As you can probably guess Ratchet’s own mission also interlinks with a quest to save the Universe. This time Nefarious is attempting to conquer the universe using time, therefore Ratchet has to stop him and somehow save his friend at the same time.

 

 

This plot centres around the Great Clock, which is a massive station in the very centre of the Universe (give or take 50 feet) that is designed to hold Space and Time together. This station is what Nefarious is trying to use to conquer the universe. But Clank manages to escape his captors and discovers his origins and who his father is. This discovery leads him to assume a new position as the Senior Caretaker of the Great Clock, charged with looking after time across the Universe.

 

As the events of the game unfold things are split into two different stories. The main part of it is told as Ratchet but there are small sections of the game in which you play as Clank with his adventures in the Great Clock. But even if they are brief Clank’s sections are some of the best parts of the game, Clank since gaining his new job has also been granted a new weapon, a shiny sceptre, which is used in the same way as the wrench that Ratchet uses to smack enemies around the levels. Not only that but the sceptre gives Clank the ability to throw special time bombs that can slow down time, which becomes insanely useful with both the combat and Clank’s puzzles.

 

While Clank does get to take part in some combat, these are only little skirmishes which are nowhere near the amount of battles that Ratchet has, instead Clank’s levels are focused more on puzzles. These puzzles, as I said, use the time bomb to low down time and also a special pad that only Clank can use. You see, Clank can now use these pads to complete time orientated puzzles, the basic idea is that Clank uses one of the pads to create a time delayed cloned version of himself and then steps on a pressure switch to then allow real Clank to access a door or a new area. These puzzles are great and require some tricky manipulation to complete.

 

For the Ratchet side of things it is pretty much business as usual. You travel from planet to planet, from Solar System to Solar System completing objectives on each planet to save the population from the bad Doctor’s plans. For most of the missions Ratchet is alone, But there are a few exceptions, for instance Captain Qwark makes a return and accompanies you on a few missions offering his firepower in battle situations (not that it is a great help but every little helps). The biggest addition to the Ratchet-verse is the small side missions that you can undertake to get more bolts and small moon like planets that offer short mini-challenges offering extras to collect. A lot of the time these extras are very rewarding and can give you tonnes of extra gameplay time but unfortunately most require you to complete the story as you will need the gadgets that Ratchet collects along the way to complete them.

 

 

Speaking of gadgets Ratchet acquires a small amount over the course of the game all of which can then be used on older planets to find new areas, etc. But the best part of this series has always been the weapons, but this time there is a small letdown. While there are some great new weapons like the punishing Shotgun, there doesn’t seem to be as many real stand-out weapons unlike last titles. A few weapons make a re-appearance from Tools of Destruction such as the Groovatron which is always great for a laugh, but there is just not enough in the way of new weapons.

 

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time offers all the same kind of things that you found in the last two games and the PS2 games before that. Now, that isn’t a bad thing at all as why fix something that isn’t broken. But at the same time the whole idea of a gaming sequel is to build on the original and give us gamers something better, but this is just the same game with a different plot. Personally I really can't decide if this is a good or bad thing though because at the end of the day this is still a funny, exciting and clever game which I would highly recommend.