Ratchet and Clank Future: a crack in time Review
Through the lifetime of the action platformer Ratchet and Clank there has not been any significant attempt to stray away from the formula to the gameplay or any attempt to largely improve upon it. Most of the installments to the series have mostly been the same great gameplay with new content added on to it. That said Ratchet and Clank Future: a crack in time does not manage to achieve this upgrade, but it certainly does try to mix it up with solid game design and interesting new game mechanics.
The premise set in the game is that Ratchet is on a quest to find his companion Clank, who was taken away by a mysterious race called the Zoni in the previous games. It evolves into a journey to stop one of the
series past villains Dr. Nefarious from taking control of a space station known as the Great Clock and using it to control time itself. The writing trys to appeal to a younger audience and but can be a funny at times. Eventually you may want to start skipping the cut scenes from time to time. The plot is somewhat decent but will not to a great job of pulling you from mission to mission and it mostly serves as an excuse to travel the games various environments.
The core game remains pretty much the same from the previous games. You can upgrade your weapons by defeating enemies and destroying crates. There are a few notable additions that stand out and make the game the best in the series however. Partway through the game you acquire rocket boots that allow you to travel through the level much quicker. This allows for some of the battles that are on a much larger scale in the game shine through a little more. The game implements a space travel hub/semi open world to explore with fully implemented space battles. On paper it sounds like a great idea but the depth of combat in the space combat is paper-thin and quickly becomes a chore. However the new space hub world lets you access small mini planet levels which are well designed and may be one of the best parts of the game. Some sections of the game will let you solve mind bending time puzzles that you have the option to skip but I would highly recommend experiencing. The puzzles in a crack in time are very unique and have never really been done like this before.
The game has fairly low replay value if you want to start a new game. The game design is decent but going through the levels a second time is a bore. The extra side quests and collectables do add a great amount of time to this game however so you will feel like your getting your moneys worth.
A crack in time is certainly the best in the series and realizes great puzzles, addicting gameplay, and a great upgrade system. The game sticks to its strengths most of the time and is a great way to send of the future series with a bang.
