The latest announcement from Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest may have leaked beforehand, but Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is nonetheless one of the most exciting games of the fall season and has been officially announced. When Crash Bandicoot returned with 2017's N. Sane Trilogy, fans around the world celebrated the triumphant comeback of the erstwhile PlayStation mascot. After the release of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped in 1998, the character was never able to return to the glory days of the original Naughty Dog trilogy. The N. Sane Trilogy, and 2019's Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, served as a reminder of the character's greatness in the wake of so much PS2-era mediocrity.
After the critical and financial success of the two remastered games, as well as the adjacent Spyro Reignited Trilogy, a brand new title in the Crash Bandicoot franchise seemed inevitable. In recent days, Crash 4 was teased and then unceremoniously leaked, but the final official reveal came out at Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest.
The reveal featured an appearance from the popular "live-action Crash" character, who "crashed" host long-awaited sequel, from the inclusion of a playable Dr. Neo Cortex and Coco Bandicoot, to the various abilities granted by the new Quantum Masks.
As in the Crash N. Sane Trilogy, indie platformer, VVVVVV. Additionally, there are two more Quantum Masks that have yet to be revealed.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is set directly after the ending of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, which saw Dr. Cortex, N. Tropy, and Uka-Uka defeated and banished to a distant, unknown fate. As the title suggests, Crash Bandicoot 4 completely disregards any of the games that came out after the original trilogy. The closing moments of the trailer poke fun at the chilly reception of the post-Naughty Dog games when a character asks Crash and Coco how many times they defeated Cortex in the past. They reply, "Three," to which the mask muses, "Really, only three? Funny... Seemed like more." Nevertheless, with the story of Crash Bandicoot 4 involving time travel and multiverse mayhem, it wouldn't be the least bit surprising to see some nods to the "dark age" of the series. Fans won't have to wait too long to find out, since Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is scheduled for release on October 2 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Source: Summer Game Fest