Activision and Radical Entertainment bring us the fifteenth installment in the Crash Bandicoot franchise, with Crash: Mind Over Mutant. The game’s premise is centered on a brand new technological device, called the “NV”, that is worn on the wearer’s head, and acts as the last PDA you’ll ever need. The problem with the device is that it was produced by the evil Dr. Neo Cortext and Dr. Nitrus Brio, who are using the device by transmitting “bad mojo” to take control over mutants and the bandicoots. After Coco and Crunch receive their NVs, they are transformed into evil beasts that try to take out Crash. Crash then sets out on a journey to save his friends and the other mutants around the various environments found in the game.
The gameplay in Crash: MoM is standard platform fare, in which you are jumping, climbing and beating up enemies while traversing the various levels. While the gameplay is very simple, it by no means is boring or problematic. Anyone can easily pick up this game and find fun fighting and making their way through the world. Crash has plenty of options at his arsenal to not only take out his enemies, but also get past various obstacles in the game. While fighting as Crash, you have typical light and heavy attacks, as well as extra abilities that will unlock and upgrade as you collect mojo. Once you’ve gone through the first couple missions, you will have access to Titans, mutants you can defeat and then utilize by jumping on their back and controlling. The various Titans throughout the game will make taking out enemies easier, and at the same time help you cross various landscape and overcoming obstacles. You can store up to one titan at a time, which lets you control Crash alone, or use another titan. While controlling the Titan, all Mojo collected will go towards the titan for unlocking special attacks and other upgrades. Throughout the world, you will also come across power-ups, in the forms of Speed boost, Quad-Damage and Double Mojo, to name a few.
In-game graphics are about average for a 360 title, and the frame rates tend to be consistent, but at times can have a noticeable slip up. The characters and mutants look good and move around the environment smoothly, and rarely look clunky. Most of the time, the environments and characters truly capture the feel of what Radical Entertainment set out to do with Crash: MoM, but there are times in which they can feel bland and uninspired. The biggest issues stem from poor choices in camera angles and not allowing a manual adjustment by the player, and pretty much guarantees you will suffer multiple deaths due to many misjudges jumps. When it comes to cut scenes, this is where Crash: MoM truly shines. Every cut scene is animated in differing styles, ranging from South Park to anime to American comics, and is always well done and humorous.
Another aspect of the game that really stands out is the voice acting, which features over 8,500 lines of dialogue. Every main character is voiced to near perfection, and the humorous dialogue will have most gamers laughing throughout the game. The sound effects in the game are also very well done and never seem out of place, and keep the cartoony and humorous feel the game presents itself in. The soundtrack to the game is probably the only audible part of the game that doesn’t reach the same level of quality, and while it is not annoying or bland, it tends to feel very generic.
Going into this game, I really didn’t know what to expect, and braced myself for the worst, yet before I knew it, I found myself sucked into the game and enjoying the experience as a whole. Crash: Mind Over Mutant is not going to break any new ground in the gaming industry and while it can be too easy and short, it is still a damn good time, with the only real drawbacks coming in ways of backtracking and a few poor camera angle choices The heart of this game is not in the story or with the gameplay, but in how it is all presented during the cut scenes. With cut scenes that are very well drawn and voice acting that is always on point and humorous, many times you will feel like you are watching a Cartoon Network original show. I would recommend everyone take a break from the more serious fare, rent Crash: Mind Over Mutants for a weekend, and enjoy the short, easy, yet well presented game Radical Entertainment has put together for us.
Rating: 7.8/10