to various objectives, such as the collection of wumpa fruits, a low number of deaths and the infamous breaking of all the crates scattered in the level. In addition to the target, the classic is also present time trial which is a fun alternative to approaching internships in a more exploratory way. These various additional options allow you to unlock numerous additional skins which do not change the gameplay, but allow you to customize the aesthetics of Crash and Coco. Present and appreciable is the Multiplayer in which to face the levels locally with a friend, alternating the controller in full and nostalgic PlayStation One style.
90b43bf13-3.jpg">Sections aboard animals, or aliens, on the run also return.Good support for the peculiarities of PlayStation 5. The resolution increases significantly compared to the old-gen version and loading times are extremely fast. Haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are implemented just right, without being intrusive. The activity cards and the game help are additional features that are certainly welcome in this case, as they quickly transport to the levels to be completed. The already mentioned 3D audio moreover, it significantly improves the soundstage of the title especially in some stages that exploit it properly.
USEFUL INFOI played Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time for about 15 hours by completing each level of the main campaign a couple of times. The copy of the game was personally purchased in the PlayStation 5 version.
Duration- Simply completing the game from start to finish can take around ten hours.
- Replaying the entire title in inverted mode will obviously require twice as much.
- Collecting every single cassette of the flashback levels, unlocking every gem, smashing all the crates and taking down every time trial is a literally titanic undertaking that is frankly difficult to quantify in terms of time.
- The game is divided into ten worlds each with five or six levels, playable in various modes (normal, time trial, inverted and local multiplayer)
- Each level unlocks skins for the protagonists Coco and Crash, as well as flashback cassettes that unlock additional 2D levels.
- Game Name: Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
- Release date: October 2, 2020
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
- Dubbing language: Italian
- Texts language: Italian
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Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is the long-awaited return of one of the first PlayStation icons with a sequel that certainly improves upon all the various experiments that have taken place over the years. However, the game is playfully problematic due to insufficiently curated mechanics and historical problems of the kind, which however other developers have been able to solve successfully. Despite this, fans of the series and this type of linear and challenging platformer will be able to enjoy it. For all the others it is unfortunately a difficult title to recommend: the difficulty level is sometimes dishonest and throughout the adventure almost certainly frustrating. A pity therefore that Toys for Bob has not been able to take full advantage of the opportunity to create a potential hit capable of satisfying more types of users, from hardcore fans of the series to younger users looking for a fun and colorful platform. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time can only please the former: judge for yourself if you are part of them.
Review by Emanuele VanossiGraphics
The PlayStation 5 version is technically a gem: clean, fast and animated to perfection, it shows us how close the approach to the "pixar movie in motion" is ever closer. The discordant note are the filters, compulsorily applied, in the inverted layers that seem the most false and uninspired one could be painted over the artistic marvel below.
95
SOUNDTRACK AND DOUBLE ROOM
Nostalgic but renewed, the sound sector of the title has very few defects, thanks also to the spatialization of the sound with the 3D audio of PlayStation 5 which makes some levels even more interesting. Picking a wumpa fruit gives the same satisfaction that it did twenty years ago while you could probably work further on new themes. The dubbing, even Italian, is fun and well implemented.
90
GAMEPLAY
Dull, complex and fallacious, Crash Bandicoot 4's platforming gameplay is at its best in the two-dimensional sections where the scenario is easier to understand. In three-dimensional sections, the precision of the mechanics isn't enough to guarantee gameplay that isn't inherently frustrating. Anchored to the historical defects of the series, the title fails in a playful qualitative leap, despite the excellent level design and the great variety of situations.
