Crash Team Rumble’s marketing left me wondering what I was in for when I jumped into the beta. The trailers made it look more like a MOBA than the Crash Bash sequel I was expecting. I’ve dabbled with MOBAs, but the multiplayer battle arena isn’t a genre I’m strong in. However, I was pleasantly surprised after spending just a short time with Crash Team Rumble and realized how different it is from most MOBA games.
Characters fall into three different role types. They can all try a bit of anything, but it’s more like the same way a goalkeeper can run across the pitch and score a goal. It’s not something you should be doing frequently. Crash and Tawna are scorers who run around the field and collect fruit. Dingodile is a tank-like blocker, keeping opponents from scoring, and Coco and Neo Cortex are boosters. Boosters are like speed types in Pokemon Unite, super fast disruptive players who just try to stop everyone else from having fun.
These roles guide players in the right direction when it comes to how to play, and a good mix on each team always brings the best results. Another blocker character would’ve been nice, but this is just the beta after all. Improvements and more choices are almost guaranteed between now and launch. There are also only three maps at the moment, but despite the lack of choice, the designs are strong in each. They’re small yet densely packed, making matches even more chaotic.
That chaos is a big reason why Crash Team Rumble feels more like Splatoon than a traditional MOBA. You still collect and score points in your team’s goal, but the battle and movement options feel more like what you’d get from a platformer. Tawna has a fast grapple that propels her in and out of action. Coco seems like she can bounce around endlessly. Dingodile can pull you in with his vacuum, and Neo can shoot you with lasers. Rumble makes much better use of the 3D space than any traditional MOBA, where players can easily use their platforming skills to escape any scuffle.
You also have some special weapons to flip the battle in your favor. The first is a personal special weapon. These charge when you complete role actions – so scoring, blocking, or supporting your team. There’s a static ranged attacker, a health machine, a big dude who shocks enemies with electricity, and a giant fruit sack. These only last a very short time, but they create the best synergies. Playing as Dingodile, for example, you may want to put a health machine on the enemy base so they have a difficult time defeating you while trying to score.
The other type comes from weapon spots around the map. You need to collect relics and deposit them in these spots, which pool all your team’s points for the common good. There’s a good balance to this setup. Things like a Junker Ball which deflects enemies for a short time may cost just eight points, while an Aku Aku mask that protects your team and rains down hellfire across the whole map will cost 30. These help bring the team together for a common goal, and give a visual clue to the strategy.
There were no microtransactions in the beta, and everything could be unlocked with points you get from playing. We’re crossing all our digits and hoping this continues in the full game. There’s not a lot of variation so far, true, but it’s a solid foundation to start from. Each character has its niche, no one feels too overpowered, and the different weapons come with their own synergies. Where it really shines is in the brawls, where complex 3D movement options remind you that you are actually playing a Crash Bandicoot game.
My main disappointment is with the AI. If the lobby wasn’t full, we’d have an AI character replace a human player. They were pitiful. Having one on your team almost guaranteed an instant loss. I assume this will be tweaked for the full release, but I also hope you won’t need AI teammates at all after launch.
Crash Team Rumble is an unexpectedly promising start from a genre of game I don’t usually mesh with. It brings Crash’s 3D platforming prowess in a way that feels natural and balanced, and it seems like a nice way to introduce newcomers to the genre and keep them in their lane. We hope to see more maps, more items and more characters in the full release which is set for June 20, 2023 for PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF
