Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a 2009 3D action-platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the ninth installment in the Ratchet &amp; Clank series. The game is the third of a quadrilogy of games in the Ratchet & Clank Future series.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Alister Azimuth is a great character and him turning out to be the final antagonist after Nefarious' defeat is an unexpected plot twist.
 * 2) Captain Qwark, though still an incompetent egomaniac, remains an ally through the whole game and never makes things worse, a first for the series.
 * 3) Gorgeous, high-quality graphics and great, polished sound effects make it feel like you're playing a Pixar movie.
 * 4) Incredible animations in the pre rendered cutscenes, with lots of animation frames and the animation itself is well detailed and smooth. All this while running at 60 frames per second (something games such as Infamous and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves fail to manage)! Just you look at the cutscene where Dr. Nefarious says "... in which the heroes always lose!"
 * 5) Many awesome futuristic gadgets and weapons to use, such as the Mag-Net Launcher, Constructo weapons, the Dynamo of Doom, Tesla Spikes, and the Hoverboots.
 * 6) To compensate for Ratchet not having Clank through most of the game, he is given the Hover boots to improve his mobility, jump on and off certain walls, and even glide.
 * 7) Constructo weapons can be modified to change their colour and functionality.
 * 8) All weapons in the game are upgradable up to level five. Each upgrade makes the weapon more powerful and boosts some of the weapons attributes such as range or ammo, and the level five upgrade changes the appearance of the weapon drastically as well as giving it a new ability.
 * 9) In "Challenge Mode" (this game's term for new game plus) you can purchase Omega weapon upgrades which allow you level up the weapon to level 10.
 * 10) After collecting 10 blueprint pieces you can trade the complete blueprint to the Smuggler and get the RYNO V, the strongest weapon in the game, able to decimate enemies easily.
 * 11) Great spaceship fighting controls and ship battles.
 * 12) Collect Zoni to upgrade your ship. Some upgrades are required to go to certain planets, while others upgrade stuff such as travelling speed and ship health.
 * 13) Collect all 40 Zoni to unlock a final battle with Lord Vorselon and win the fight against him to unlock the Insomniac Museum, a place where you find behind the scenes and cut objects in the game.
 * 14) Many optional missions and mini games.
 * 15) One of the game´s unlockable mini games consist of arcade-like shooters in which you control Captain Qwark.
 * 16) Mostly non-stop action and shooting experience.
 * 17) Clank sections have puzzles that require you to re-record simulations of Clank that play simultaneously to open a door.
 * 18) Clank can repair parts of the Great Clock and get Bolts for doing so.
 * 19) Use Clank's Time Bomb to slow down time in a small area.
 * 20) Many secret items lie hidden on every level.
 * 21) Travel through different planets from around the galaxy, each with its own environment, enemies and obstacles.
 * 22) Go in your ship and explore sectors of the galaxy, finding mini planets and objectives to do.
 * 23) One of the planets is the arena where you can do challenges to get Bolts to buy weapons. Completing some challenges also give you weapons such as the Constructo Shotgun and the Negotiator.
 * 24) The ending is one of the deepest moments in the series and also works as a loyalty test with Clank. Ratchet leaves Clank to be senior caretaker of The Great Clock, but Clank realizes that he cannot leave Ratchet. As a result, he instead promotes Sigmund to the position, and Orvus' full speech inspires Clank to do what makes him feel whole.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The music composer David Bergeaud was replaced by Boris Salchow who made forgettable music.
 * 2) The plot is a little messier this time compared to Tools of Destruction (With a few great scenes), and it continues to make questionable changes to the lore, such as Clank having a mystical backstory (Not to mention that we saw him born in a robot factory so how could he be the keeper of the Great Clock?) and the references to Angela Cross that didn’t go well with fans.
 * 3) Other than the dialogue from Nefarious, the comedy is mostly terrible with awkward delivery. Lord Vorselon is the prime example of this (See Point 7)
 * 4) The device known as Groovitron which deploys a disco ball that mesmerizes enemies, and allies during Ratchet's time without Clank, near it to dance uncontrollably is reused in this game. Mr. Zurkon possesses a sadistic sense of humor and insults both Ratchet and his enemies while in combat is also reused, and his jokes are reused and thus not as exciting or funny.
 * 5) The platforming sections are almost non-existent, making it feel like the main focus has shifted to shooting enemies like Ratchet: Deadlocked.
 * 6) This is the first game in the series where enemies and characters talk constantly, and it can get annoying after a while due to the characters repeating the same repetitive lines.
 * 7) Lord Vorselon is one of the worst villains and even characters of the entire series. He has no personality and this is the only game where you find him, he talks too much and becomes annoying as a result, and his jokes consist of crappy Star Wars jokes/memes that aren't funny. You also have to beat him three times in the game!

Reception
The game was met with critical acclaim upon release, earning an average review score of 87% at Metacritic.