Boldly Going Where No Bandicoot Has Gone Before
It may not feel it with the recent spate of remakes we’ve had over the past few years, but it’s been over a decade since the last new entry in the Crash Bandicoot series. While the gameplay may have been innovative in the nineties technology has moved on, and with Naughty Dog frequently churning out blockbusters like Uncharted or The Last of Us, Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter both feel like outliers in the companies catalog.
Don’t worry, Crash wasn’t dead, just sleeping, and August’s State of Play showed that he has some new tricks up his sleeves.
It’s About Time brings a whole lot of new gameplay mechanics, from simple (and expected) ones such as new traversal skills, like rope swinging and wall-running, to quantum masks which drastically change how the game plays- for example, Ika Ika lets you change your center of gravity and run along the ceiling, while Lila Loona lets you phase obstacles and platforms in and out of existence, opening new paths or turning the environment against your enemies.
There’s also been a significant overhaul to characters. Crash’s sister Coco is more prominent than ever, and fully playable on each level. Different levels will also let you control villains Neo Cortex and Dingodile, each of whom brings their own skillsets to the table.
One of the most interesting additions is inverted mode- a new challenge mode where levels will be presented with different art styles and challenges- for example, one level may need you to spin paint everywhere in order to see the path, while another has the feel of an old movie, complete with overcranked camera to increase the speed of play. Given that Crash has historically tasked players with revisiting old levels to gather collectibles, it’s nice to see something new on offer.
Did you check out the state of play? Which of the new mechanics are you most excited for? Let us know down in the comments, or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.