Another change in the gameplay is the way that you travel from planet to planet, once your ship has been launched into space you're given full control over the direction you want to go. This enables you to travel to planets within the same system, or you can find lesser planets or moons to land on. Of course, it's not as easy as all that and you'll have to fight your way there by defeating several bandits or other enemies in the area first. Once defeated and upon landing on these lesser planets you're given a 360 freedom to roam the planet (think Mario Galaxy on the Nintendo Wii) and take on various challenges such as killing a set number of enemies or negotiating a tricky path to enable a reward, normally a Constructor weapon upgrade or a Zoni to collect. You're not expected to fly the whole way to the next system and you can warp at any time you want, but once you reach that system you must then make your way to the planet till you get near enough to land.
Of course, at it's core Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time is like the other titles in the series, a platform game, and a shining example at that. This title does nothing to take away from that and it's a joy to play, of course like all good platformers there is a wealth of things to collect along the way. The most obvious thing to collect are the bolts that are a source of currency in the game, these help pay for things like Weapons, Ammunition and Weapons upgrades, you'll collect these by smashing the various boxes you see along your journey and killing the enemies you find. The boxes you come across don't always contain bolts, they can contain ammunition, and these have also been expanded upon in this game with larger boxes that can be broken to provide more rewards, or, camo-boxes which are hidden from view with a translucent effect, beware before you smash these though because you might need them to reach a platform you couldn't reach without standing on them first. You'll also discover Gold Bolts which act like collectables to unlock various bonus items in the game, these are normally found off the beaten track a little but also sometimes appear in plain sight leaving you wondering how exactly you should reach them, classic platforming action all the way.
While there is no Multiplayer as such in the game you can check up on how your friends on the PlayStation Network are doing with the game so far, various stats on your friends game can be viewed, from how many people they've killed with Ratchet's wrench to how many times they've completed the game; it's all in there and you can compare your progress with any of your friends at any time. While it's not a true multiplayer experience it does offer you the chance to get some bragging rights over your friends and at least offers some competitive element to the game. There is also a leader board to check to compare yourself with the rest of the world's Ratchet & Clank players, though, as always with this kind of thing you're going to have to stay up many a late night in order to compete with the leaders, at the time of writing the top player had completed the game 255 times already and if done without some kind of exploit in the game, it is a truly impressive amount of times to have played through the game.
The graphics in the game are superb, as with the previous games they are colourful and sharp and well rendered, it's always been this way with Ratchet & Clank games even from the original PlayStation 2 versions, and somehow Insomniac manage to better themselves each time. The graphics exude a cartoon quality that delights the eyes and there is almost always something to make you think "Wow" on each level at least once. Each of the main character models are well animated and have a range of motions available to them throughout the game, the enemies are varied in their appearance and size and some of the animations caused by the weapons actions are both hilarious and stunning (particularly from the Groovitron Glove) and are extremely well detailed. The story is told in both the game engine and through cut scenes which are incredibly well handled in both cases, adding an almost cinematic feel to the game in a Pixar kind of way, the strong voice acting from the cast adds to this feel and is just as tight as the graphics.
Ratchet & Clank games have always been known for there sense of humour and A Crack in Time makes no exception to this rule, from the comedy one liners from Captain Qwark to Clanks wry sense of humour, all remains thankfully intact and there are some genuinely funny moments in the game, well, to some at least, it can be a bit slap stick at times which isn't to everyone's cup of tea. There's more than a few laughs to be had as you're wandering around the game with incidental quips from allies and enemies alike, even some of the robots and machinery get in on the gags in some parts. Characters new and old add to the mix of the adventure, fan favourite Captain Qwark gets a much bigger role in this game and that's never a bad thing when he's so well catered for in the gag department.
Unfortunately it's not all good, there was several points where little annoyances rear there ugly head, for example; Ratchet can use a kinetic tether on his wrench to manipulate objects, like a magnetic link to the object to move a platform up or down or to remove something stuck in an object, he'll sometimes move backwards on release causing him to fall off a ledge and die, likewise, the camera can go awry at times and cause confusion as to where it is your running, what your shooting at and in some cases both. The camera can also become confusing when having moved a platform by some manner and you can't quite see where you've to jump, if you don't manually move the camera to check your position then you'll fall and miss. It's not all plain sailing when the camera is automatically moved either, this can cause you to move in the wrong direction with the analogue stick and again you'll die if you're not ready for it. That said, neither the controls or the camera problems are game breaking and can be lived with pretty easily as you tend to start off in pretty much the same section you died on in most scenarios, just minor annoyances more than anything else. The space battles, while a welcome addition to the game, do get a little repetitive at times and do become a bit tedious once the novelty of them has worn off a bit, they are not necessary to complete the game but they can come in handy for weapons or an extra few bolts in the pocket.
With those small faults in mind, it has to be said that as always Insomniac have crafted a fine game with this instalment to the Ratchet & Clank series. It's good to see that they've not got bored of the characters and every bit of love has been poured into this game as with the previous additions. The gameplay is tight, comedy is never far away and there is enough new stuff in there to keep it interesting. It's good to see that they weren't afraid with changing it up a little, gameplay wise, even if some of the additions didn't work quite as well they could have. Sure, as with all sequels and final parts to a tale, this title probably benefits from having played the previous two games, but even if you're a newcomer to the series you're going to find this game enjoyable. Fans of the series though will see questions finally answered from the whole of the series, there are many secrets revealed throughout this game that will keep fans hooked and wanting more, the story is excellently told and is a testament to the games writers and should be shown as an example of how to do story telling right in a game.
Although this game has a few slight faults they are nothing more than niggles in an otherwise superb game and they can be easily forgiven, we'd heartily recommend this game to all and it should be seen as a jewel in Sony's crown in the run up to Christmas 2009.
