OK, time for my next (and well, last) review on the Crash Bandicoot PS4 N-Sane trilogy, which is on the 3rd game in the series, Crash Bandicoot: Warped. So nearly 20 years on after its original release for the PS1, how does it fair??? Well, let's take a look....
STORY
Well, I will say just a little bit about the story (so no spoiler warning needed really) but basically the game takes place right after the events of Crash Bandicoot 2 with the ruins of the villainous Dr Cortex's space station, crash landing on Earth and releases an evil entity called Uka-Uka, who is Aku-Aku's evil twin brother. Uka Uka joins forces then with Dr Cortex and the also evil, Dr Nefarious Tropy and they plan to gather powerful crystals scattered across time and use their energy to enslave the Earth. So, its up to Crash and his sister, Coco, to stop them reaching the crystals first....
THOUGHTS
Well there is little doubt that CB: Warped is the best of the first three Crash games as it was a fun mix of platform action and also to a lesser extent puzzle solving as Crash has to do his usual to collect some crystals and fight off various enemies throughout the game. The game also features a number of new moves and features that add more fun elements to the gameplay and the level of difficulty this time round is far manageable than the first game and to an extent the second as well.
GAMEPLAY
Moving onto the gameplay, well it primarily remains the same as the first two games with Crash's usual movements of running, jumping, crawling as well as his spin/slide attacks and his body slam, which is used to open the locked crates containing wampa fruit. Crash also starts off with five lives and he can gain more by breaking enough wampa fruit boxes to collect a hundred fruits that will give an extra life. This is one area in which the game has improved over its predecessors in that it is much easier to gather extra lives thanks in part to its easier difficulty level.
This time around though Crash has a few new moves that include a double jump that allows Crash to jump greater heights to reach higher platforms. Crash can also use a new prolonged spin tornado attack, which also helps move over greater distances and bigger gaps between platforms. And lastly in what has to be the best new feature is the Wumpa canon that fires out wampa fruits that can be used to destroy enemies as well as the boxes throughout the game and it comes in particularly handing for those hard to reach boxes that can be found in the game.
Crash this time round also in addition to this on-foot levels also has some where he enters a bike race and must come in 1st place in order to obtain the crystals. Crash also has some levels where he flies in the skies in a fighter plane during World War I and must take down a series of planes in order to gather the crystals. Crash at times also has moments in levels where he must jump up and cling onto reeds(???) and traverse through certain areas where he must use his spin attack to rid enemies.
Also different to the previous games instead of Crash using a series of warp rooms to gain access to the levels, he instead uses a time-twisting machine to gain access to the 25 levels that are in the game, which are split into five separate hubs. This also features in addition to five levels per hub, a game boss for Crash to defeat and the difficulty of the bosses increases as the game progresses. Once, Crash has collected all 25 crystals and defeated all the games bosses then the game is completed although there will be additional challenges in order to try and complete the game with a 100% rating.
And further to the last point in order to get 100%, the game also features a number of gems and coloured gems for Crash to collect throughout the game, similar to Crash Bandicoot 2 where Crash will obtain a white gem for breaking all the boxes in a level. However accessing all the colour gems can be difficult and may require Crash going between different levels to access hidden areas that will enable him to collect them. Another collectable item are relics, which can be gained by Crash completing a time trial run of each level ahead of a required time to beat in order to acquire the relic. Once, Crash has all these then the game will be 100% complete and he get's his gold star (well OK the gold star bit isn't true!).
Also new to the game this time round is that Crash's sister, Coco, has some playable levels of her own that feature her riding her pet creature (don't know what it is!) through the Great wall of china in order to collect the crystal. Coco also in her other levels uses a jet ski on the waters above Atlantis to gather crystals and break boxes, while she to avoid such obstacles as pirate bombs, hostile rowers and of course sharks. And lastly, Coco also has a level where she takes to the skies in a fighter plane during World War I in Europe.
And lastly the enemies this time around are again similar to before with its mix of animals such as snakes, monkeys and frogs, which if they jump on you will kiss you and turn themselves into a prince and Crash into a frog. The humans enemies are also pretty varied in their different forms from mad scientists, Arthurian knights, genies, to two-headed lab assistants of Dr Cortex that use a big club to swing at Crash. This also provides one of the funniest death scenes where the assistant clubs Crash and sends him flying, slamming right against your TV screen! Some of the futuristic levels also feature robots and mechanical foes for Crash to defeat before he can move on. It also has other enemies too such as Egyptian mummies, which feature in the levels where Crash navigate his way through Pyramids.
GRAPHICS AND MUSIC
As for the game's graphics, well going by the PS4 version, yet again the game here get's a great visual overhaul as the graphics look terrific and the environments once more look colourful and nicely detailed. The game's appealing mix of 2D side scrolling moments and 3D make for a nice mixture in the graphics also. The character models are still very cartoonish of course but they also look pretty good in their updated forms.
And lastly as for the music, it features another score by Josh Mancell, which is again pretty good and quite catchy, too with its main theme. The score is also quite varied sounding in part due to the different variety of levels and Mancell has created tracks that perfectly suit the tone each level and overall its another fun, pleasant score to listen to.
FLAWS
As for flaws....well out of the first three games I'd say that Warped has the least amount of flaws but there are still some niggles.
And for starters one of things that bugged was to do with levels where Crash or Coco don't actually die but they end up losing a life anway. This is especially the case in the levels where Coco rides the waves on her jet ski where she ends up colliding with a pirate bomb that destroys her boat but it leaves her still alive, looking cross with her arms folded. The fact that she is still alive for me negates the whole idea of you losing a life, so surely in this case you shouldn't lose a life unless Coco herself is killed.
This is also the same in the levels where Crash pilots the fighter plane and his plane is destroyed by gunfire damage by hostile planes but he parachutes out at the last second, so again he doesn't lose his own life, so why should you lose one yourself in the game! It doesn't make such in that regard, if they die, then you lose a life, but if they don't then why bother??!
You could also argue that at times perhaps the game is a little bit too much easier than the previous ones even though it is a welcome change as the first two games could be hugely frustrating at times. However you feel it would have been even that little bit better if they struck a slightly better balance of difficulty rather than make just a bit too easy, even though the game still has its tricky moments especially when you need to try and navigate the skull and cross bone moments of the levels. Also the coloured gem parts of the levels can be quite difficult also in the game, where Crash has to overcome a series of tricky obstacles to claim a silver gem, so yeah OK the game certainly isn't always that easy.
I also felt that the game had some tedious levels in places particularly the aerial ones where Crash and Coco have to fight against World War I fighter plane pilots. Thankfully these levels aren't all that difficult but I think the game could have done without these missions as they just feel a bit slapped on and do somewhat detract from the overall quality of the other levels.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, Crash Bandicoot: Warped is easily the most enjoyable of the first three games and indeed of the N-Sane trilogy. The game's graphics are on par with the other remastered games and its fluid controls, fun gameplay and above all its platform action are what make it such a great game. The levels are also pretty varied and they feature decent challenges even if at times some levels feel a bit too easy.
So, if you are fan of the original PS1 game then you will definitely enjoy Warped's PS4 remaster, which plays much better than its predecessors and remains a fun packed experience that is worth checking out.
OK, so that's it for now and I will return again soon with a different review of sorts.
Till then, its bye for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment