Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time Review
- Posted October 30th, 2009 at 18:49 EDT by Adam Dolge
- 30 Comments
Review Score
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time
- PSU Review Score
- 8.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 8.7
Summary
A Crack in Time is a well crafted platformer boasting hilarious dialogue and addictive gameplay. While it doesn't make any radical changes to the formula, both fans and newcomers will have a blast out of it.
We like
- The hilarious dialogue and cutscenes
- The user friendly, pick-up-and-play style mechanics
- The awesome weapons, gadgets, and environments
We dislike
- The fact the gameplay can at times become repetitive
- The occasional frustration in the puzzle and platforming elements
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Every once in a while a game comes out that is as charming and funny as it is amusing and easy to play. For Insomniac Games, that ‘every once in a while’ seems to happen every couple of years, with the latest incarnation arriving in the form of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time – and the good news is, it’s the best yet. Following on from Quest for Booty, A Crack in Time is culmination of the critically acclaimed ‘Future’ saga, offering closure on one of the greatest modern platformers to have graced Sony’s black behemoth. If you were a fan of past R&C games, or just have a penchant for cutesy characters, hilarious dialogue, and richly diverse gameplay, you will, without a doubt, love A Crack in Time. Having said that, this latest installment has sparked our curiosity as to when Insomniac will apply some substantial changes to the series that offers a fresh gameplay experience, as opposed to the relatively incremental upgrades witnessed thus far.
The latest entry picks up where the previous titles left off. The major plot points are all revealed during a humorous movie clip that is presented during the game’s installation. A Crack In Time essentially starts where Quest for Booty left off, itself of which followed Tools of Destruction. Fortunately for newcomers, however, the intro cut scene arrives in the shape of a mock interview with Captain Qwark, who divulges all the background information you need regarding previous iterations in the franchise. This cut scene provides one of the better openings we’ve seen in a long time, and sets the game off on a positive and intriguing pace that doesn’t let up.
The first level is played as Clank, who was abducted by those pesky Zoni creatures. Clank’s adventure is set in a brilliant environment, and without giving too much plot away, you’ll soon learn that he has inherited some powerful new abilities related to time – hence the game’s subtitle. For the most part, however, you’ll oversee the majority of the action as Ratchet as he embarks on a personal quest to find and rescue his friend.
Beyond the story, fans of the series know the best part of R&C games are the weapons and gadgets. A Crack in Time offers a bevy of new tools for your gameplay enjoyment plus plenty of old favorites. One of our favorite news weapons is the Sonic Erupter, which forces a swarm of enemies to perform their mating call, wiping them out in the process. You can pretty much upgrade and modify all of your equipment, but this system is not overly complex or deep. We weren’t expecting the Constructo modifications to offer all that much, and since we didn’t get all that much from it, we weren’t all that disappointed.
Ratchet’s new hover boots are the best addition to the game, and make for some refreshingly unique action. These boots are primarily used in the platforming aspects of the game, and while we found some areas that created more frustration than it seemed worth, the boots make for a welcome addition to the series. You’ll even get a cool obstacle course to learn how to use these new boots.
All the same, there are some platforming sections that are an exercise in pure frustration. This brings us back to the point that if you are not into such titles, it’s likely A Crack In Time won’t seem an overly appealing purchase. All the inherent frustrations of the genre come in to play here, such as making meticulously planned jumps to a platform suspended high above the ground, which must be repeated over and over again should you happen to fail and subsequently plummet to your death. We can’t really take points off for this, since it’s the nature of the game, but at the same time, doing the same set of tasks over and over again inevitably gets monotonous. Still, those of you who enjoy a good platform romp should be instantly familiar with these fundamental gameplay elements, and therefore likely won’t find it to be much of an issue.
Ratchet doesn’t just traverse random alien planets; he also zooms through the galaxy in his spaceship. There ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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Syphon_Filter |
Syphon_Filter2- 3:17pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 4
Its an amazing game. I like it a lot.
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lightseeker62
- 3:31pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 6
since it's kinda repetitive, it doesn't get a very high score, but if you enjoyed the previous game, it's certain that you'll enjoy this as well
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Awesome-David
- 6:25pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 11
@ Eltimas.
I don't think Ratchet games deserve to get 9's anymore tbh, there is just nothing new. The gameplay is always the same. Yes I understand the phrase "if it aint broken, dont fix it", but it's something refresing in the gameplay. They should add new gameplay elements and 100% customizable weapens. Lastly, to be frank, the franchise needs an online system, it's way overdue now.
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hawkeye00
- 6:29pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 12
honestly i ve been a mojor fan of this serios since it first came out on the ps2. Unfortunately lately i ve noticed that the games are getting more and more childish and therefore less appealing to me as i get older. I used to laugh out loud at cutscenes in the old ones know im luky to get a smurk. Based on the demo, which was only playable with clank, the game felt very average and childinsh. I knoe the full game will be better but i dunno if ill buy this one...
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edward_moffet
- 6:32pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 13
I played the ratchet demo and the graphics are actually quite an upgrade over tools of destruction.
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StoneDogAiel
- 8:17pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 15
You know whats more annoying then the occasional frustrating puzzle? The always annoying and always present Assassins Creed 2 advert at the top of every page at PSU.
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gameoholic
- 9:10pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 18
Man, I wish I could get this game, too many good titles out right now, which is a good thing. :P
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biron_w
- 9:17pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 19
I played the demo and enjoyed it.I'll get it sometime.
What I didn't like,and I don't know if it was just because it was the demo,was the fact that I couldn't jump when strafing.Is it just in the demo you can't do this?In every other R&C game you can do it.
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Fon
- 9:40pm EDT - October 30th, 2009
- 20
This game deserves at least a 9.
Got the game on the 27th and I'm still playing through it, great game to get a quick Platinum.
Honestly, I think this is the best Ratchet and Clank game to date. Great Humor, Fun levels and gameplay, and fantastic story. Lets not forget the Pixar level graphics, beautiful to look at.
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