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Gaming Trend Review

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time

1. Official Site
2. Platform: ps3
3. Publisher: Sony America
4. Developer: Insomniac Games
5. Release Date: 10/27/09
6. Genre: Action/Adventure

by Ron Burke

I’ve not been playing the Ratchet and Clank series since the start, having picked up the series on the PS3.  I’ve heard from friends and other reviewers that the biggest complaint with the series is that it just isn’t that fun to play as Clank.  Furthermore, concerns as to whether the game would pick up where the DLC left off, or would perform a little bit of revisionist history and ignore it were voiced by some of our readers.  Putting the intrepid pair through their paces, it was time to see if A Crack in Time is just what the series needed.

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time kicks off with a quick rundown of the events of the last game, as well as the events of the recently released DLC, courtesy of “stalwart” superhero Copernicus L. Quark.   Explaining the disappearance of Clank, we see the little guy captured by their arch-enemy Dr. Nefarious with assistance from the Zoni who worship Clank as their King, but need Nefarious‘ help to repair him.   Awakened by Dr. Nefarious’ attempt at treachery, Clank is released in his space station.   Nearly escaping, Clank discovers that Nefarious has built his station around the mysterious Great Clock directly at the center of the universe, intent on using it for his own evil ends.  With nowhere left to run, Clank is recaptured by Nefarious.  Meanwhile, Ratchet and Quark reluctantly team up to find Clank but are soon marooned on a lush green planet of Quantos by some sort of rogue energy pulse.  Armed only with his trusty wrench and blaster, there is nothing left to do but explore this strange world to try to find a way to reach their old pal.

The planet that Ratchet and Quark crash landed on is very unusual - it seems that time is warped here, leaving birds locked mid-flight and falling objects left in mysterious stair-like configurations - perfect for a platforming adventure!  It also serves as an introduction to the named-obvious theme of the game - time.  It isn’t long before you uncover Clanks larger role in the universe, and how he came to have a soul inside your robot body.  To unlock this destiny (and new skills) you’ll have to navigate his subconscious to learn new skills and powers.  How it all unfolds, how Clank realizes his destiny, and how he is reunited with his long-time companion spells out roughly half of the game.  The other half is all about the last surviving Lombax - Ratchet. 

Ratchet and Quark begin to discover some of the secrets of the Zoni.  It seems that they are part of a hive mind - weak on their own, but powerful when assembled.  As Ratchet learns their secret, a character named Lord Vorselon descends on the city and captures Quark.  Ratchet jumps in his trusty ship to take down this mechanical warlord.  It’s up to the last Lombax in the universe to save not only his new Fungoid companions, but also Quark and Clank! 

Once you get into your ship you’ll eventually have access to many side missions ranging from clearing irradiated asteroids and rogue pirate satellites to capturing more Zoni to help upgrade your ship.  You’ll also be able to purchase new weapons along the way.   Rather than having a ton of weapons, you’ll be able to simply build your weapons using the parent devices - the Constructo Bomb Glove, the Constructo Pistol, and the Constructo Shotgun.  Using Constructo Modules you’ll be able to adjust the type of projectiles ammo type, round type (beam, bullet, etc.) and even the color of your weapons.  In all you’ll eventually pick up 8 weapons from the GrummelNet Superstore in addition to your trusty wrench.  Weapons upgrade through use, so you can’t expect to have great weapons unless you use them.  The cutscene introduction for each weapon is worth the parts you’ll collect to get them.  They rather remind me of a Ren and Stimpy cartoon in animation style.  You’ll  also get new armor through armor vendors, but there is no cutscene for those - just armor and a new look.

The levels you’ll play as Clank are vastly improved over previous titles.  A familiar gameplay mechanic of time travel gets a new twist as you can record macros of yourself and then use those other ‘selves’ to solve puzzles.   You can do this up to three times, allowing you to solve puzzles that would normally take more than one person to complete.  He’ll also be able to warp time with some new weapons, making him far more combat effective than before.

Clank isn’t the only one with some new moves - Ratchet will get access to some hover boots that allow him to carve the levels at high speed, bouncing off pads and arrow-indicated ramps to gain access to new areas.  Along with his trusty wrench, backpack, and grappling hook you’ll be platforming again in no time.  Between the two characters, you’ll spend far more time in combat as Ratchet and the rest of the time solving puzzles with light combat for Clank.  As a segue between the two you’ll get to climb in the cockpit for some flight time. 

After playing these parts in Tools of Destruction, I expected a bit of an upgrade to them in Crack in Time.  You’ll capture the Zoni on various planets to upgrade your ship, but by the second flight area you’ll likely be as bored as I was with the tiny planets and repetitive nature of them.  Unfortunately, capturing the Zoni is the only way to get some of the necessary ship parts to complete later missions.  Similarly, taking out the shielded satellites and various enemies in space wears fairly thin. 

Back planetside, the game has an incredible amount of variety.   You’ll fight in space stations, a Fungoid jungle, a wasteland of junk, the Great Clock, and even the vastness of Clank’s subconscious.  The game is bright, beautiful, and extremely colorful.  Just as in the previous game though, sometimes there is so much brightly colored beautiful stuff flying around that you can’t see the forest for the trees.  Don’t let that fool you though - there is  more detail in this game than you’d ever expect.  

All is not awesome in Clankville though - there are some control issues that will drive you slightly nuts.  Occasionally it seems that you can’t target the enemy you’d like to fire on.  A good example would be a section where flying ships drop enemies into the field.  Trying to target the flying ships to stop the deluge of enemies was spotty at best, often targeting the nearest peon over the monster generator.  Being able to flick the second thumbstick to switch targets would make more sense, making certain encounters (including the Challenge Mode) a lot easier. 

It’s been a little while since our first PS3 outing with the pair, but there was no argument that it was a great platforming adventure.  A Crack in Time brings the Challenge mode back to the table allowing you to pick up some extra parts for gun upgrades.  The areas that were off limits previously can be unlocked with the time devices, so making some return trips to areas outside of the storyline path is certainly in order for Ratchet & Clank fans.  There are also 40 gold bolts and 10 schematic pieces to collect.  If you dig through the game and nab all of the Zoni you can unlock the Insomnia museum full of history and info on the series.  All of that plus the trophies will keep players busy beyond the 10-12 hour run time.  

Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time is a great addition to the series.  It nicely caps the storyline, it fills the underserved (at least by good titles) platformer market, and the few unique new elements breathe a bit of fresh air into the game.  Even if this is your first foray into this universe, it’s hard not to like what Insomniac has done.  With bright visuals and great storytelling, new players and die-hards alike will find something to love with this title. 

Gaming Trend Score

90

1. Graphics: 90
2. Audio: 90
3. Controls: 85
4. Gameplay: 92
5. Value/Replay: 90
6. OVERALL:90