• Posted January 14th, 2009 at 10:32 EDT by Steven Williamson
• 4,628 views
• 14 Comments

Review Score

Crash Commando

PSU Review Score

8.5

Avg. user review score:

8.9

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Summary

A fine addition to the PSN. The best value for money shooter around.

We like

• Great dual-layered map design
• Balanced weapons
• Fast paced and addictive online

We dislike

• Weak single player mode
• Only 4 online multiplayer modes
• Only 6 primary weapons

See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings

(continued from previous page) ...these are accumulated and added to your XP, which allows you to rise up the rankings and earn trophies along the way. Performance enhancing power-ups add a further tactical element offering boosts such as extra speed, protection or firepower, whereas a mixture of platforms and wide open spaces, as well as vehicles and special weapons, including the devastating mini-chain gun which can shoot through cover, gives the gameplay some added depth and ensures that you have to adapt your tactics frequently and switch weapons to make the most out of their various strengths and to counteract choices made by other players.

There’s nothing remarkable about the weapon set, but it has a nice balance to it, with each weapon having its own strength and value during a battle. At the start of each match, or each time you get killed and are waiting to re-spawn, you get a choice of primary weapons, such as the shotgun, assault rifle, and grenade and rocket launcher. There’s also a slot for a secondary weapon (a pistol or a knife) and an explosive device, such as a grenade or a mine. With only 6 primary weapons on offer more variety would have been welcome, however, those on offer do cater for different play styles and there doesn’t seem to be one particular weapon that people are choosing online; there appears to be a nice balance, which in turn makes for some entertaining battles.

Fans of the shotgun like to get nice and close to their opponents and inevitably can take them down in one shot. Snipers head for a high point and camp it out, picking players off as they fly past, whereas the suicidal grenade launching squad erratically zoom around leaving a trail of bouncing bombs in their shadow. It's the unpredictability of each battle that makes the gameplay so addictive.

Controlling the commando soldier initially takes a bit of getting used to. Comparisons can once again be made to Bionic Commando where both sticks are used, the left stick for controlling the soldier and the right stick for moving the 360 degree targeting arc. A Jet-pack boost temporarily launches you into the sky enabling you to reach platforms and acquire those all important armor and health pick-ups, as well as special weapons, while the d-pad can be used for activating any power ups. We’ve got no complaints at all with the control system, it’s a mechanic that works very well, allowing you to zoom around shooting and dropping mines and switching between your primary and secondary weapons intuitively after only a short period of time. Still, it takes some skill to master if you hope to compete with the top ranking players online.

As well as ‘deathmatch’ and ‘team deathmatch’, the online component boasts two other game modes that cater for 6 vs. 6 team matches. ‘Sabotage’ requires the attacking team to place a bomb to blow up a terminal whilst the defending team tries to protect the area. ‘Espionage’ on the other hand tasks a team with downloading data from four terminals dotted around the location and then requires them to bring it back to HQ. Whilst none of the four game modes are new or innovative in any way, EPOS has played it safe by including four instantly recognized and tried-and-tested modes, ensuring that the overall Crash Commando package of strong level design, finely balanced weapons and familiar gameplay, coupled with the ever growing online community, is a sure fire winner.

For the price it costs to download Crash Commando, just $10, we really have no major complaints. You get what you pay for and much, much more. Since we downloaded it, we’ve been visiting Crash Commando frequently for our dose of instantly gratifying action. With the release of new maps coming our way it's a shooter that will probably remain top of our PSN playlist for some time.