Video Game Review: Crash Bandicoot: Dead Men Tell No Tales # 4 [2001] By Bastien L.

PS2 release review.

The history of video games and their major licenses consist of the cuts and births that often crystallize around the title. Crash Bandicoot: Vengeance of Cortex is the perfect example.

In the late 1990s, the Crash Bandicoot License was hugely popular as the flagship platform game after the trilogy and initially kart game. Play Station. One of the rare series to be able to shine in the bosom of Mario followed by Spyro by owning the free space thanks to Sonic and then with absentee subscribers without forgetting the large number of competitors who failed to negotiate the switch to 3D. At the dawn of the 21st century, Marsupial Orange is getting stronger and poised to conquer the 128-bit generation thanks to a new episode led by illustrious Mark Cerny who worked with a studio in California Obedient dog To give birth to character in partnership with Sony under the care ofmy worldLicense holder. Cerny plans to do an overhaul of the Play And a new, freer and more reflexive approach. Unfortunately for him, Obedient dog He left the ship to work on Jack and Dexter during themy world Cuts its partnership with Sony For the release of the game on PS2 but also on Xbox and GameCube in the future. The transformation that caused Cerny, associated with Sony and for whom he would later develop the PS4 chassis, was rejected while awarding the English studio Tales of the Traveler (With John Burton as director) A good year of development for a more classic project. The studio, which is not yet affiliated with Lego, specializes in commissions that have worked on Sonics or movie adaptations Pixar. All this gives the title a drop between the end of 2001 and the end of 2002 on its various platforms.

As usual in the world of Crash Bandicoot Doctor Phloem It makes a bad move after lingering past failures in his throat. Always accompanied by an evil mask Oka, oka, Reveals that he is working on a new superpower army: Crunch Bandicoot, Kind of a clone of a sinister bodybuilder Crashes That needs a lot of energy to function. Uka Uka then delivers powerful masks to items that pique his brother’s curiosity me me Who warns Crash and his sister Coco Of danger. The only way to fight the powers of masks is to combine the crystals scattered all over the planet … in short, as with many platformer games, the scenario is nothing but an excuse but that. It can still be totally missed since more and more abandoned along the way. We have the right to start with a fairly long movie thriller and then more and more rare and anecdotal interventions from Cortex, Crunch and various masks that threaten us. The Masks don’t really affect the 25 levels of the game and they are important for the different forms of Crunch, the only boss in the game. We did not expect the game for its scenario and we were still disappointed …

On the other hand, we had more expectations from a graphical and technical point of view given the new capabilities of the PS2 compared to the previous episodes. We find it without surprise side Cartons From the series with an “around the world” approach to the levels in line with the second and third episodes. All blends natural décor and Epinal photos of its common areas Culture Pop Art (Medieval times, the West, medieval China …) and laboratories that befit the mad world that it is Phloem. Obviously, 20 years later, the game is very old but still very pretty and very clean without technically alienating us. This brings us to the game’s main problem, which is just a lackluster version of what Naughty Dog On the PSone. Tales of the Traveler The specifications respected and made Crash bandicoot more beautiful, more fluid but slightly ambitious with a similar artistic direction to the series and not a really interesting artistic contribution. Recognized, Crashes And the Coco They are not very well animated at the time and we find them happy in great environments but the fun unfortunately stops very quickly.

In terms of sound Play, The title is identical to Crash Bandicoot 2 and 3, which is a platform game with a series of 5 levels divided into 5 worlds ending with a boss. So we can only reach the levels by a small amount center Center. Once on the level, anyone who has ever played the series knows what it’s about. We are following Crashes From behind in 3D corridors that are not very wide where we must advance by avoiding holes like enemies while trying to destroy as many chests as possible except for those in Nitro. It will also be necessary to restore the main crystal of the level in order to progress. If we find it at first gently Feeling The pleasure of the license quickly realizes that something is wrong. The principle advanced and we were entitled to expect much better Crash Bandicoot on PS2. You can go through the levels without being upset by some good ideas like the idea of ​​being in a ball that can accelerate quickly and be difficult to control or the ability to walk stealthily. If we like the series, we appreciate this episode while realizing that many sections are smooth from the knee (water levels or those in some kind of exoskeleton) that the difficulty is very poorly managed with incomprehensible peaks (the second chair) a somewhat accessible title . one more time, Tales of the Traveler I wanted to do Obedient dog In order to respect the specifications definitely provided before my world Without having the same knowledge Design levelWithout mastering the gameplay in all stages of the car, it failed and without an iota of madness despite some good ideas. We cross the 25 levels as we look at any of them Turnout Agreed: No rejection, no enthusiasm … all in 5 short hours unless you absolutely want to finish everything 100% where you have to destroy all the boxes, find alternate paths and succeed in time trials …