Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time E3 2009 Impressions

After teasing us with the all-too-brief Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty last year, developer Insomniac is busy creating a full-length sequel to the weapon-centric platforming franchise set to be released this fall. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is going to tie up all the loose ends in the three-game Future storyline, finally revealing why Crank was abducted by the mysterious Zonis and how Dr. Nefarious fits into this intergalactic caper. We saw a lengthy demonstration today that showed a taste of the new gadgets and weapons Ratchet can play around with as well as Clank’s new time-focused ability.

The Ratchet stage we saw was called Krull Canyon. It's an expansive rock-filled environment with towering cliffs, streams of blue water, and angry Agorians, hulking brutes who ride equally hulking purple steeds. You have to finish off these bad guys using the fancy weapons the Ratchet franchise is known for. Insomniac showed off three new weapons in this game. The first is called sonic eruptor, and it’s not really fair to call it a weapon. It’s actually a living creature caught during mating season. When you press the shoot button, he lets out his mating call, which sounds an awful lot like a belch. Luckily, there’s a lot of force in that gas propulsion, so you can finish off enemies with a few massive burps.

The next weapon demonstrated for us is called Plasma Striker, and it serves as Ratchet’s long-range weapon of death. Unlike with a normal sniper rifle, though, when you zoom in to your target, its weak spots appear. In the case of the Agorians, it takes two standard shots to kill them, but if you shoot the glowing weak point on their belly, you can down them in one vicious strike. The last weapon on display today is called cryomine, which are grenades that can freeze enemies when they explode. Once they're frozen, you can shatter them with one powerful swing from your wrench, which breaks them into tiny shards of harmless ice. We were also shown the Omnisoaker, which can suck liquids up and fire them back at objects and enemies. This was used to solve a puzzle involving vicious, lombax-eating insects. Ratchet could suck sap from a nearby plant and shoot it on the ground, distracting the bugs as he stealthily walked on by.

Like in Quest for Booty, Ratchet must plow through these levels without his little robot friend, but that doesn’t diminish his mobility. He has a pair of fancy hoverboots, which let him move quickly across the environment as well as perform a long jump. We were told that Ratchet would also earn the ability to double jump, though the gilder from Tools of Destruction will most likely not make an appearance. The levels make good use of Ratchet’s mobility, allowing more vertical movement than before. Krull Canyon’s main action takes place on the surface, but you can rocket off various ramps to climb high above the earth, where hidden goodies await. One part of Ratchet’s ultimate goal is to round up Zonis floating around each level, and we got to see a mini-chase scenario as Ratchet tried to run down a nimble spacebot.

In Quest for Booty, Ratchet could use his wrench to latch on to faraway objects, and that maneuver is brought back here with more uses. We were shown a giant, three-headed enemy called the hydra tank, and you must use the wrench to unscrew the heads when its energy gets low. We were told that many bosses will require more strategy than simply spamming them with bullets until their health reaches zero. The arena missions also make a return, although we were promised they would be more diverse and challenging than those offered in Tools of Destruction. During the action we saw, Ratchet was joined by another lombax named Alistair, though Insomniac was coy on the possibility of cooperative play.

Although the Ratchet sections are similar to those in the previous games--albeit with new weapons and gadgets--the Clank sections are entirely original. As the subtitle indicates, Clank has the power to manipulate time. When you stand on a time pad, you can record your actions for up to one minute. Once you finish one recording, you can stand on another time pad to capture a new set of actions. The recordings exist at the same time, so they can help each other pass puzzles. For instance, in one section, Clank must find a way to get to a higher section of a level beyond his normal jumping ability. Standing on a button raises an elevator, but it quickly falls back to the ground when you get off of the button. To pass it, you must first make a recording of Clank standing on top of that button. Then, you must make another recording of Clank standing on the elevator when it is still on the ground. When both recordings are active at one time, the second Clank will be raised to higher ground because the first Clank pushed the button. It’s a pretty crazy concept and leads to a number of wacky puzzles where careful planning and precise execution are needed to successfully get your various Clank clones to work in tandem.

A Crack in Time is shaping up to be another action-packed entry in the Ratchet and Clank franchise. It will be interesting to see what kinds of puzzles Insomniac can cook up for Clank’s fancy new time-manipulation ability and what sorts of over-the-top weapons Ratchet will wield. We’ll have to wait until later this year to see if it’s as fun as previous games in the series.