LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE…while it lasts
As my friends will tell you, I just want to play my video games and have fun. I am no longer in that stage of life where I must put hours in to practice in order to beat the best to feel validated. So, when I look for multiplayer games anymore, I’m just looking for something that I can sit back, relax, and have a great time win or lose. You might think that I am crazy, or insane but Crash Team Rumble is very much that; its just a shame that it won’t survive.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
Crash Team Rumble is at its heart a wild and chaotic third person, multiplayer collect-a-thon. Each match plays out basically the same, it’s a 4v4 battle to collect and deposit the most wumpa fruit. Wumpa fruit of course being the fuel that runs the Crash universe, it’s basically the coins from Mario Bros; in the original games once crash collects 100 of them he gets an extra life. In CTR well, they are again the fuel of the game as players will have to break open boxes, jump across ravines and more to grab the fruit. While the basic gameplay is simple to get into with CTR the caveats begin to reveal themselves quickly, firstly there is a class system in place that works extremely well.
For now, there are a total of eight characters; three are scorers and these include the man himself Crash Bandicoot. Scorers can gather fruit more quickly holding the most and are the most mobile. Blockers on the other hand are the slowest of the bunch and currently have three to choose from which are all bosses from past games, they of course specialize in blocking the other team’s goal and keeping them from depositing any fruit. Lastly are the Boosters and their role is to collect all the relics that spawn as they receive a buff and can collect them in large amounts. These relics are important as each map in CTR features a minor and major idol ability. The major is always some AoE like the sandstorm that travels around the level and kills any enemy it touches; minor abilities can give the player higher jumps or a speed boost in movement.
One of the things that makes CTR so accessible is that even though each of the characters specialize in something, each of them can do the job of the others. So, if you want to play as a blocker with Crash, have a good time, the game doesn’t penalize you for not playing to its meta. Which for me is great because each match is so chaotic, I end up as one class but totally doing the job of everyone. Sometimes I must remind myself not to stay in fights, because in CTR if you die you lose all the fruit you were holding. And each hit of damage will reduce your fruit, so the longer you stay out fighting the less fruit you will have to turn in. It’s really a not-so-subtle way for the developers to remind you to play the objective, something that no one ever does in Call of Duty.
I have loved my time with Crash Team Rumble, the colorful graphics, the easy to grasp controls and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fantastic OST. Full of tons of bangers from Crash games of yesteryear, this game is a true joy. The real problem comes into play because it’s an online only game, which means once the audience is gone so is the game, and I will admit when I played just one week after launch the game was already filling lobbies with bots and that’s not a good sign. Some of the issue in the community is the lack of content, which is understandable. While I enjoy the roster, it is on the small side; but the developers have announced there is a road map that includes new characters, modes and of course battle passes. But the game still feels a bit overpriced at $29.99 and probably was a free to play game at one point, which may have helped it out honestly. While personally I think the future looks grim for this one only because multiplayer audiences are so fickle, Crash Team Rumble is a blast and if you have some fond memories of the old games, you’ll enjoy this one quite a bit…while it lasts.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
