The fact that you can play as Cortex in this game.
Dr Neo Cortex, the big bad of the Crash Bandicoot franchise. In their infinite wisdom, the developers at Toys For Bob have completely ruined the spirit of the franchise, by allowing you to play as the main antagonist. That's right folks, a game called "Crash Bandicoot 4," you can play as Cortex. How is this not false advertising? People buying this game are expecting to play a Crash Bandicoot game where you play as Crash Bandicoot, not "Crash Bandicoot and Dr Neo Cortex 4."
Cortex doesn't even appear on the box art, so people are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise when they buy the game and realise that, hang on, I'm not playing Crash Bandicoot.
But Cortex could be fun right? WRONG. It doesn't matter how good the gameplay is if the story is trash, and the story already sounds trash. In the reveal, they showed how a level traversed as Crash could be impacted by Cortex's actions. Instead of being able to play straight as Crash, I now have to travel back in time and complete a level based on another character's perspective:
This would be perfectly fine if it wasn't Cortex, a character who I have written off and have no interest in. What makes it even worse is that as I'm playing as Cortex, I'm seeing the events of the game from HIS perspective, and now I have to listen to him in an attempt by the developers to give extra context to the story and to explore his actions, and how they affect Crash's progression in the story. The problem is that the story completely falls apart if you have no interest in exploring Cortex's side of the story, which I don't. I don't understand why the developers thought that players would actually be interested in seeing Cortex's motivations - Cortex tried to kill Crash, and that's the first thing we learn about him. I'm not really interested in learning about his backstory/motivations, he tried to kill the protagonist we all love so much. Even then, there's a massive disjoint between the story and the choices the player has- at the end of Cortex's section we watch Cortex make an attempt on Crash's life by blowing up a boat:
Like what is this? Are they trying to make me feel bad or something? If it was my choice, I'd gladly just suicide as Cortex, because I'm on Crash's side 100%. This cutscene is out of my control, Cortex's actions are out of my control, the only way to change this is to not play, which goes against the entire point of playing a video game.
I just find it really disappointing, especially since the core gameplay looks great and I'm liking the mechanical changes. The game's prequel (Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped), was an incredible feat for the hardware, and Crash 4 also looks to be an incredible sendoff before the release of next gen machines launches. Just as Crash 3 pushed the hardware to the absolute limit, Crash 4 looks to be a truly generational leap by retaining the core gameplay but pushing the envelope in some incredible ways. The scope and fidelity of the environments and the more open level design that still remains a tightly designed linear experience, while offering secrets on the side for those who want to explore. How fluidly the game animates whilst remaining responsive, and how violent the death animations are, for both the player and enemies. The improved accessibility options that allow a range of skill levels to approach the game while still retaining options for those that want a challenge. The fact that one of PlayStation's cult classics is getting a sequel in 2020. I love Crash Bandicoot but I cannot in good conscience support this game, knowing that Neo Cortex is a playable character.
