Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (PS3) Review

Posted by Mark Salmela on 11.24.2009

The Ratchet and Clank Future trilogy wraps up with a Crack in Time as Insomniac Games delivers quite possibly its best game yet.




Title: Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Insomniac Games
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1
Rated: E for Everyone


Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is the final chapter in a trilogy that includes 2007’s Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and 2008’s Ratchet and Clank Future: A Quest for Booty. A Quest for Booty was a downloadable game available on the PlayStation Network. While this is the final game in a trilogy, it is not completely necessary to have played either of the previous two titles to get into A Crack in Time. When you first boot up a Crack in Time the game does a short install onto the PS3 hard drive, and while it installs you are caught up by a short movie by Captain Qwark. Once the movie and install are over you can hop right into the action. How good is it? Well let’s break it down.



Graphics


This may look like a cinematic cut scene, but this is real-time gameplay.


Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was an absolutely beautiful game. It looked like a Pixar movie come to life, and for 2007 it looked really good. 2 years later A Crack in Time has made some minor improvements in the graphical department and the game still looks good, but it’s not nearly as impressive as it was 2 years ago. What does make the game look good however is the level design. While the environments in Tools of Destruction looked good, they were more often than not bare and lacked the minor details that A Crack in Time includes. Every level in a Crack in Time has activity going on in the background, and they make sense. Insomniac could have just thrown random stuff into the background for the heck of it, but each level was thought out and includes minor details that are both fitting and are not obvious. I’m still finding clever objects buried into random levels.



Gameplay


Ahh the colors, they hurt. It’s 2009. Where’s all the mud?


Ratchet and Clank has always revolved around two key gameplay elements, platforming and shooting. It does both extremely well in a Crack in Time. Insomniac is one of the most creative studios around, and it shows in the variety of weapons in a Crack in Time. There are a few generic weapons such as the pistol, the grenade launcher, and the shotgun, but Insomniac has managed to make those some of the best weapons in the game by making those 3 weapons completely customizable. You can change paintjobs, the shape, and even the damage that the weapons do. You can give weapons spread damage, stun-inducing electrical power-ups, damage-over-time poison power-ups, and several other upgradable options that I won’t spoil. Each upgrade is hidden throughout the game, and some of the upgrades are hidden extremely well. You’re going to have to search every hole in the wall if you want to collect everything in this game.

Some of the unique weapons include the returning Groovitron Glove which throws out a disco-ball which forces everyone else on the screen good or bad to break into dance, the Sonic Eruptor which is basically a frog-like creature that burps and causes a shotgun like spread damage, and the Chimp-o-Matic, which turns enemies into monkeys. Personal favorites include the Negotiator, a standard homing missile, the Rift-Inducer 5000 which creates a rip in the galaxy which allows an octopus-like creature from another dimension to come and drag enemies back to its dimension, and Mr. Zurkon, your own personal bodyguard who has a laser gun and an attitude. If given the chance Mr. Zurkon would kill me in a heartbeat, and I love it. The first few times you summon Mr. Zurkon you’ll probably laugh at some of his brilliant lines about how much he hates humans and aliens.

What has always made the shooting in Ratchet and Clank game’s so much fun is the ability to mix-and-match different combinations of weapons. Certain weapons such as the Tesla Spikes are rather weak on their own, but when you’ve upgraded them a few times and combine them with other weapons they become incredibly dangerous. Once you’ve thrown them on the ground you no longer have to worry about them as they don’t do any damage to you if you walk over them, so you can focus on using other weapons such as the ultra-powerful Rhyno V to eliminate your enemies. There are tactical advantages to combining weapons as well. Even though the game is a 3rd person shooter no matter what camera angle you pick there will always be a certain amount of action going on behind you that you can’t see. But rather than being snuck up on you can use Mr. Zurkon since he always focuses on shooting the closest enemy, this letting you know if you’re being snuck up on. But in return be aware Mr. Zurkon talks trash no matter what, so if you’re trying to sneak up on an enemy Mr. Zurkon will commence shooting enemies as soon as he gets into range. But if you’re playing Ratchet and Clank to be stealthy, you’re missing the point.

Besides the weapons the other key gameplay element of Ratchet and Clank games is the platforming. While the jumping is nothing special and can take a little while getting used to there are other elements such as the Hover Boots which help to make the platforming quick, easy, and fun. The Hover Boots are basically the equivalent of rocket skates which allow you to glide along the levels as well as grind on rails and go off jumps to reach new areas.

One thing I forgot to mention is that there are two stories being told in the game, Ratchets, and Clanks. It’s not until near the end of the game that the two are reunited, and in the mean time Clank has completely different levels then Ratchet. Clank’s levels are almost entirely platforming and puzzle solving, with only minor combat using time-based weapons. Several of Clank’s puzzles will include multiple switches on the ground that you must use time-rewind abilities to send multiple versions of Clanks out to stand on each switch while you go through the exit. This means that you will have to time your recordings well and more often than not re-record over previous recordings of yourself since you can only have 3 other clanks on the screen at a time. The Clank levels are rather challenging and fun, and most importantly they help break up the gameplay since it would get a little repetitive if you only played Ratchet levels.

