Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (Sony Playstation 3, 2009)

I purchased this title for my son for the holidays just past in part to demonstrate my trust in him since this is not rated for 'Everyone' and he is hitting adolescence and his mother still tends to be a tad over-protective. Good news, tho', moms: unless you are trying to keep your kid in some kind of isolation ward, they're going to interact with their friends and you want to make sure that any rope that you give them with which to 'act their age' can still be controlled by you! 'Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time' is just the right type of rope. The violence is really mild, even compared to most cartoon that are targeted for the over-5 crowd but it is filled with a wonderful assortment of unique weapons (such as a "burp gun" that literally disables your opponents with belches of varying sizes. This game gives the user not only the standard First Person Shooter (FPS) experience of wielding a weapon against your foes but it also provides additional challenges and, as you progress through the game, it requires additional problem solving challenges that are rooted in mathematics (tho' it's not shoved in your face as a "math challenge".) It includes flight simulation and multiple character roles to aid anyone who doesn't think about how their actions affect the lives of others. Of course, none of this is 'advertised' (because, face it, how many kids (over the age of 7-8) bug their parents for the latest, greatest Educational game? But this isn't the singular concept/mode-of-play that has been the staple of "video games" (and not to imply that this is the first. It's just one of the best for kids over the age of 9-10.)

I do have one major complaint about this game, though, and it's one that I share with many parents: All of these games should be created so that there is at least one variation of the game that allows for multiple players. I don't want to send my kids to their rooms to play games. Heck, I like playing with them if only for the time together, but it's tough to justify allowing one kid to take control of the family room TV and driving everyone else away or, worse, making them angry. I'm beginning to wonder if I might not have been better off getting a Wii and a separate BD players... But that's not the fault of the designer(s) of this game. If it weren't for the fact that this is only a single player game then it would make my (rather short) list of all-time best games... (Well, that and the few bugs that I've found - but you have to work hard to expose 'em!!!)

Wow. After the last game..which was good, don't get me wrong...it was just another ratchet and clank game. No more than what you would expect. But this, a crack in time, goes beyond that. It takes what a common fan would love about the R&C series, and builds on it. Many details of the game have been improved, from how easy it is to throw your wrench, to telling you what weapons are coming to the stores soon. The comedy the game comes with is also back in full force, great lines, funny characters, and a nice style that fits all of it. Weapons are also no disappointment in this one. Though a good amount of the time, you'll be asking yourself "Didn't I have this one already?" Yeah, many weapons from previous game are there, but still some cool new ones. The story is great, just great....I can't give anything away, but its a good story. As for Side missions, there isn't much, some, but not much. The arena is always a good thing in a R&C and always something I look forward to. This had a really good one. Not as great as the one from the 2nd game, but still great. I liked how most of the arena, is there from the get go...all depends if you can beat it...and I like that. This is the first R&C with trophies, and they are good ones. Not really hard to get, which may be bad for some, and good to others. Anyone who has played a R&C game knows, the hardest things to get, are skill points. Things you get, for doing unknown achievements in game. Only clue you get, is the name of the skill point, and the planet its on. Which I will admit is enough if you spend a lot of time on it. But there are no trophies that go with skill points. Making trophies pretty easy in this one. There are parts of the game where you play as Clank...as in any other R&C. But I always found those parts....boring. I mean, who wants to play as Clank? He don't get an armory of guns in his pocket. But in this game, as you play as clank, you have to solve some very fun puzzles. Puzzles that can be hard at times, and so for the kiddies, there is a skip function, but at a cost....Now thats how its done. The level up system in R&C has always been great, and its just as great in this game. I dislike in a game where I feel like, if I'm not progressing through the story, I'm wasting time. Take extra time to kill extra monsters, and its worth it. Something I feel was lacking in these 2 PS3 R&C...was the money system. R&C has always had a solid money system, best I ever seen. It rewarded saving your money/killing extra monsters to get more money, because a good amount of the guns were expensive as hell....but worth it! Maybe you had to skip a few guns you wanted, to get that 1 gun you love more than the rest...but thats what having a money system is for. In a crack in time...most guns can be gotten cheaply and almost everytime a new gun came up...I had the bolts (money) to get it, even though I had bought every other gun yet. Thats not right. The better version of the best gun in this game was 1 mil...the lower version of the best gun in the 2nd game....2 mil. Thats not right. Something else that kind of bothered me...and this is...kind of a weapon level limit SPOILER....but the limit on a weapons level (after the 2nd play through) is 10. The 3rd R&C game, it was 10, the 4th game...100..the game before this, 10. I was expecting more than 10 this time around, I know they can do it, it give more playtime...so I don't know why they don't.

this is probably the best ratchet and clank game that i have ever played, its extremely colourful and imaginative story that is a common trait with the series continues onto this game perfectly. The controls are as good as ever, and the characters still provide that goofy humour. Great voice acting as always, great immersive story always hits you with some goodies along the way. An outstanding ratchet and clank game, probably the best one out of them all. A reasonable price to pick this game up in like new to great condition would be $15-$12. Enjoy!

Presentation: 9 Out of 10
The makers of Ratchet & Clank over at Insomniac once again deliver a highly polished experience with an amazing story that wraps up the R&C Future Series. Plenty of extras, like animated advertisements, only enhance the gaming experience.
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Graphics: 8.5 Out of 10
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is one of the best looking games in the series to date with a nice art style. It might not be as visually stimulating as its photo-realistic peers like Uncharted 2, but in no way does this hinder the game play experience.
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Sound: 9 Out of 10
Ratchet and Clank has excellent voice work complements an appropriately themed soundtrack. With multiple radio stations that play during space exploration and by choosing the Hot Rod skin for your ship, you'll be cruising along looking pretty sweet while completing tons of interactive tasks.
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Game play: 9 Out of 10
Another fine addition to the Ratchet & Clank series. Enjoyable mix of platforming, shooting and puzzle-solving with awesome weapons to use and level-up. The puzzle like Clank sections and time manipulations will surly test your wits and patience.
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Lasting Appeal: 9 Out of 10
The main story line of the last installment of Ratchet & Clank Future can be beaten in about 12 hours, however taking the time to unlock everything, level up, and of not to mention the replay value alone ensures you will be satisfied and continue coming back for more.

This is one of the great game that is introduce. It's a 6-8 hrs action adventure where you have number of great weapons to take out an army of enemies. it's fun to play and the game has its own humor and not to mention funny dialogs. The game play is similar if you have played prevous ratcher and clank but it has been improved by a lot. this game introduce new weapons along with improved version of old weapons. once you get your weapon you can level them up and make them powerful, and when you think you maxed out your weapon, you get to level them up even further when you start a new game+. game play offer challenges however compare to prevouse R&C these challegenes are not tough but still enjoyable. you have easy, normal and hard difficulty and once you finished your game, you get to start a new game+ under challenge mode difficulty. Along with the story line, you have various other side quest, arena tournaments and different place to collect hiddens item to unlock various options, upgrades for your weapons and your ship. All in all this is a wonderful and fun game to play, if you liked prevous ratchet and clank than you will love this game and if you haven't, than this is one of those game that you want to try out.