|
Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment Inc.
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Genre: Action
Release Date: October 7, 2008
Platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox
360
Reviewer: Eric
Crash Bandicoot started out as the golden child of the Playstation era.
Everywhere you looked Crash was there, selling millions of original
Playstation’s. As time passed Crash started seeing some changes and some of
those changes were appearing on other consoles. With the release of Mind Over
Mutant can we see Crash resurrecting himself or should Crash call it quits?
 When Naughty Dog started working on the Jak and Daxter series Sony let Crash go
on other consoles. After loosing faith in the character that put them on the map
Crash started showing up in new games almost every year. Most of these games
were huge disappointments; Crash Bandicoot was dead to most gamers. After Sierra
Entertainment Inc. got bought out it seemed like Crash was going to be saved and
I am glad that this gem got saved.
Mind Over Mutant brings back the gameplay that made Crash good and it expands on
it. It’s a 3-D action platformer that is as goofy as past games in the series.
Familiar faces are throughout the game and the levels are as good as past levels
we saw in Crash games. Mind Over Mutant feels like the first true 3-D Crash
Bandicoot game.
Crash has to face a new set of enemies and at the same time he has to take over
some of them to complete certain tasks in the game. Most of the monsters you can
take control of are a real blast to play as but there are a few that don’t seem
to do anything. The armadillo monster is by far one of the worst monsters in the
game; he is as useless as one of the rocks Crash can destroy. Not far behind him
is the worm like create that is inside a walking ball. For all of the bad
monsters you get to controller there are two more that are great. Just take
control of the giant ape and start pounding on enemies, it is so much fun.
While adventuring in the game you can collect different color gems. Each gem you
pick up helps your character level up. All of your monsters can gain levels and
Crash himself can gain over thirty levels. You can find multipliers to make
things easier since it does take a few thousand gems to gain a level. Most of
the time when you gain a level you’ll just gain more power or health. It isn’t
that motivating to make you collect the gems, but it is something new that
should attract hardcore gamers.
Along with the main storyline there are some side quests you can complete in
Mind Over Mutant. Most of these side quests just have you solving puzzles and
collection a certain amount of items. These puzzles can easily be completed with
one character, though it is fun playing Mind Over Mutant with a friend. Most of
the items you have to find can easily be spotted so don’t worry about stressing
out finding those Crash Bandicoot dolls.
Co-op mode was a nice touch to the Crash formula. My only problem with this is
you can not playing Mind Over Mutant online. If you don’t have a friend with you
then you are stuck playing this by yourself.
 Now onto the bad with Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant. Crash still has the
same old attacks, punch and spin. Even the monsters have basic attacks. You
would think by now that the series would try something new, maybe add in some
small combos for diversity. If you’ve played one Crash game then you have played
them all when it comes to battling your enemies.
The camera in Crash is always following you at that one set perspective. Anytime
you move the camera will follow you, leaving you vulnerable to falling off
stages. If you rush through stages then you will fall off. This causes some
problems because you will loose your multipler then and for what? Poor designing
that should have been fixed before the release.
Loading times in Mind Over Mutant can be longer than they should. For a next
generation game I would have expected some quick loading times. The graphics in
this game are not pushing any boundaries and the cut scenes are pretty plain
with a few voice-overs. It seems like you are playing a Playstation 2 game on
the Xbox 360 at times.
Final Verdict
Mind Over Mutant is the game the Crash Bandicoot series needed to get back on
the right track of things. There are some problems with the camera and the
gameplay, but if you enjoyed the first three Crash Bandicoot games then you have
a lot to be happy about over here. It isn’t the best 3-D platformer on the
market but the $50 price tag makes up for those few unpolished moments.
Rating
8 out of 10
Crash: Mind Over Mutant Trailer
|
