Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time closes out the trilogy Insomniac Games launched on PlayStation 3, and it does so with an unexpectedly personal story. Ratchet finally catches up with the kidnapped Clank, while also learning more about the fate of his nearly extinct people, the Lombaxes. Clank, meanwhile, finds himself inside the Great Clock, a colossal machine at the center of the universe that keeps time running. This split is exactly what divides the game into two distinct halves. Ratchet's segments are classic action-platforming with a rich arsenal of bizarre weapons that improve on their own through use and can be further upgraded with the resource raritanium. Clank's segments, by contrast, are puzzle-based: on time-manipulation platforms, you record several copies of yourself who then act alongside you simultaneously, so you end up opening doors for yourself, holding down buttons, and assembling living gears out of your own repeated actions.

Free movement between planetoids is also new. Ratchet gets a small ship, and within a sector you can fly from one tiny body to another, collecting bonuses, completing side missions, and branching off the main line. On top of that come the hoverboots, which open up ground-level levels into fast, flowing runs. Technically, the game was among the best PS3 had to offer in the genre at the time: clean, colorful environments, plenty of objects and effects on screen without visible compromise, and animation on the level of animated feature-film production. Orchestral music and above-average voice acting complete the impression that you're playing an interactive animated movie.

Reviewers received the entry very warmly, and many still call it the peak of the entire series today. It's not just a technical showcase. It's an episode where humor partly gives way to melancholy, and where the final decision carries real weight. Today, A Crack in Time feels surprisingly fresh. The pace is fast, nothing bogs you down with unnecessary grinding, and combat still has plenty of drive thanks to the variety of weapons. If you missed Ratchet's cosmic escapades on PS3, this is exactly the entry to start with.