Snow Way Out - Crash 4 Gameplay

New gameplay has been unveiled for Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time!

On Friday 24th July 2020, gameplay footage from influencers was released online. That means well-known faces such as Canadian Guy Eh, Square Eyed Jak, Tim Gettys, the PlayStation Access Team and even Wumpa Lewis all received demo copies recently, showing off three levels from Crash 4. These include the ice-filled Snow Way Out, in addition to alternative timeline version from Cortex's perspective, as well as Dino Dash.

Level Up

Snow Way Out looks phenomenal. It's the first thing that hits hard from the recordings - the sense of scale from the background and the full knowledge that you'll have to head in that direction to interact with certain elements. The level deals with ice physics, tight platforming and of course new mask powerups that can slow down time, allowing the ol' Bandiboi to leap between falling ice platforms. Crash looks like he has a weight to him which looks both satisfying and also purposeful in terms of his jump arcs. One thing I noticed was that Crash can double-jump from the get-go, unlike previous games (sans the GameBoy Advance title, N-Tranced from 2003), whereby his first jump is quick and the second jump is much floatier. The whole level feels like it's designed with this jumping style in mind, with even a marker around Crash's shadow to help players see where he will land easier, particularly after that second jump.

The gameplay from Cortex also looks refreshing, in particular. He can't double-jump like Crash can, but what he lacks in verticality he makes up for in horizontal travel. You see, Cortex has a dash in mid-air, whereby he can scale lengths of Nitro crates and patches of icy water with ease. Not only that, he sports his ray-gun from previous entries, now with even more settings - the ability to turn enemies into a rotating platform, the ability to turn them into a bouncy platform with a second zap, or the ability to turn them back with a third zap. Cortex's gameplay looks great and doesn't look like it overstays its welcome either, which was sometimes an element from the Cortex sections in Crash Twinsanity's Classroom Chaos (2004). Incidentally, that was the last time Cortex was fully playable.

Finally, Dino Dash is perhaps my favourite from the bunch. Not only does it really pop from the purple dinosaur heads and orange lava, but is a classic Crash chase level complete with a T-Rex that scales obstacles rather than barges through them. These added animations really bring the T-Rex to life, as well as those from Crash's own repetoir. In fact, I think it's safe to say that this is my favourite design of Crash in-motion. Dino Dash also features some extravagent box puzzles in the Bonus level (making its welcome return), which set to be a big thing throughout the game as a whole.

It's also worth mentioning the new mask powers in Dino Dash, which can phase items in-between dimensions, such as crates and mushrooms. This makes for some fun and challenging sections during the new rail-grind sections. Nice stuff!

A New Challenge

It's worth mentioning the gameplay looks fairly tough. That's not to say frustrating by any means, but satisfying. The crate puzzles look like that will often require thought, but in a great way, not unlike Vicarious Visions' take on them in Stormy Ascent's Bonus level from Crash Bandicoot in the N.Sane Trilogy (2007). To go with this, the game also sports unlimited lives and a death counter, instead counting how many deaths you have in a level to match the more newer pace that modern platformers have. Don't worry though - there's still a 'retro' mode where you can have lives instead... but with this level of difficulty, that will definitely be for the more hardcore players who want that extra challenge.

Speaking of challenges, there are hidden gems in the levels, too. This harkens back to Twinsanity (2004) and its way of doing gems, but that's not to say there aren't others too. The game offers gem rewards for dying under a certain number of times, collecting all the crates, gathering a certain amount of wumpa fruit and so on. It's like the best of all worlds!