Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
	Genre: Action (Platformer) Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher Region Released SCEA NA 10/27/2009 SCEE EU 10/30/2009 SCEI JP 11/19/2009 SCE Australia AU 10/29/2009
AKA: Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (EU), Ratchet & Clank Future 2 (JP)

Your Account Options

You currently have no privileges related to this game profile because you are not signed into an HonestGamers account. Please log in, or click to register for a free user account.

More Reviews by Jason Venter
	Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland (PlayStation 3) There’s an astonishing level of complexity on display everywhere you turn, so you might have to wait until your second or third trip through the game before try...
	Kingdom Rush (iPad) Kingdom Rush is the perfect showpiece for Apple’s famous tablet, by virtue of thoroughly competent and refined design that typically is preserved for the...
	Revenge of the Titans (PC) Compounding that particular issue is the fact that it’s difficult to see very far. The perspective is close enough to the ground that you can easily see detail...
	Little King's Story (Wii) Your royal guard has a tendency to get caught up on fences, on the edge of buildings and so forth. By the time you’re commanding a group of 17 soldiers, it’s a...
	Ridge Racer (Vita) In Ridge Racer, though, none of the tracks—even the two bonus ones—include more than a few corners that you might call “sharp.” Old Town, one of the adde...

Best PlayStation 3 Games
	Journey Average Rating: 9.8; Reviews: 4
	LittleBigPlanet Average Rating: 9.8; Reviews: 4
	Sports Champions Average Rating: 9.5; Reviews: 2
	Demon's Souls Average Rating: 9.0; Reviews: 6
	Resident Evil 5 Average Rating: 9.0; Reviews: 4
	Modern Warfare 2 Average Rating: 9.0; Reviews: 3
	Ratchet & Clank: Future Average Rating: 9.0; Reviews: 3
	Silent Hill: Homecoming Average Rating: 9.0; Reviews: 2
	Street Fighter IV Average Rating: 9.0; Reviews: 2
	BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Average Rating: 9.0; Reviews: 2

Looking for a good read?
Check out a selection from our database of more than 8000 reviews! honestgamer has weighed in on Iron Man 2 for the PlayStation 3 and figures it rates 2 out of 10. What do you think? Read the review, then be sure to leave feedback or chime in with one of your own!

Staff Review

Review by Jason Venter
November 18, 2009

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a good game. I had a lot of fun playing through it. If platformers are your thing, you'll probably have a similar experience. There are some neat levels, a good sense of humor throughout, a load of weapons that are fun to use and around 15 hours of compelling mayhem if you let yourself become absorbed by everything that the game has to offer. In short, it's a perfectly good next installment in a long-running franchise. Fans and newcomers alike should be delighted.

In a perfect world, I wouldn't have to say anything more than that. I'd wrap up the review and move onto something else. However, I can understand why you'd want me to back up some of the things I've just said. That's where I run into a bit of trouble. While I certainly enjoyed A Crack in Time, and while I'm confident that many others will, it's not the sort of game that sounds particularly fantastic on paper. It doesn't reinvent the wheel and it doesn't represent some fantastic evolution for the genre. It's just a good game.

The premise is simple: Ratchet and Clank, two heroes who have saved the galaxy numerous times throughout their years of adventuring, have recently become separated and are now looking to reunite as they battle the evil Dr. Nefarious and his mercenary partner, Lord Vorselon. If they don't succeed, their long-time nemesis may tear apart the very fabric of time and the universe could implode in the process. There's a lot more to this tale than just friends looking to join forces against evil, but I can't imagine newcomers much caring except to laugh at some of the jokes. They'll be more interested in the other things that the game does right.

Like its predecessors, A Crack in Time looks to stand out from its dwindling competition by featuring so many weapons that even Mega Man would turn green with envy (or at least Wood Man's leaf shield). The weapons rock for several reasons. The most obvious reason is that some of the equipment is flat out weird, like a rift inducer that summons a tentacled beast to slap your opponents from a portal that opens overhead. Another neat item is the Groovitron Glove that sets even your most powerful opponents to dancing, leaving you with valuable time to mount a powerful attack or to seek out more ammunition for a more useful bit of weaponry. It's also possible to lay fields that generate electrical charges, plus there are more typical options like pistols, bombs, metal blades and the like. Some of the main weapons can also be modified with more powerful ammunition, larger areas of damage and the like.

The hunt for more weapons is one of the things that should keep you busy playing A Crack in Time. There actually aren't all that many unique locations to explore, but taking the paths less traveled can take awhile and prove worthwhile because you never know when you might find some new modification for your weapons. The gear that you might find serves as a practical reason to travel to every last nook and cranny. With such an excellent array of weapons, you won't want to miss a thing. How very Steven Tyler of you!

Even if you're not into the weaponry, the stages should easily keep you entertained. Some of them have neat puzzles to solve along the way, like one stage where you have to avoid swarms of invincible insects as you creep through a treacherous cavern. Others give you lots of things to blast to bits, like one stage where you have to stop an Agorian invasion by first manning a turret and then running and gunning through a canyon filled by brutes. Every new location offers something new, whether that be the opportunity to grind along overgrown vines or to boost over a series of ramps with hover boots. These are all diversions that are very familiar, but they're executed here with enough polish that they're enjoyable all over again.

One of the problems that you could point to with A Crack in Time, the one I touched on near the beginning of this review, is its lack of meaningful innovation. There are people out there who feel as if they've wasted their time when a game doesn't provide something radically different from anything that they've ever experienced in the past. Unless they've somehow missed experiencing the classics, those folks are in for a disappointment in this case; the game doesn't seem to care about being anything more than the next great platformer. It even acknowledges its forerunners in subtle ways, such as an unlikely conversation with a plumber who scoffs at the absurd notion of leaping down pipes as he discusses the problems with time manipulation.

The other problem is that those who hate collecting goodies--even when there are excellent rewards--will probably feel like the game lacks in the content department. There are several planets to explore, but you can blow through them pretty quickly if you're not worried about unearthing every last gold bolt, Zoni, holo-plan and weapon mod. A slew of moons wait to provide additional challenges, but they're optional and don't actually contribute a thing to the main plot. Thus, you'll likely hear of many people clearing the game in well under 10 hours. They're missing half the experience, but does that really matter when the half that they're missing wouldn't have interested them in the first place?

Like I said at the start of this review, I had a lot of fun with Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. The game is an excellent reminder of the stuff that I enjoyed as a child, one that I can easily recommend to the nostalgic and even to new gamers who want to experience a good platformer without having to dust off retro consoles. Don't expect anything to blow your mind, but if you're looking for familiar fun you've come to the right place.

Feedback

Facebook()

Forums(0)

You can click the tabs on the above bar to choose whether you wish to read comments from visitors who have posted on Facebook, or from registered site users who have left feedback on the forums. Please leave a comment of your own if you have anything to say!

Info | Help | Privacy Policy | Contact | Advertise

© 1998-2012 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site--from reviews, guides, cheats and editorials to message board posts--may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.