Insomniac Games has a long history of making quality games for the PlayStation. Starting back with the first Spyro the Dragon, they have consistently made solid platformer games. Coming from Resistance 2 last year, they go back to their roots with A Crack in Time. In this exciting conclusion to the Ratchet and Clank Future trilogy, you find out the fate of Clank who was kidnapped at the end of Tools of Destruction. Were they able to keep the series exciting even after six Ratchet and Clank games, or has it grown stale?

The story in A Crack in Time continues right after A Quest for Booty leaves off. Ratchet is trying to find his lost buddy Clank. If you haven’t been playing the Future trilogy up to this point, you don’t really have to worry since Insomniac summarizes the last two games in a nifty five minute cutscene. An old villain returns in the form of Doctor Nefarious. First seen in Up your Arsenal, he’s back to take control of time. Generally, the storyline is solid and the plot is about what you’d expect from something that’s supposed to be goofy and have appeal to kids.

The graphic style they’re going for is something that you’d find in a Pixar film, but it isn’t quite there yet. The graphics engine doesn’t seem to have really been worked on since the first game on the PS3, so it looks a little dated. With that said, the game is usually super smooth due to the solid 60 frames per second that the game runs at. Given how smooth this game is, it saddens me that after this, Insomniac will make all their games run at 30 frames per second.

The voice acting as always is top notch. From the annoying yet fun to watch Captain Quark, to the ever destructive robotic death machine Mr. Zurkon, the voice acting is of the same calibre as some the best Saturday morning cartoons. The line “Mr. Zurkon does NOT come in peace” always brings a smile to myself and it’s lines like that really make the game for me. You have plenty one liners that’ll bring a smile your face as the game never take’s itself too seriously. When sound effects for the weapons and enemies work fine, and are generally the same ones used in every other Ratchet and Clank game.

The game is separated into two different portions with the majority of it being played as Ratchet and a much smaller part being played as Clank. The Ratchet part plays a lot like Quest for Booty. The biggest difference is you don’t have Clank with you. You won’t have to the ability to sail to the next platform on jumps until you acquire the Hover Boots. The Hover Boots add another layer to game since they make it possible to do insane jumps. This leads me to the side missions that make the best use of all the game platforming mechanics including the Hover Boots. If you want some the most solid platforming you’ve had in years, you’d be cheating yourself by not playing these side missions. As Ratchet you’ll be flying from planet to planet in your spaceship in 2.5d flying sequences where you can only turn left or right. While not exactly the best space simulator experience, it’s functional and the game gives you enough maneuvers to pull off to keep it interesting. There are plenty of upgrades for you to collect for your ship and weapons, giving you good incentive to go back into levels to collect them all. The weapons are very customizable, allowing you to change everything from what kind of projectile it fires, to the color of the gun. The Clank portions of the game are pretty short and are largely just made up of making time recordings of Clank, then trying to solve puzzles with them. None of these puzzles are really going to challenge you, and after a while it just feels more like a waste of time than anything fun. The game has some replay value. It gives you the option of going back and finishing all the side missions you didn’t do, or restarting the game with harder enemies and cheaper guns.

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is largely more of the same. If you’ve grown tired of the formula, this game is not going to change your mind. With that said, there aren’t really that many choices when it comes to a new 3D platforming game. Ignoring the occasional Mario game every few years, this is the only game in town. While nothing is too original, it’s a solid experience in a dying genre.

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