Crash of the Titans delivers a fun and engaging platforming experience that any Wii owner should check out!
The story line in Crash's latest adventure begins with Dr. Cortex and his neice, Nina, using a ray gun to change innocent animals into slaves. The first use of the ray gun is a failure, since the animals just don't seem to be strong enough to do much work. Nina on the other hand, over-uses this gun, turning the animals into gigantic, powerful freaks. These are what are known as Titans. Dr. Cortex and Nina head over to Crash's island and capture his siter Co Co as well as his trusted mask partner, Aku Aku. Crash manages to save Aku Aku but doesn't have as much luck trying to rescue Co Co. The Dr. promises to create a gigantic robot that will soon take over Crash's home and then the rest of the world. From here, we are taken through over 15 levels filled with fun platforming action, along with some great humor and well-implemented Wii-specific controls.
We all know gameplay is the most important aspect to look at in a game, and Crash's new platforming experince never dissapoints. There is a finely tuned balance in difficulty, titan-hijacking, platforming and combat that overall makes the game great to play. As you progress, you'll fight bigger bosses, bigger titans, more enemies and face off against the games main enemies. You start out with miminal moves, but you collect mojo from just about every enemy and every destructible item throughout the games stages. Once your mojo meter is full, you'll gain a new abbility, or you'll gain an upgrade to a current abbility that you already have. This semi-leveling up system is just another way the game paces itself and you always seem to gain the right move at the right time. Also included in every stage is a mini-game. This mini game might consist of hacking an enemy and taking all other enemies down, or finding five free hacking masks. Once you complete the mini-game, you gain mojo and get closer to getting a new abbility. The combat is one of the games finest moments and is really a gem all in it's own. You have your basic attack with the "B" button, your stronger attack with the "Z" button and you'll have a Wii-specific motion to pull off your special move when your special bar is all the way up(when you have a titan). When playing as just Crash, you move with the nunchunk's control stick, jump with A, ride your board(Aku Aku) with A+C, all the while you'll have combat skills that play out like the titans combat. Hijacking a Titan is simple and only requires taking enough damage on it to knock it un concious. From there you just press the Down button on the D-Pad and you've got him. When you want Crash to spin after a jump, shake the Wii-mote side to side. Pretty much, what you expect the Wii-mote to be able to do, it does. The controls were finely implemented and don't dissapoint and, thank God, don't feel tacked on at the last minute. The titans vary in abbilities, types and sizes and slowly become more intriguing and powerful as you progress. At the start, you have your basic strong one, and your basic weak one. Some of them can shoot, some of them can drive sprikes out of the ground, some can even pound enemies into the dirt. All of them have a unique special abbility that are a blast to pull off, especially with the motion controls. My favorite is the giant Ratcicle titan. You lift your Wii-remote holding arm up, and then slam it down, causing ice to go everywhere. It feels satisfying and has precise movement and results. Many of the titans play out just as well. Sometimes you even get to slide down giant slopes similar to Kya and Sonic Riders boarding elements. This is one factor of the game that I didn't feel worked as well as it should have. There just weren't that many sections that had Crash sliding for very long, and when there were, they just don't feel right. You slow down, speed up and stop out of nowhere too many times. These sections do suprise sometimes, but way too often do they just feel out of place. Thankfully, there aren't that many sections like this. Other than the board sliding, the other problem with the game is it's length. Average game players can beat the game in under ten hours, but there is plenty of replay value throughout the stages such as gaining all the abilites, finding concept art, and the best addition to the game yet, the abbility to play through the entire story with a friend. The co-op mode is perfect and honestly makes the game so much better. When you have a second Wii-mote and nunchuck, the player can press the (+) button and join in at any time. They become a White Banditcoot with all of the same abbilities that Crash has. They can collect Mojo, play mini-games, hi-jack and do absoloutly everything just like you. There are two modes of co-op. Leap Frog and Piggy back. Piggy back is more fun because you two play through the game with eachother like you would expect. Crash and his white buddy both have a backpack. When a situation gets tough or when only one person can advance, or just if you feel like it, you or your friend can enter eachothers back pack and catch a ride. Be careful though, because if one player dies and you are in their back pack, than both of you die. LeapFrog mode can become hectic because through certain situations where only one player can progress, the game will randomly make one of the players go through a challenge and then suddenly switch off to the next person. It can becaome strange and hectic, but at the same time, it can offer some fun challenges. It's just not as great as Piggback.
Graphically, the game is one of the better looking titles on the WII. It comes close to looking like Metroid, but some of the textures don't look as good. Overall though, the graphics do the game justice and never get in the way. A great side note is that the game never suffers from frame-rate issues so you'll always be enjoying a good looking, fluent level. Sometimes levels will look great and look as though none of the last-gen consoles could have pulled it off. Other times, the levels look like middle-late Gamecube games.
The sound track and sound effects are standard and never really blow you away, but overall they've done a great job. All the enemies have voices and none of them sound bad. All them that can talk, will talk and alot of the time you'll hear them having a humorous conversation with one another. The main-characters' voice actors do a fine job as well, and offer a superb experience, never sounding shallow or dull.
Crash of the Titans is a great game to rent because you'll definitly enjoy it's fun and engaging gameplay, but as for owning the game, that's a different story. I clocked in at Six and a half hours after completing the game on it's normal difficulty level by myself. It barely clocked over four hours when I played through with a friend though. Theres plenty to do after the game though, such as playing through the game on a harder difficulty, unlocking all the bonus skins, finding all the concept art or just replaying some of the fun levels that you already went through. If you don't take anything else out of this review, just realize that I have been playing games since the NES days and know what I'm talking about when I say that Crash Of The Titans for the Wii is a high quality, fun platformer that any and all Wii owners should play. Whether you rent or buy the game, you shouldn't be dissapointed.