 Well-Crafted & Fun For All Ages |
| Review Date: October 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: E. H. Bruno, New Jersey, United States |
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time is a great conclusion to the series, but the beautiful part about it is that you can play it without having played any of the other games before it. When you first pop in the disc you're greeted with a short movie that explains all of the events leading up to this game. Once that's over, you're up to speed and ready to roll.
The story is quite interesting, it's loaded with laugh-out-loud humor, and the characters are voiced to perfection. This rivals any of the Hollywood CGI movies that have come out in recent memory in terms of animation, story, humor, and the acting performances.
The game is loaded with variety. As Ratchet, you'll be flying around in your spaceship, in kind of an open-world setting, where you can visit various planets and moons in each space sector and accomplish side-tasks. The moons are spherical and come in two really fun varieties: platforming segments which will you remind you of Super Mario Galaxy, and shooting segments which will you remind you of Super Stardust HD. The planets are where the story actually takes place and you will explore much larger environments and meet new characters. In space, you can get into dog-fights with Dr. Nefarious' minion space-ship fighters, or you can meet up with various other space-travelers and help them with their requests. Your ship is upgradable, you just have to find little creatures called Zoni. There are 40 of them hidden throughout the game's universe, many of them are found by completing the optional moons. While roving around in your ship, there are also 4 fictitious radio stations to choose from. They all feature wonderful music of different varieties for different tastes, and DJs that will make you laugh out loud with their banter.
The weapons are ingeniously conceived, and you'll find yourself laughing when you see what some of them do. Humor is a big part of this game. But it's not all about humor. There is some serious gameplay here, too. Fun platforming, creative puzzles, RPG-like systems where your character levels up as he gains experience, granting him more hit points, and all of your weapons level-up with use, as well. Also, the weapons can be upgraded with parts that you find hidden around the universe, and some of the weapons can even be custom-painted.
Some of the best gameplay in this package comes from Clank and the new time-based puzzles. There will time-pads placed around the Clock at the Center of the Universe (the area that Clank traverses throughout the game), and you can record yourself doing things on these time-pads, then play back the action simultaneously while doing something else with your present self. In other words, you can set up recordings of past-selves to help your present-self accomplish tasks that would otherwise be impossible alone. The mechanics may remind you of a game called Braid. It's all very-well implements and often ingenious, always fun.
The game itself is rather easy to get through on the lower difficulties, it will be appropriate for children and adults alike who may not have much experience gaming. You'll get to see the whole game without much difficulty. But there are also Normal and Hard difficulties, which amp up the challenge, and seasoned gamers will find them more than sufficient to give them a fun time that's not too easy or too frustrating. This game is perfect for all-ages, it's appropriate for kids as well as adults, and I recommend it highly! |
And I thought ToD was good...
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| Review Date: October 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Daniel Dearden, Bozeman, MT, USA |
First let me start off by saying if you liked Tools of Destruction (I loved it), stop reading and buy this game, it's quite a bit better, really the same game with a bunch of noticeable improvements! The story is great and the writing is quite clever as usual. This is definitely the funniest Ratchet game yet, getting to play with Quark is worth it on its own! They have a lot of cool new puzzles (During Clank's play time) and some great action with Ratchet. The weapons are brilliant again, you get some of your old favorites (with minor alterations) and some great new additions. Not to mention the voice acting is great yet again.
Now in the interest of keeping this spoiler free, I won't go into Clank's story/gameplay because it will give away some of the fun, but just know that his new abilities and his new responsibilities are tied to the game title and they are very cool!
Ratchet plays the same as usual except for a few new gadgets (hover boots being my favorite) and some awesome new tools! They've also added a bit of a space shooter into the game which is a blast and introduces many "side quests"(Not to mention a great little Quark mini-game). Lots to do in this one guys, tons to collect, it's quite long and the replay is immense as usual!
My advice, add this one to your collection if you've played Tools of Destruction, if you haven't you may not get the story right off the bat and you'll really miss out on a lot, although the gameplay will still be fun as usual. I do suggest playing Tools of Destruction first.
Well that's about it, this game is just what you would expect from the Insomniac team, a very polished, fun, pixar-like experience that will excite and compel you to play forward. |
Fantastic! An instant classic.
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| Review Date: October 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: W3ap0n-X, St. Louis, MO |
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time is a phenomenal game which is leaps and bounds above Tools Of Destruction...which is quite impressive because the first in the "Future" trilogy of Ratchet & Clank was no slouch of a game.
The controls are easy, the camera (although sometimes having a mind of its own)complements and follows play smoothly, and the sound (my biggest gripe with ToD and QfB) is fantastic.
The graphics are much improved (may sound odd...seeing as the graphics are purposely cartoony) to the point you can see individual Lombax hairs and subtle changes in the shape of faces for expression. So far (two stages in) I'm missing the comedy bad guys that were present (yet still effectively tyrannical) in the prior two episodes. I will, however, admit to one giggle-worthy moment from Dr. Nefarious.
