Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time
Every month we celebrate the most important, innovative or just plain great games from PlayStation’s past. This issue, we break the space-time continuum with one of the Lombaxand-robot double act’s best adventures
Even the happiest of couples need the odd break from each other. After being in each other’s intergalactic pockets for years, Insomniac’s Lombax engineer and his diminutive droid pal were well overdue for some much needed me-time when this timefiddling adventure rolled around. And while the iconic PlayStation pairing will always work best as an alien-blasting duo, turns out they’re both effective as lone wolf space explorers.
Almost ten years on from its initial launch, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time remains arguably the boldest entry in the platform-shooter’s history. Shaking up the template laid out in the PS2 trilogy and the beautiful (if a tad safe) Tools Of Destruction, this was the franchise’s boldest outing. Even though we love the eye-arousing cartoon delights of the PS4 remake of the original, ACIT shows more innovation and heart than any other Ratchet.
Part of what makes this particular entry such a series standout is its surprisingly layered, genuinely emotional story. Ratchet games often bring the laughs, but their slapstick space plots rarely have much depth or emotion. That’s not the case with ACIT. Not only does it let Clank shine as an independent hero who’s forced to fight against his cold, metallic logic, the game also serves up one of the most effective father/son relationships in PlayStation history.
DADDY ISSUES
Not that the charismatic Alister Azimuth is actually Ratchet’s dad. Still, as the only other surviving Lombax in the galaxy, this grizzled yet regretful soldier immediately builds a touching bond with Insomniac’s furry-eared icon. The ensuing story takes surprising, occasionally mournful turns, and Azimuth’s desire to reverse the events that caused the near-extinction of his species by rolling back time delivers the most satisfying narrative Insomniac has ever delivered. And yes, we’re including the studio’s recent, excellent SpiderMan adventure in that sweeping but deserved statement.
While A Crack In Time makes Ratchet a more emotionally complex character, it also transforms his pal Clank into a bona fide bot action star. With the duo separated for the majority of the game’s runtime, the teeny robot has to master new powers as he maintains the galaxy’s Great Clock; a complex, vertically stacked construct that controls all time in the universe.
Acting as caretaker for this ticktocking structure, Clank engages in the series’ most in-depth puzzles. Through a combination of time pads and holographic copies of himself, the little bot can stop the in-game clock to solve all manner of engaging conundrums. Throw in the metal man’s enemysmacking Chronoscepter, and ACIT tests both Clank’s brains and brawn like no entry in the franchise before or since has managed to do.
Though subsequent series spinoff entries stumbled, Insomniac was operating at the peak of its powers in this superb PS3 adventure. With open-ended flying sections that allow Ratchet to explore the mini moons and asteroids of the Breegus System, sharp-as-ever shooting, and rollicking new hoverboots enlivening the on-foot platforming, this ambitious gem is an oft-overlooked delight. It turns out taking time apart really can make a ’bax-on-bot bromance stronger.
IT REMAINS THE BOLDEST ENTRY IN THE PLATFORMSHOOTER’S HISTORY.