Move at the speed of sound, quickest hedgehog around. Got ourselves a situation, stuck in a new location without any explanation. No time for relaxation. Got to go fast, Crash. Wait something is wrong here. Whose been hitting the Nitro fuel again? Starting on 9/16, gamers who preorder Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time gain access to the game’s beta. In preparation for the game’s release on October 2nd, 2020, we sat down and played the PS4 demo. The Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time demo features three playable levels, however, two of the levels are almost identical outside of who you start out as at the beginning.
Disclaimer before going into the preview. I am horrible at platforming games so there may be a bit of a bias; in addition, I have barely played the Crash Bandicoot franchise since I did not have a PlayStation in the 90s. Also due to a chaotic schedule, I have not played Vicarious Visions’ N. Sane Trilogy remastering.
Gameplay
Disclaimer aside, the Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time demo was a pleasant surprise. Despite dying a lot due to a lack of platforming skills, the game flowed pretty smoothly. At only one point did the thoughts, that’s a load of bs come into mind when playing throughout the level. The only time that occurred was when trying to escape from a dinosaur. Yes, you heard that right a giant hungry dinosaur but well come back to that later.
Each level provides a 3D platforming experience similar to the Original Trilogy. Before each level, the play can choose between modern or retro rules. In retro rules, the player has a limited number of lives to clear the level. The player can earn additional lives as they progress throughout the level. On modern rules, the game keeps track of how many times the player dies. Each level has multiple checkpoints throughout so the player’s progress can be saved. All I can say is thank god for checkpoints because I died a lot. If you want to just play through the game without worrying about the level resetting, modern is the way to go. Once you are more experienced you can always go back through.
The Levels
The demo only has three levels available however two of them are almost identical. Two of the demo levels involve a frozen environment, Snow Way Out & Ship Happens. Ignoring the almost cringe-worthy titles, these two levels both feature Crash but have a different start. On Ship Happens, the player gets to play as Doctor Neo Cortex and his abilities are a bit wild. Cortex can transmute his enemies and blast through the air.
On all three levels crash has the ability to jump and smash through objects. On the frozen levels, Crash must manipulate time to overcome obstacles. On Dino Dash, Crash must manipulate objects permanence to move throughout the level. Manipulating the fabric of time is not the hardest thing about this level. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Jurassic Park. This level pays homage to early Crash Bandicoot games by having the play jump between platforms as they are being chased. What is scarier than a boulder chasing you? A Dinosaur! Now the Dinosaur is visually appealing and makes for an aggravating antagonist.
Preview conclusion
Going into the Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time demo I was a bit worried. Despite being awful at platformers, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was a lot of fun. Based on the demo, the Crash Bandicoot franchise seems to be in good hands with Toys for Bob. The platforming can be a bit difficult to get used to at first especially since the camera is mostly locked. Players can see where the character is going to land based on a marker. Sadly, the marker isn’t always visible making some jumps more difficult.
Overall the demo was a rather fun experience and has sold me on Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. Visually the game looks great and is enjoyable to play even if frustrating. The one thing that killed me inside was ice physics. No matter the game, I absolutely hate ice physics. Lucky, the ice physics in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is tolerable. No controllers were harmed in this demo playthrough.