The weapons and gadgets (still have a TON to get) are truly original all over again and massively fun to use in the creation of explosions and wanton destruction around Ratchet. What is there not to love about a genetically enhanced belching reptile with a hair trigger?
Side missions with Clank still feel a little...meh...but it's good to follow his side of the story and is a welcome break after joining Ratchet in narrowly avoiding death 62 and 1/3 times. Clank has his own brand of humor that works...but works better when combined with a certain wrench-wielding, sarcastic Lombax.
There has been an element of...almost non-linear gameplay added which I have fallen absolutely in love with. I can get to the story when I want and have fun things to do on the side (with very pleasurable rewards) to build me up for story missions.
The radio is a rather creative addition. I keep going back to the techno-trance station while cracking heads and cooking threads with 'ol Mr. Zircon and his smack-talking self while jetting around moons and asteroids in search of bonuses on my jet boots.
I'm rambling now so I will end here by saying that Insomniac has, once again, produced a real gem. Hilarious, action-packed, and a welcome addition to any gamer's library. I wouldn't rent this one or wait for it used, folks...there's fun to be had RIGHT NOW and you shouldn't be missing out.
I'm already hoping for the next R&C game that will have to work to make it above an even higher bar set by Crack In Time. |
Ratchet and Clank are back..in a BIG WAY!
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| Review Date: November 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: D. Cottrell, |
| As a lover of the franchise, I was disappointed in Deadlocked, somewhat underwhelmed by Tools of Destruction, and outright unhappy with Quest for Booty. That said, I must say, the Dynamic Duo are BACK! A Crack In Time brilliantly recaptures the unbounded joy of the initial three PS2 games, with quirky, cool music, extremely clever structure and story-telling, and fantastic new weapons. Kudos to the wizards at Insomniac. I must say I am saddened to see that this is being touted as a "conclusion" to the story. That said, this game really makes the PS3 worth owning!! Go out and get it TODAY! (this is an unpaid endorsement from a college professor!) |
Best "platformer" ever
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| Review Date: November 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jeremy Rowland, Mckinney, TX |
A reviewer for the New York Times called Tools of Destruction, the first in this PS3 Ratchet and Clank Future series, "the first game to truly deliver the long-sought 'You are playing a Pixar movie' experience", and I think I'd have to agree (and I'm a professional animator, so that's quite a compliment). A Crack in Time carries on the tradition with a truly satisfying gameplay experience. Everything about the game is best-in-class: the story is engaging, the animation is feature film quality, the voice acting is absolutely brilliant (best I've ever seen in any game), and the presentation is first-rate. Yes, there are cutscenes, but this avoids the "cutscene followed by an unrelated level of jumping around and killing stuff" and integrates much of the story line into the gameplay itself.
Some have complained about short gameplay but I feel the length is just about right for a game of this genre, and definitely longer than what I expected. What they may lack in quantity (again, I disagree on that point) they more than make up for in quality and replayability. The levels are lush, rich in content, and teeming with the feel of being "alive". And, when the game is complete, the player unlocks the ability to start a new save game in "challenge mode" with all weapons intact from the previous game, and it's just as much fun the second time through. The first play through, if you take time to complete all the optional content and collect all the rare items, will be about 10-15 hours, the second play-through will be about 5 hours. I'll take 15-20 hours of superb gameplay over 50-100 hours of mediocre tedium any day.
Even from the start, the fights and weapons feel big and bad and only get more intense over time. Never content to stop innovating, Insomniac has designed mostly new and very creative weapons rather than rehashing old content. Some weapons, such as the Tesla Spikes and Dynamo of Doom, are difficult to learn to use but become the most powerful of all when used at the right time. The chaos from the Ryno V is truly epic. The sector concept, in which the player literally flies to each level instead of just selecting it off the map, looked incredibly tedious at first but turned out quickly to be great fun and a very nice touch, and once you've visited a level you can always just select it off the map later to save time.
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was one of the few games I've ever purchased where I felt I got more than my money's worth. The downloadable sequel, Quest for Booty, was of course much shorter, but had a much lower price as well to match. I'll be keeping all three around for many, many years to revisit from time to time. While this is no longer available, the Amazon pre-order came with the "Bolt Package" which let you start with the Box Basher and Bolt Magnetizer, taking a lot of tedium out of the first few levels; it's possible this might be purchasable from the Playstation store by the time you buy the game so keep your eyes open.
If you played the others in the series, buy this now, you won't be disappointed. If you're new to the series, I don't see a reason to start with this one; you could pick it up and not feel too lost in the story, but why? Go back, pick up Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction and enjoy the story all the way through; you'll enjoy it more, and maybe by the time you get to this title the price will drop a little. I think "A Crack in Time" ends up being the best of the series, but it's a little like picking Peter Jackson's "The Return of the King" as the best in his Lord of the Rings trilogy; maybe it is, but only if you've experienced the first two. As a bonus: A Crack in Time gives a discount to players with a completed save game from Tools of Destruction and unlocks some concept art and a pirate skin for a save game from Quest for Booty. |
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US $36.80
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