Crash
Bandicoot:
The Wrath of Cortex |
| Preview
By: Siou Choy |
| Developer: |
Traveller's
Tales |
| Publisher: |
Universal |
| Genre: |
Platform |
| #
of Players: |
1 |
| Est.
Release: |
Fall
2001 |
| Posted: |
4-10-01 |
For those
who haven't already heard, everyone's favorite bandicoot is
getting a bit of a facelift. Sony Playstation mascot
Crash will be making his debut on the Playstation 2 this
November in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex.
Along with a new platform, he'll be getting a new development
team - Traveller's Tales, a British company specializing in
the production of children's games such as Toy Story,
Muppet Race Mania and A Bug's Life.
There has been quite a bit of murmuring in fan circles about
the notable absence of Crash creators Naughty Dog Studios on
this latest release in the series. Universal Interactive
Studios, who own the rights to the character, have given the
creative mantle over to Traveller's Tales, whose output has
been thus far limited to cartoon-inspired children's games,
which is unfortunately quite evident in promotional
screenshots released thus far. More disturbing to the
Crash connoisseur, said games have generally been rated
"fair to average" by consumers of such things.
Nonetheless, early reviewers have offered some guarded praise
to the look and play of the game (which is still in the
mid-development stages), calling it at least equal to its PS
predecessors graphically.
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex gives you the
opportunity to play as Crash and his sister CoCo. Once
again Dr. Neo Cortex has come up with one of his ingenious
plans to get rid of Crash: with the aid of Uka Uka, Dr. Cortex
plans to somehow harness the power of "four ancient
elementals" (earth, air, water, and fire) to use against
Crash in a weird hybrid of science and metaphysics (or science
fiction and fantasy, if you prefer).
Using both Crash and Coco (one of the game's
"innovations" is that CoCo is featured as a playable
character in her own right), players will get the chance to
explore 30 levels within 6 worlds (not to mention 5
"bonus levels"), and face over 30 bosses. In
the game's supposed 40 hours worth of gameplay, you'll have to
dispose of the usual assortment of baddies, avoid obstacles,
jump platforms, ride and pilot vehicles, find hidden items and
stop the evil plans of Dr. Cortex - in other words, the usual,
and exactly what you'd expect from a Crash game.
In keeping with the style and format of the first three games,
Crash/Cortex utilizes a straightforward side-scrolling game
design - in other words, while the game's levels appear to be
in 3D and feature some limited exploration potential, you are
essentially required to travel in a linear path to see each
level to completion. And of course, to aid the gamer in
his/her mission, Crash and CoCo will be able to pilot and
control jeeps, mechs, gliders, helicopters and sundry other
aircraft. Crash will also have a few new moves in his
repertoire this go around, but fear not, he still retains
series-standard moves such as spin, slide, and the ever
popular "butt stomp".
Regardless of gamer concerns, Traveller's Tales will assuredly
be putting its best foot forward, and do it's part to carry on
the standard and legacy of Crash Bandicoot. Whatever
one's personal opinions on the matter, the simple fact remains
that only time will tell just how well the series holds up in
unfamiliar hands. Breathlessly, we await its scheduled
release in November.
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