Okay Geek Farm
PS3 Review: Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time
Alex Tretrop
So, every few years there’s a new Ratchet and Clank game on the market for Sony fans. The series itself has always had its up's with great games like Up Your Arsenal, and down's with Ratchet: Deadlocked. Despite all the problems some of the games had, they were all still pretty entertaining enough to warrant a nice weekend rental.
So the question is - Is this game worth more then just a rental?
Plot
In A Crack in Time, Ratchet and his buddy, Clank, have been separated by the evil Doctor Nefarious and his robotic butler, Lawrence. Ratchet is trying to find his mechanical buddy while Clank is woken up by the mysterious Zoni and finds that he is in The Great Clock - the place that controls and keeps Time flowing in the universe. Without getting too in depth on the story, in this game Ratchet and Clank are played separately, with Ratchet doing the usual shooting and platforming, while Clank does a lot of puzzles, which as you progress can get very complicated. You can opt to skip these puzzles if you feel like it but you miss out on the large amounts of Bolts (the game’s currency), and the feeling of achievement when you beat them.
Visuals & Audio
In terms of sound and graphical Style, A Crack in Time delivers. The graphics are top notch, with a very vibrant and cartoony color scheme that I've always enjoyed in the Ratchet series. I mean it's a refreshing color palette compared to the rest of the grim and dark art styles so rampant in today's games.
As for the sound and writing, they on the other hand are kind of mixed in my opinion. While the voice acting (most notably Dr. Nefarious) is handled very well, the writing at times tries too hard to make you laugh and doesn't succeed. I ended up laughing at the way they delivered the joke, because of the excellent voice acting, rather than the actual joke itself.
Gameplay
Finally, the most important part of a Ratchet and Clank game for me: gameplay. Thankfully, I am very happy to report that this game definitely takes my favorite parts of the previous games; from the weird and wacky guns, to the amount of enemies you fight, and when put them together it creates a very entertaining, and for the most part, funny game.
Near the beginning of the game you get the Hoverboots which allow you to go anywhere at rapid speeds, and forces the game to have some very large and detailed areas to fight over, or “hover” through. In terms of guns A Crack in Time gives you the goods with some very creative and ridiculous weaponry - for example, the Sonic Eruptor, which is essentially a giant frog attached to the front of your gun that emits a very deadly “mating call”. And how about the always entertaining Groovitron Globe that when dropped on the ground causes a disco ball to rise up and force enemies to dance uncontrollably. Every enemy including the bosses have different dance moves; like the robots that break dance and spin on their head, to bosses shaking it to parts of Thriller. This always gives you an instant and hilarious edge in combat. You can also upgrade each one of these guns to shinier, funnier, and crazier versions as you use them.
Final Verdict
So is Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time worth a buy? It has some very good gameplay, a colourful and cheerful art style, and with its ridiculous and over the top nature it’s definitely a lot of fun. The game is a little short, clocking in at about eleven hours on my first playthrough, not including side missions and collectibles. The choice will ultimately lay in what you want from a game. If you enjoy shooting lots of bad guys with really weird artillery in cartoon style, then should be, well, Up Your Arsenal. Some people may find this game a little on the repetitive side, with essentially the entire game consisting of fighting similar enemies repeatedly with Ratchet, and then some in between puzzles with Clank. And without the inclusion of any multi-player, there isn’t too much incentive to come back unless you’re a completionist.
Still this game is at least worth a rent to see if you like it. And if you're a fan of the series then this definitely a great game to play.