Finally there are levels where you fly around in a ship as Ratchet. The space exploration represents the games over world hub, as you will need to fly to each level in order to play it. Don’t worry, flying is extremely exaggerated, and it only takes about a minute to fly from level to level. But in-between each level there are other enemy ships which you must fight and miniature moons that you can land on to collect items such as gold bolts and weapon upgrades. Thankfully these flying levels are often rather short and don’t take up a large amount of the gameplay, as personally I couldn’t get into it. You can only move your ship left or right and more often than not end up strafing around each enemy until you’ve killed enough of them to move on.



Sound


Dr. Nefarious is the best villain in the series, and I’m glad they brought him back for a Crack in Time.


The voice acting in a Crack in Time is rather good, and I personally enjoy the dialogue. Some may think that the dialogue is too cartoony but I don’t mind the over-the-top style. Just look at the graphics, Ratchet isn’t trying to be like Uncharted or Metal Gear Solid. Each character is well represented, with Dr. Nefarious being the primary antagonist and Captain Qwark being one of the star protagonists behind the dazzling duo of Ratchet and Clank. There are tribal aliens which do have annoying voices, so those characters aside everyone else performs their lines very well. The music for the levels are fitting, and the weapons sound loud and menacing, just as they should. When you’re flying the ship be sure to tune into some of the different radio stations, as they are pretty awesome.



Lasting Appeal


Here’s a screenshot of the Rift-Inducer 5000. Looks like Fred’s hungry.


The main story in a Crack in Time can be completed in about 8 hours if you don’t do any of the side missions. I consider this to be slightly longer than most single player campaigns, but not by much. The real lasting appeal of a Crack in Time comes in all of the collectibles there are hidden throughout the game. There are dozens of moons, and each one can be traversed and each one has a collectible Zoni, gold bolt, or weapon upgrade at the end of it. Each moon features a mixture of shooting and platforming, and some of the moons are really hard. Be prepared to die often on some of the moons.

Besides the moons there are lots of PS3 Trophies to collect, including one for beating the game a second time on the challenge mode. Each Ratchet and Clank game has included a much more difficult challenge mode when you beat the game, but more often than not there was little to no incentive for actually beating the game a second time through, so it’s nice to see that you now have something to shoot for by beating the game a second time through. On the challenge mode you can also upgrade each weapon to level 6, making them a lot more powerful than the previous cap of level 5. So in conclusion completionists will spend well over 16 hours completing everything in a Crack in Time, but if you’re only in it for the main story you can finish it in about 8 hours.



Fun Factor


Captain Qwark isn’t quite as awesome as he is in some of the previous titles, but is still a shining example of a comedy character done right.


As you may or may not have noticed I am a huge fan of the Ratchet and Clank games. I’ve always preferred Ratchet and Clank to Jak and Daxtar and even to Sly Cooper. I love the concept of using unique and original weapons to take out large amounts of enemies while mixing in various amounts of traditional platforming and puzzle solving. As I described above there are lots of different gameplay elements that help to avoid any one element from becoming boring or redundant. If you’ve never played a Ratchet and Clank game before and have a PS3 I highly recommend that you make this the first game in the series that you play. It ranks right up there with Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal as the best in the series.



The 411


Clank is not much of a fighter, but he does wield a big stick that’s more than meets the eye.


If there’s one point I can get across about Ratchet and Clank it’s this: Ratchet and Clank doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but it does a lot of things very well. A Crack in Time has great shooting mechanics, great platforming, and even great puzzles. The voice acting is great and the graphics, while not as amazing as they were in 2007, still hold up and look very unique compared to all of the warfare games that flood the market. Even though the primary element of Ratchet and Clank is shooting, it is a breath of fresh air compared to all of the violent warfare games that you’ll more than likely spend your holiday season playing. Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a great game that hopefully will not be the last time we see the lovable duo. If you have a PS3 you need to check this one out.

Graphics	9.0	While the graphics looked more impressive in 2007, A Crack in Time is very detailed and still looks like a Pixar movie.
Gameplay	9.5	Great platforming, interesting puzzles, and lots of shooting using unique weapons What more could you ask for?
Sound	8.0	The weapons sound powerful, and the voice acting is great.
Lasting Appeal	8.5	The main story can be beaten in about 8 hours, but there is a ton of stuff to collect.
Fun Factor	9.5	In an era of muddy and dark shooters Ratchet and Clank is a breath of fresh air. It does not hurt that the gameplay is awesome.
Overall	9.3   [  Amazing ]