I have been a fan of the almost cartoon-like Ratchet and Clank series ever since I put the first game's DVD into my Playstation 2. Rich, vibrant levels filled with interesting creatures fill the game worlds. Highly amusing dialogue keeps you laughing through the games and keeps the story light-hearted. And of course, there's the multitude of upgradable weapons and gadgets, each with its own personality. A Crack in Time is another example of what makes these games great.
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time starts out where the previous game left off. Clank has been abducted by the Zoni, a race of technologically superior, yet childlike, aliens at the bidding of Dr. Nefarious. Dr. Nefarious seeks to use the Zoni and Clank in order to unlock the secrets of the Great Clock; and in turn, control time itself. After a failed attempt at escape, Clank finds himself re-activated by the custodian of the great clock who explains to him that he is the last hope for saving time from being manipulated by the evil Dr. Nefarious. After viewing a message from Clank's "father", the pint-sized robot learns that he was constructed to be the keeper of time on the Great Clock. He receives the Time Scepter which allows him to harness some of the Great Clock's power and sets off to right the wrongs created by Dr. Nefarious.
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| I would say that he's compensating for something, but I'm not sure that's how robots work... |
Meanwhile, on a far away planet, Ratchet receives information which leads him to believe that his friend, Clank, may be in danger. Included with this information is the first hint at how to find the robot's location and rescue him from Dr. Nefarious. Ratchet sets off on his journey along with the ever-annoying Captain Quark, to discover his best friend's whereabouts and encounters many of Dr. Nefarious's lackeys in the process. Ratchet's search takes him through many different solar systems and to many different worlds.
In a feature new to A Crack in Time, ratchet can freely explore each system he visits in his spaceship. Each system is filled with side-quests, main story missions, collectables, and enemies to combat. One of the collectables, actual Zoni themselves, upgrade Ratchet's ship as he collects more and more of them. Certain areas in the galaxy require Ratchet to have these upgrades in order to progress, so it's a good idea to collect as many as you can!
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| Ratchet really shouldn't have let Quark adjust the "radio"... |
Each planet that Ratchet lands on has its own unique landscape. There are ice worlds, vast metropolises, rich jungle planets, and much more. The scenery on each planet is extremely well done and enjoyable. The game's graphics take on a cartoony vibe thanks to some smart usage of cell-shading. Everything is extremely colorful, which is a breath of fresh air in an era of games filled with drab yellow-filters and browns.
Exploring these worlds involves Ratchet jumping from platform to platform, fighting enemies, and some light puzzle solving. Returning to the game are a multitude of upgradable weapons which level up as you use them. A gun that fires flying buzz-saw blades, a weapon which tosses a disco ball into the air and forces the surrounding enemies to break uncontrollably into dance, and even a device which opens a rift to the netherworld so that one of the old-ones can tentacle your enemies to death (no, not Japanese style) are just a few samples of these wacky weapons. A Crack in Time sees the introduction of "constructo weapons" as well. These three weapons start out as a base pistol, shotgun, and bomb, but can be fitted with upgrades found throughout the game to customize their effects. The color palettes can also be swapped on these guns, further customizing your weaponry.
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| Ok, maybe a little like the Japanese style... |
While Ratchet searches the galaxy for Clank, the Robotic Time Keeper has his own part to play. Now charged with being the Keeper, Clank must travel around the Great Clock fixing problems created by Dr. Nefarious and his minions. These Clank levels play as interludes between the main chunks of Ratchet's story and switch the player's perspective to the Time Scepter wielding Clank. These levels are mostly very short, but involve the heaviest puzzle solving in the game. The Time Scepter allows clank to create different versions of himself so that he can do tasks which would normally require more than on person. Puzzles involving this ability can be real mind-benders, though are extremely clever and enjoyable. Each Clank section of the game has at least one time puzzle with the puzzles becoming sequentially harder as the game goes on. These sections also serve to tell some of the backstory of the Great Clock, a story which affects the entire universe.
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| Multiple Clank Disorder? |
Spread throughout the entire game are amusing cut scenes involving all of the characters. Silly jokes, pranks, and asides make these videos incredibly entertaining and charming. I found myself thinking repeatedly that this game had all of the same qualities which made my favorite cartoons great. Even the villains in the game are charming and fun. These qualities are what first captured my attention and gained my love for the series.
As with many 3D Action/Platformer games, the camera in A Crack in Time can sometimes work against you. While it only happened a few times, I still found myself missing a jump, or being killed by an enemy that I couldn't see due to a bad camera angle. Admittedly, this is a minor issue, but it is extremely frustrating to die on a game when it isn't your fault. Along the same lines of frustration, every now and then I came into contact with what seemed to be invisible walls when making jumps. I'm sort of a strange gamer, in that if I can see a secret area I will attempt to get to it using extremely unorthodox means. In some cases, this means jumping to ledges that aren't really supposed to support your character, or jumping off platforms at strange angles. Unfortunately for me, I found that in many of these cases, if you try to jump to a location that was not intended to be the way to reach a destination you will smash into an invisible wall and fall to your death, even if you would have survived the jump otherwise. Again, a small issue, but still annoying.
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| This is what happens when Ratchet gets frustrated by an invisible wall... |
I have to say that Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time was an absolute joy to play through. Games like this make me feel like a child again, in a good way. I sometimes felt as though the Clank levels were a chore, but I never got overly frustrated with the puzzles and really appreciated the clever design of the puzzles. I was a little disappointed with the weaponry in this game, as many of them were recycled from the previous game. Luckily the weapons are still incredibly fun to run amok with. I hope that the series continues in the direction of customization and free exploration. I cannot wait to play the next game, slated for a late 2013 release!
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