 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. |
Insomniac....please don't let this be the end.
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| Review Date: November 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Eldred Jonas, USA |
First of I have to say that I have been a huge fan of the Ratchet and Clank series ever since the original went to the greatest hits bin. This series has been one of my absolute favorites in all of my 30+ years of gaming, and A crack in time is no different.
Game Changes that I really liked include the new space battle mechanic. While it is not as good the completely free roaming space battles that we saw in Going Commando, the 2d space fights are a big improvement over the "on rails" segments we saw in Tools of Destruction. The Moon play while not a big addition gives the game extra game play, an opportunity to do things outside of the story line, and additional value for us geeks to like to find every single gold bolt, zoni and hoopla in the game.
Visually it is very much like tools of destruction, I really cannot see that much of an improvement on the game engine, not that it's a bad thing, the Insomniac engine is one of the most polished in the business. And as an aside to all other game developers who's camera never works, take a lesson from Insomniac. Control sprite movement with the left stick, control the camera with the right stick, it's not that hard. Ratchet and clank games have been getting it right since day one back in 2000. It's now 2009 there shouldn't be a problem.
Then there is what everyone who buys a Ratchet and Clank game loves, the really big crazy obnoxious guns. New to the game are the Constructo weapons are a cool addition. They allow for more customization, lots of different effects, and allow the player to use weapons that fit their style of play. Other weapons still level up, but the raritainium upgrades have been taken out for this game (I do kind of miss that aspect for many of the guns).
Bottom line this is a great game, fun to play, extras for those who want the bonus stuff, lots of fun in the story line, great variety in the game play and its playable by both kids and adults.
There are rumors that this might be the last game in the series. Insomniac has gotten much success out of its new Resistance franchise (another great series, I hope Nathan Hale is OK), but don't give up on that wacky fun game that made you guys such a great studio. I've been playing R&C with my kids now for the last 5 years, we wait for each release with lots of anticipation checking out [...] for updates every weekend. Me and my two boys all love playing these games together, finding all of the easter eggs and discussing / theorizing what cool new gadgets you guys might come up with for the next game. I don't care if you release a R&C title every other year with a Resistance title. But don't stop!
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Polished To Perfection
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| Review Date: November 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Eric R. Franco, Ontario, CA USA |
For those expecting revolutionary game play you might as well look elsewhere. For those looking for the most polished and perfected example of fun platforming, run and gun, and puzzle based game play on the market, look no further. In the spirit of full disclosure I will say that I have played every Ratchet & Clank game to date with the exception of the PSP versions, and I have yet to find one I didn't like.
Here is what you've come to expect from a R&C game: off-beat humor, over the top weapons, polished game play mechanics, simple puzzle based mind teasers, platforming, and moderate to heavy treasure hunting. This game fires on all cylinders. Annoying "puzzles" in the past (the ill-advised unlocking mechanism with the rolling ball) have been removed, replaced instead by the most excellent puzzle sections involving Clank. I was honestly worried about how the game would play out with Ratchet & Clank being separate, as in previous games those portions never felt as fleshed out as they could have been. This time around, however, Ratchet & Clank stand independent of each other. The pure platforming and puzzle sections involving Clank are a welcome break from the run and gun action of Ratchet, but not for too long.
The space sections are okay. It's a "sandbox" game insofar as you can choose to do more or less of the moons. If you wanted I'm sure you could easily go straight from story piece to story piece and never do any of the side missions, but what's the fun in that? The space combat is much improved over Tools of Destruction, but still not all that engaging. It becomes especially trivial if you upgrade your ship fully, but as a means of getting you from A to B with something interesting in the middle it works well enough.
This is also the first R&C game where I have honestly felt challenged. I played through on the hardest difficulty and I've never died so much in this series. I'm loving every moment of it. The weapons, while still as powerful as usual, don't feel as overpowered as they once did (although once you've got everything upgraded to max through challenge mode they are as overpowered as ever) and your ammo is actually pretty limited this time around. I've been able to beat everything on the Agorian Battleplex except the very last one - so far I've only been able to get to round 17 consistently then it all goes to pot. That is saying something, when even doing the 100 round version in a previous game felt too easy.
Fans of this game will find a lot to love this time around, and though I hope it is not the last R&C game; if it did turn out to be I would definitely feel satisfied in saying that this was an excellent conclusion to the series. |
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US $26.09
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