We're going to be completely honest about this. When we saw the name Crash of the Titans on publisher Sierra's list of upcoming titles, our first thought was of a monster truck car combat game where all the oil-gulping vehicles are named after Greek gods. Upon realizing the emphasis was on crash and not titans, our entire mood slipped a little. The guy's not had much luck lately (though arguably better than Sonic's), but after spending a little time with his latest run-and-jumper, it's fair to say he might find a new audience while Mario, Jak and Ratchet take it easy for a spell.
The setup is the same as it's always been - take Crash through a series of platforming puzzles and save the island/world/day. Along the way you'll jump on bumpers, swing on vines, hop from floating thing to floating thing and all that other stuff that somehow remains fun even after doing it a thousand times. Titans will blend such jump-intensive areas with brawler-based sections that focus more on beating back enemies than timing leaps correctly.
The prime addition to this title, however, is the jacking system. There are 15 enemies in the game that Crash can pound and then hijack, pitting their moves and powers against the others. These jackable monsters come in all shapes and sizes, from medium-sized fireball tossers to the gigantic bosses themselves. The point is to jack your way up the food chain and use the right monster at the right time. The developers hope you'll create a small bond with some of the more advantageous creatures and really hate having to leave them for something else. Whether or not you'll truly care about a ram-horned, purple cloven monster is up for debate.
To further entice players into giving this bandicoot another shot, Titans supports full co-op all the way through the game - you'll both control a different colored Crash and hijack monsters together. One cool aspect we plucked from the demo was the idea of jacking the other player's Crash to avoid potential platforming problems (pitfalls? perils?). Let's say you're both in front of a long stretch of vine swinging or rail grinding. With only one camera, it'd be tough to keep both onscreen, as one player could get ahead and leave the other behind. Well, in this case you'd jack Crash, control him for one jump, then in mid-air they switch and now the other player has control. In essence, you rubber-band your way through areas together that would normally require you to do them alone. Sounds like if nothing else Titans will be a lot of fun to co-op hoarders and young 'uns having a sleepover.
