Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is a platformer computer game developed by the American company Toys For Bob and published by Activision. This is the eighth game in the Crash Bandicoot series, although it is the fourth in chronological order, continuing the story of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane trilogy, and immediately after the events of Crash Bandicoot: Warped. It was released on October 2, 2020 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Plot
The game tells us about how Cortex with N. Tropy got out of a temporary trap, destroying the boundaries of time and space. This time they threaten not only their world, but the entire multiverse. After that, the main character finds the Lani-Loli mask, where his troubled life begins. Crash and Coco will have to save the universe by combining four quantum masks and changing the laws of reality, traveling to different times and dimensions to stop Doctor Neo Cortex, Nefarius Tropi and Uk Oak from causing the quantum rift.
Gameplay
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, according to the developers, is close to the original trilogy, like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane, where the main character is Crash Bandicoot, but during the passage you can switch to Coco Bandicoot at any time. The game does not deviate from the traditional elements of the series, there are various traps and obstacles on the levels that must be overcome, enemies that can be defeated in certain ways (for example, jump on them, or use the rotation of a bandicoot), and boxes that can be broken and collected wumpa fruits (100 wumpa fruits = + 1 life), some of which act as checkpoints that return the player when they die. The developers also said that the game will have two difficulty modes, in one there will be no restrictions in the form of a health reserve, and in the second there will be an old system with the number of lives. The main idea of the game is to rethink the masks and their mechanics from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, but to this is added the ability to play as the main antagonist of Doctor Neo Cortex, where Neo Cortex uses his technology and gadgets to overcome obstacles.
Development of
Initially, there were rumors that the developers would remain Vicarious Visions, which already have their own game engine ready. But in the end, the developers turned out to be Toys For Bob, which uses the Unreal Engine. The studio has previously worked on the series, optimizing and releasing a version of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled for the Nintendo Switch platform. The ad campaign kicked off on June 18, 2020, when a jigsaw puzzle was sent to some journalists that featured a new mask from the game. And already on June 22, 2020, the trailer for the game was uploaded to the Crash Bandicoot channel on the YouTube video hosting.