Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Review

Insomniac's third installment to the "Future" Trilogy concludes on an astounding high note.

The Ratchet & Clank franchise is now fully established, but for some reason among all the different 3D platformers of the PS2 era it never seemed to catch my attention. On the PS3, the impressive graphics and smooth gameplay now pop, making this an intriguing purchase. The first two games of this trilogy suffered from mild hiccups, namely that Tools of Destruction implemented the Sixaxis motion controls to its fault and Quest for Booty was hardly a full game, but none of that can be said for A Crack in Time. This game has everything you could ever want from a game: a solid story, impressive graphics, professional sound design and silky smooth gameplay. Without a doubt, A Crack in Time is the complete package and a must buy for platforming fans on the PS3.

Just in case you haven’t played the previous titles in the trilogy, A Crack in Time opens with a brief cut scene that explains the plot so far. Ratchet and Clank have been separated due to circumstances from Tools of Destruction and you are given the opportunity to progress each of their stories in separate increments. Ratchet continues with the classic mission structure: fly to a planet, solve an overall objective and move on. Clank, on the other hand, is in a giant clock and gets his own set of puzzle-like and platforming intensive levels as he unravels the mystery of his past. Both types of play are equally enjoyable, but for different reasons. The traditional levels offer you the fast-paced action and large-scale battles (boss or otherwise) that you’ve come to expect from the series, while the puzzle levels give you a moment to sit back and think. It’s also an ideal change of pace to prevent the game from becoming too monotonous in it’s long 10-13 hour campaign.

The distinction between “weapons” and “gadgets” has been removed, clearing up all the confusion and frustration from the previous titles. In the other games you would have to find a specific weapon or gadget dealer to restock and purchase new items, but it wasn’t really clear what was considered a weapon and what was a gadget. Now everything is cut and dry as simply a weapon, so all dealers are capable of restocking your ammo on everything. The structure on how items unlock also seems to be better defined and spaced so that you’re not waiting too long to buy a new weapon. By the end of the game, when you have a full arsenal, it’s really just a matter of preference on how you’d like to clear the room. Your main blaster and grenade gauntlet are now the items that get upgraded instead of you guns. Sure, each gun still levels up with use like before, but you no longer have to grind away for hours to get enough bolts to purchase the numerous upgrades of the previous titles. It may reduce replay time, but I’d prefer to spend my replays conquering challenge mode than grinding away mindlessly for bolts. Several new weapons, like a snazzy shotgun for close encounters, make appearances, as do classics like “The Negotiator” and “Mr. Zircon”.

Ratchet also receives a set of jet boots early into the campaign, which integrates a speed run and jump mechanic. It’s a little odd at first to perfect your timing, but by the end of the game you’ll be making astounding jumps like a pro. Clank no longer has the Zoni on his side to levitate or alter time, but as official timekeeper of the clock he can now drop time bombs that slow time significantly as a ranged attack. Clank is also capable of a triple jump, which will have you traveling great distances in the air and makes for some difficult timed jumps near the end. The puzzle aspect of Clank’s missions involves recording doubles of you to trigger multiple switches at once. It’s really difficult to describe, but those who want a feel for it are encouraged to try the Clank demo on the PSN.

Instead of a small list of planets to travel to, the space portion of your missions is now a sandbox style layout of each galaxy. While in space you can visit outposts, help distresses ships and explore planets. Those who are fans of a certain mustached plumber we all know and love will draw distinct similarities between Ratchet’s planetary adventures and Mario’s most recent iteration on the Wii. The space missions are yet again a nice change of pace and the updated sandbox mission structure will put a smile on the face of any GTA fan. This new setup also makes it much easier to return to planets in search of the various hidden items you’ll want to collect after completing the game (which is now an option instead of immediately dropping you into a second playthrough from the beginning).