Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time reveals its new N. Verted Mode and playable characters

A new Crash Bandicoot game should be an easy job, right? Throw some next-gen sheen on the surface, chuck in a few new levels and call it a day. Wham bam, thank you ma’am man video game development is easy.

Developer Toys for Bob is doing that and much much more, as last night’s State of Play stream revealed just how busy Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was going to be. A direct sequel to Crash Bandicoot: Warped, players won’t just be spinning around as John Cena’s fashion inspiration, they’ll also be able to tackle the game as Crash’s sister Coco, Dr Neo Cortex and infamous bruiser Dingodile.

“Imagine, if you will, a simple man – scratch that – half dingo, half crocodile, who decides to retire his old ways of singeing and exploding bandicoots for nefarious needs in favor of living out a lifelong dream: Opening a diner,” Activision’s James Mattone explained.

But alas! Our poor Dingodile’s prized possession is destroyed before his very eyes, and our villain-turned short-order cook is sucked into another dimension!

Well, it’s about time for him to find out what went wrong. In addition to Neo Cortex, you’ll be able to play full levels and alternate timelines as Dingodile. While Cortex turns enemies into platforms and gelatinous blobs with his blaster, Dingodile takes a more… brute force approach. Having turned in his flamethrower for a vacuum gun, Dingodole can suck up TNT barrels and launch them with expert precision, blowing up anything that stands between him and his ticket home.

This is all in the name of retribution for his ill-fated diner, so help him out and he’ll happily shove right back off to his retirement.

Crash Bandicoot 4 (A-HA! SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE) will also be loaded with skins that players can keep, with Toys for Bob stressing that there are zero microtransactions within the game. The other big gameplay feature are the Quantum Masks, which allow you to slow down time, reshape reality and reverse gravity.

There’ll be over 100 levels to play, with former Spider-Man studio Beenox adding an N. Verted mode gameplay mechanic that adds new layers of challenge to the game. “N. Verted mode takes the concept of mirror mode and phase shifts it into another dimension. Perspective isn’t the only thing that changed; when playing in a dimension on N. Verted mode, that dimension may involve splattering paint to see your path forward, or keeping up with an old timey film reel that cranks up gameplay speed just as fast as it puts the picture on the screen, Mattone said.

Once you unlock this mode, all the game’s levels are repayable with this new art style, game feel, and challenges, allowing for the true completionists at heart to further challenge themselves for even more rewards, or for anyone who is curious about how their favorite levels get N. Verted.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time launches on October 2, 2020 for PS4 and Xbox One, although Activision is also looking at bringing the game to more platforms in the future.

Last Updated: August 7, 2020