Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time is the third and final instalment of the series’ future arc which sees the dynamic duo of Ratchet, a furry creature known as a Lombax (think of a cat crossed with a raccoon with the tail of a lion) and Clank, his robot sidekick separated. Taking off directly from the previous two titles, Clank has been abducted by cute and mysterious creatures known as the Zoni and Ratchet sets off to find him and save the world.

For most of the game you switch between the two characters ”“ for the platform and action-heavy parts would have you playing as Ratchet and the puzzle segments would see you donning the role of Clank. While Clank’s sequences are will keep you thinking, they lack the sheer fun that the levels where you play Ratchet have. Sure you can pause time, rewind, create and control multiple versions of yourself necessary to solve some sadistically designed puzzles (which when solved do a lot to boost the ego) but you can’t exactly travel through space and engage in dogfights, explore some extremely well-realised planets and use ridiculous but aptly named weapons such as the Groovitron Glove, as you can with Ratchet. But even so, alternating between these two diverse gameplay styles does add some flavour and variation to the game.
Imbalances aside, A Crack in Time looks good enough to put most games and several handfuls of Pixar movies to shame with stellar animation, gorgeously colourful art direction and stunning graphics.

Add some outstanding voice acting to the mix and you have a game that does complete justice to its ludicrously hilarious script. Outside the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series, A Crack in Time has some of the funniest writing around. Be it the colourful cast of characters from the bumbling Doctor Nefarious to Captain Qwark, the wannabe saviour of the universe, the game has plenty of quality writing that most titles now skimp out on.

The bottom-line: if you’re a fan of the franchise or just trying it out you won’t be disappointed. A Crack in Time is one of those few titles that do justice to the genre of platformers and does so in style.