Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time Review

Clank's levels are brilliant

Navigating through the levels would be almost impossible if it weren't for the quantum bombs that Clank has at his disposal. Fast moving objects can be encased in time bubbles, slowing them down so that Clank can get past them. The bombs will wear off after a short time or if you throw another, often making Clank's mission a dangerous one. His actual goal is to repair time, something done by using a chrono beam on planets. Here the game switches styles, with the beam being moved around with the analogue stick in order to target anomalies on the planet's surface. As you progress, moving from planet to planet, the task gets trickier, with enemies causing trouble and anomalies splitting (giving you more to shoot), but you'll pick up power-ups too, and be able to target bombs to clear numerous anomalies at once.

The Great Clock that Clank spends most his time in has one other secret up its sleeve: recording devices. These pads (usually in groups of two or three) let you record Clank's actions for one minute, then play them back. So, a typical scenario will see a number of pressure pads, each activating a lock or moving platform, which need to be triggered in a certain order so that normal, non-recorded Clank can then make his way through the exit. Certain puzzles will require you to record over existing recordings; these can be real head scratchers, but I never found myself horribly stuck - there is a hint system if you're struggling, though. The difficulty seems pitched just right so that you're tested enough to feel smart, and never so much that you're throwing your controller at the TV in a rage.

Once again there's no multiplayer to speak of, but there are loads of unlockables and secrets to find. Your first run through will likely take in the region of 12 hours (quite good compared to the average length of an action game these days), and fans will find plenty to come back for, even during the same run through - Clank's time fixing will open up areas that had been inaccessible, letting Ratchet get to previously hidden items. Trophies will be enough of a reason to replay the game for hardcore fans, and thankfully they are well thought out and require some real effort. Challenge mode also returns, giving you tougher enemies to fight against and in turn the ability to max out your weapons if you didn't manage to during the course of the campaign. Real dedication is required to unlock the big bonus though: the Insomniac museum. This special extra requires you to collect all of the Zoni in the game and then defeat a boss in an incredibly tough encounter, but will be worth the effort for real Insomniac die-hards.

For whatever reason Insomniac seems able to create better looking games when it ditches realism in favour of cartoon-style visuals. A Crack in Time looks brilliant for the most part, although the years since the first PS3 game have meant that I was less dazzled by the Pixar-like visuals than I was first time around. It's still a fine looking game, with certain areas truly stunning in terms of detail and art design, but it's not quite the showstopper the series' PS3 debut was at the time. Voice work from the key characters is top class, and even the bit-part NPCs rarely sound out of place. It's a great package all round, and the frame rate thankfully manages to stay pretty solid even with tons of stuff going on.

Fans of Ratchet and Clank will find A Crack in Time to be more of the same, with a few twists here and there. It's a fine end to the current storyline and packs in loads of content that will see you playing well beyond the closing credits. The lack of fresh ideas, especially during Ratchet's sections, will be seen by many as a negative, but there are so few games that nail the action platforming genre that it's easily forgivable. If you're looking for a fun, imaginative, family friendly PS3 game, A Crack in Time fits the bill perfectly.