Rainbird

User Score
9.0

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.5
Value - 8.0

*Disclaimer*
I have now decided to go by the same scoring scale as Edge and Eurogamer. Where in my old reviews, a mediocre game would have been around 7, now this will be 5. I will also only go by whole numbers in my final score. Also I never played a R&C game that wasn't on the PS3.
*/Disclaimer*

Ratchet & Clank. A duo that is familiar to many, with several games behind them on several different platforms. So many games in fact, that many seem to believe the duo could use a break at the least. And I humbly agree, that seeing Insomniac work on a new IP as opposed to a new R&C game, would be great.

And with A Crack in Time, Insomniac have provided closure for the storyline presented in the PS3 games. It's very welcome, and leaves Ratchet & Clank open for a well deserved break.

The storyline is just about the only thing that lends itself to this idea though. If this is to be the last game starring the quirky duo for a while, then it is one hell of a way to go! Let me explain why Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is one of the best games of 2009.

The story starts out where Quest for Booty left off. Ratchet is out looking for Clank, while Clank himself remains subject to Dr. Nefarious's evil schemes. Helping Ratchet in his quest is the ever vigilant Captain Qwark, as well as Alister Azimuth, a "rebel" living an isolated life at a far away mining facility. All while Clank is learning about The Great Clock with the help of its robotic junior caretaker, Sigmund.

The entire storyline helps support the unique charm and great tongue-in-cheek atmosphere that the series is known for. The storyline is a tad more serious here than in previous games, but it is for the better. Compared to Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty, the story loses nothing in terms of charm and wit, but manages to keep you more engaged than ever before. All the cutscenes are very well done, especially those that have been beefed up from the regular in game scenes.

You will also find voiceactors returning to reprise their usual roles, in the usual high quality. The voiceacting is as great as ever, with all the new roles voiced with the same talent and quality provided by those who know their roles from the inside out by now.

The gameplay also gives a good feel for the fact that the game has had many predessecors. The action is finely tuned to the point of near perfection, but the game still adds new and exciting gameplay mechanics, like Ratchet's hoverboots and Clank's time puzzles.

The hoverboots allow you to travel around much faster, and the game benefits a lot from allowing you to do this, while at the same time, you are provided with ample opportunity for making sleek jumps and executing cool maneuvers.

Clank's time puzzles are puzzles where you must record several instances of Clank to help yourself through an area. These are also very well executed, and while quite easy in their basic form, will also make you think quite a bit when you reach the point of having to manage your own actions on top of three other recordings.

In Tools of Destruction, you had space travel, though they were mere fights with no real objective. That has been removed in favor of a much grander system here. You are free to travel back and explore planets you have been on previously, as well as a lot of small moons, where you have various platforming and action challenges. All of this comes together to make for a very pleasant upgrade over ToD.

The action is still what is at the heart of this game though, and it shows, because the action is incredible. You will be fighting a lot of enemies at a time with a huge arsenal of weapons to burn your way through. You have everything from the trusty wrench to the small handgun that summons an interdimensional monster to dispose of your enemies. His name is Fred by the way.

You will be upgrading your weapons for a good time, and even more when you enter challenge mode. The arsenal is very well done, and few of the weapons feel less useful than others. And the game throws plenty of enemies at you to deal with.

This is however where the game shows a slight weakness. While Insomniac's goal of maintaining 60 FPS is an appreciated one, A Crack in Time does not quite maintain that when the action gets intense. It is only a slight issue however, but the graphics themselves aren't the prettiest in the first place.

The game is not ugly in any way however, it is quite pretty infact. This is mostly down to the marvolous art direction though, which help convey a charm and atmosphere that few games can match these days.

The singleplayer will take 8-10 hours to complete on normal difficulty, but the game simply begs for another playthrough so you can upgrade your weapons even more, and take all your more powerful weapons to all of the wonderfully created enemies and bosses, and the charm, humor and atmosphere can easily bear you through a second playthrough right after your first one. Multiplayer is not missed on my part.

All in all, while many people have been questioning the longevity of this franchise, Insomniac have opted for creating yet another Ratchet & Clank game. They opted for reward over consequence, and have crafted an amazing game, that bests its PS3 predessecors in almost every concievable way. What consequences this will have for the franchise remains to be seen, but as a gamer, the reward is a grand one!