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CRASH OF THE TITANS XBOX 360 REVIEW |
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The
ever-popular Crash Bandicoot, one of the most
beloved mascots throughout the early 2000’s, has
now made its way to the Xbox 360 under the
heading Crash of the Titans. The latest Crash
game features a lot of the old platforming
gameplay and charming animation that still
attracts the younger crowd. It has been awhile
since we played any of the Crash games, but this
Crash gave us a sense of rejuvenation of what we
were missing since the early days. The game is
easy to control and anyone who has played Crash
before would definitely feel right at home with
this one. There are a number of gameplay
features we like about Crash of the Titans. The
first is the new platforming moves. You have
your latest wall running, rope swinging, and
chimney climbing techniques. But if you think
that’s impressive, wait until you get a load of
this: Crash has another ability that allows him
to use his enemy like a skateboard!
Besides the new platforming moves, including
some aerial variants, what’s more impressive is
the ability to “jack” monsters, or in other
words get the monster with some sort of “mind
control”. The process is pretty simple: First
you stun the bad guy using your standard
attacks. Once you see stars hovering over his
head, press the B button to latch onto his
shoulders. (This nice little exploit happens in
bullet time and works nearly on all monsters.)
When that’s done, you can control virtually all
his mobility including his arsenal of attacks!
Some of these monsters are possessed with
incredible fighting moves, for instance, the
ability to raise spikes from the ground. It’s
really nice to be able to utilize those kinds of
attacks inherent to that monster, especially
against other vicious enemies such as parafox,
scorporilla, and shellephant. Crash also has a
repertoire of fighting arsenals at his disposal,
which include combinations of kicks and punches.
He has a powerful charge attack that can break
enemy’s block and if that fails, he still has
the classic spin move. |
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PRODUCT
OVERALL RATING: 8.0 OUT OF 10 |
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One of the
best additions to this year’s Crash game is the
cooperative play. Bringing in another partner to
wreak havoc in your heroic adventure is pretty
fun. You share the same objectives for each
stage but when it comes to solving puzzles, a
tag-team effort is needed. Sometimes it may not
be about solving puzzles that can hinder your
path to completing your individual objective.
For example, there are certain levels that
involve simultaneous action from both players
upon encountering a series of chasms. One
character will grab onto the other in
alternating manner, to make it across each
ridge. Timing is key to pull it off. In terms of
individual achievements, developer Radical
Entertainment has done a fine job with the
prospect of racking up on bonus points by having
players perform specific tasks or actions. It is
not easy trying to obtain all the Xbox Live
achievements--you have to earn them. Needless to
say, figuring out these hidden goals and
exploring secret areas does extend the game’s
replay value.
Graphically, Crash of the Titans looks more
polished than any other previous titles that
came before it. The game has a much more
muscular undertone—that is Crash himself has
never been this fit. He is more agile and with
his beefier looks, you can definitely tell he’s
a lot stronger. With respect to animation, the
characters move quite well. Thanks to the added
frames, the game doesn’t “clip” or freeze up
when tons of action burst onto the screen. It’s
obvious that the developer put a lot of care to
make this game as smooth as possible and at the
same time maintains a slight humor for
attraction. The environment is vivid and
colorful, filled with jungle-like creatures and
amazing backdrops. While lighting effects are
not as rich as we would like to, the overall
visual properties more than make up for any
graphical shortcomings.
In the audio department, the game uses a mixture
of symphonies and instrumental pop, which fit
the game's theme really well. The sound effects
are generally subtle but they are enough to
promote the kind of magical charm to keep up
with your adventure. Since the game is more on
the bashing side, you’ll hear mostly kicks and
punches, and other socking moves. There are a
number of voice-over works in this game but you
won’t see Crash and other malevolent monsters
talk like humans. Overall, Crash of the Titans
is a nice solid platformer that continues to
captivate the young audience with its easy
gameplay and witty adventure. Compare to other
titles in the same genre, Crash of the Titans is
not revolutionary, but it is the best version of
Crash we have played yet! It has come a long way
since its first debut on the original
Playstation console, and with the advent of next
generation system, Crash is doing so much more.
If you have been a fan of the Crash Bandicoot
games, you’ll certainly enjoy this one. |
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