We want to like Crush 3D, we really do. We love the concept and how the game's supposed to work. We love the sense of humour it demonstrates in its cut-scenes. We even like the play on words in the title. But no matter how much we try, we're afraid that we just can't fully accept Crush 3D into our lives.
Conveniently, Danny's problems look like 80 levels of a puzzle platformer set in four different areas and the machine won't let him escape his mind and return to the real world until he's collected enough marbles to let him escape every level.
Crush With Greatness
The main gameplay mechanic in Crush 3D is, predictably, the act of 'crushing'. Each level starts off looking like a normal 3D platformer, where Danny can run around wherever he wants, jump on ledges and the like.
If you find you're stuck and can't figure out where to go next, that's where crushing comes into play. When you press the L button you'll crush the screen, meaning everything becomes two-dimensional and all the platforms, regardless of how far away in the distance they might be, are brought together along one flat axis.
This is particularly handy for reaching far away platforms at the other end of the room - simply line up the camera angle the right way and crush to bring it right next to the platform you're standing on. It also works well if you're standing on one platform and you want to reach a higher one next to you, as all you need to do is switch the camera to a top-down viewpoint and crush to remove all the platforms' peaks and troughs in order to lay them all out on one flat floor area.
Of course, there are other obstacles and gimmicks in there to make things difficult and that's where things will get a bit much for a lot of people.
Shortly after Crush 3D begins you're introduced to brick walls that you can't move past when the screen is crushed and bowling balls and tin cans that can be rolled around. Before too long, more and more new mechanics are chucked at you - power-ups (or thoughts, as they're known here) that only work when there's a visible emblem on a crushed wall, locks that stop you from crushing, ramps, switches, thin sheets that disappear when you crush, octaballs which are tricky to move around, cockroach enemies that you have to crush against walls, breakable blocks... all this is introduced within the first 20 levels and frankly it can be a bit much to take in.
As a result, many levels tend to start with a trial-and-error period as the stages become so complicated that even the ability to hold the R button and rotate around the level doesn't help much when you're mentally planning what to do next.
Often when you finish a level you don't really feel like you've solved it, rather that you've simply exhausted every possibility you can think of and finally managed to find the path the developers wanted you to take. It's fun, but you often don't really know why.
It's not all doom and gloom - if you find yourself truly stuck you can use a hint option to get a general nudge in the right direction, or an advanced hint that explains it in more detail. While these do get you on the right track, they often give you cause to suspect that you'd never have cracked it by yourself. All Crushed Out
Crush 3D is somehow reminiscent of the geeky kid at school who manages to talk you into going out on a date with them. It's not much to look at, admittedly, and its choice of clothes is unusual to put it kindly, but when you get to know it you're initially impressed at how clever it is and charmed by its unexpected sense of humour.
It's only when you spend more time with it that its constant toll on your brain gets a little too much and you find yourself breaking up with it just so you can relax a bit and hang out with that other, rather friendlier kid who likes chucking bricks down a well. It's a real shame, as there is the kernel of a good idea here, but the overall execution just fails to convince.
I was looking forward to this. Now, not so much!
It should be called SMASH or CRUNCH so that it is more appealing.
Damn. I was actually looking forward to this. Was about to buy it today.
Tell us more about this kid.
hey! the geeky kid at school doesn't take its toll on your brain! we're nice and lovely people at heart. okay, our clothes choice is debateable. how would we be a toll on your brain? we'd probably improve your brain.
i find this of slight disrespect, don't judge everyone of one anecdote you obviously just made up.
however, it is the funniest thing i've read in an ONM review for quite a while. as for the game... meh... who cares about the game with his remarks... do your research next time onm. come up with one way we would be a toll on your brain and we have the ability to change that.
I was looking forward to this,might pick it up when it's around £20.
I think you're taking it a bit seriously mate. It was only a joke, we're all geeks here
i know. its a funny analogy really, and really gives an accurate impression of what playing this game is like. i guess. you played it. how am i meant to know what it reminded you of?
I don't quite understand why a puzzler being challenging is being marked as a flaw. Professor Layton hardly eases you in gently and also has only one correct solution to its puzzles and yet it isn't criticised for that.
If you disregard the illogical criticism of the game, you realise that it deserves far more praise than it is receiving here. Also, how long does the game last? Is it visually appealing? What are the sound effects and music like? What other features does the game have? Where is the rest of the review?
when is it released?
