Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

From Ratchet & Clank wiki

Narrator: "...if that ever happens, the universe will need a true hero to stop it."

Alister Azimuth: "Are you ready?"

—Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time teaser trailer narrator and General Alister Azimuth commenting on evil beings trying to control time for their benefit.^[src]

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, titled as Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time in Europe and Ratchet & Clank Future 2 in Japan, is the sequel to the game Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty and the final instalment of Future series. It was released in 2009 on October 27 in North America, and was released on November 4 in Europe (excluding the United Kingdom), November 5 in Australia and November 6 in the United Kingdom.^[1][4] The game concluded the story that started in Tools of Destruction and continued in Quest for Booty, therefore hinting it may be the last of the series; however, it is likely that it would just be finishing the Future sub-series.

Concluding the events that began in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time answered some of the biggest questions raised in previous games. After discovering that Clank’s disappearance was engineered by Dr. Nefarious, Ratchet sets out to save him. Along the way both Ratchet and Clank uncovered the truth behind their origins and discovered what to do in the future. As the two come closer to be reunited they had to decide if their destinies still lie together.^[1] Why Clank was taken by the Zoni is another question that was answered in A Crack in Time.^[8] Captain Qwark had more screentime then in previous games to make up for his lack of appearance in Quest for Booty and Deadlocked.^[8]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Gameplay 2.1 Space gameplay 2.1.1 Aphelion 2.2 Clank gameplay 2.3 Weaponry 2.3.1 Weapon Contest Finalists 3 PlayStation Network 3.1 PlayStation Home 3.2 Trophies 4 Appearances 4.1 Characters 4.2 Species 5 Planets & Locations 5.1 Technology 5.1.1 Weapons 5.1.1.1 Playable weapons 5.1.2 Gadgets 5.2 Items 5.2.1 Bosses 5.2.2 Space Sectors 6 Action figures 7 Skins 8 Critical reception 9 Awards 10 Behind the scenes 10.1 Title 10.2 Pre-order content 10.3 Audio 10.4 Special edition 11 Box art 12 See also 12.1 Videos 12.2 Audio 13 Sources and references

[edit] Plot

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The story focuses on Ratchet, still searching for Clank, whilst Clank himself comes to terms with his own origins in the Great Clock.

The game begins with Clank, who has been in suspension in the Great Clock for over a year, in custody of Dr. Nefarious and his butler, Lawrence. Nefarious suddenly dissolves his 'partnership' with the Zoni after being denied access to a part of Clank's brain which is the key to something called the Orvus Chamber. Dr. Nefarious proceeds to create chaos throughout the Great Clock with his Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, which the Clock's equipment is vulnerable to. This event causes Clank to awaken and escape from Nefarious's clutches. After briefly escaping, Lawrence immobilises Clank with an Orb of Gratuitous Immobilisation. Nefarious and his troops then leave the Great Clock, which is now suffering heavy damage.

Meanwhile, Ratchet travels into the Breegus Nebula, with Qwark in tow. Talwyn has warned that the sector is 'crawling' with mercenaries. Aphelion is suddenly hit with a strange wave of energy and promptly crashes into the Zolar Forest on a jungle planet. The Fongoids who inhabit the planet give Ratchet a device called Zoni Vessel to capture lost Zoni after he saves some Fongoid children. Ratchet collects 3 Zoni on the planet, and the resulting energy created fixes Aphelion for him.

Ratchet, Qwark and the Fongoid Chief then come back to the village to witness a mass kidnapping of their race by someone known as Lord Vorselon. Ratchet follows Vorselon's ship and releases the Fongoids as well as Qwark who had been taken captive as well. Qwark then directs Ratchet to Torren IV to locate the mysterious Alister Azimuth that Lord Vorselon kept on mentioning and had mistaken Ratchet for.

He finally meets Azimuth, who is in fact another Lombax, on Torren IV in the Molonoth Fields. Azimuth initially thinks Ratchet is an assassin in a holo-disguise and attempts to flee, but after a brief chase, Alister recognises Ratchet's face and compares it to his father, Kaden. Alister later explains how Kaden was one of the first Lombaxes to theorise the Great Clock's existence and teaches Ratchet how to use his father's hoverboots. Azimuth tells him to meet him in Axiom City on planet Terachnos to find away to talk to Clank. The two of them infiltrate a Pollyx Industries building once on Terachnos and manage to locate an Obsidian Eye (which there are many of throughout the galaxy, built by the Zoni) on Lumos in the Korthos Sector that would allow the both of them to communicate with Clank, before they are forced to escape and destroy a large turret before leaving the planet.

Meanwhile, Clank is reactivated by the Junior Caretaker of the Clock, Sigmund. After following Sigmund through the Clock to a mnemonic chamber, Clank discovers his father, Orvus. The Zoni leader then leaves the Great Clock to Clank as a sort of inheritance after giving Clank a Chronoscepter to help with his caretaking duties. Clank continues through the Clock, destroying the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler in the process and enters the Orientation Room with Sigmund. Inside, Clank learns that Orvus and the Zoni built the Great Clock to keep the balance of time in working order after a small rip in the time-space continuum, caused by improper use of time travel by the Fongoids, destroyed over 83 celestial entities. Clank is also warned by Orvus that the Clock should not be used as a time machine under any circumstances as it was built to keep time, not alter it. He is then informed of how to fix temporal distortions located on various planets and proceeds to do so. Shortly afterwards, Clank secretly watches Sigmund viewing a message from Orvus, who apparently travelled to Planet Zanifar to meet with another scientist and would not be back until morning. As Orvus is nowhere to be seen, Clank knows something bad has happened to his father.

Ratchet and Azimuth arrive on Lumos and begin to search for the Obsidian Eye. Part-way through their journey, Ratchet asks the General to stop and give him some straight answers about the Lombaxes, his father and why the General isn't with them. Azimuth angrily replies that Ratchet asks too many questions and that his father wouldn't be like this. Ratchet argues that he is not his father and asks Azimuth again. The General then finally answers Ratchet and says it's because he failed them.

Azimuth tells the tale of an 'inventor' who approached the Lombaxes with ideas for technology that was light years ahead of their own, shortly after the conclusion of the Great War. Kaden warned Azimuth not to trust the inventor, but Azimuth thought otherwise and allowed the inventor access to all of Lombax's technology and secrets. The inventor (who is revealed to actually be Tachyon) then used this to form his own army (proving Aphelion's claim of Tachyon using stolen Lombax technology in Tools of Destruction). The Lombaxes took refuge in the Court of Azimuth, but Kaden refused and went back to help Ratchet's mother from the soldiers. By the time he arrived, she had already been murdered. Azimuth says he is unsure of how long Kaden survived before being killed, and claims responsibility for his friend's death. Azimuth then tells Ratchet that both of them can fix it together, using the Great Clock. The General says he can undo what was already done by using the Clock's abilities and promises Ratchet that if he sticks with the General, he will get his family back.

Ratchet & Azimuth manages to find the Obsidian Eye after off an Agorean invasion and finally gets to talk to Clank. Clank is surprised that Ratchet has found him and asks about who Azimuth is. Ratchet is unable to explain fully as the signal starts to decrease in strength. Before the message cuts out, Clank pleads Ratchet to travel to Zanifar to help Orvus in the past. Before Ratchet can ask about who Orvus is, the signal breaks up. Clank asks Sigmund to synthesise a time portal on Zanifar for Ratchet and Alister to use, which Sigmund then does.

After rescuing Qwark from Agoreans (who had been paid by the Fongoids to take the superhero off their hands) and defeating a war grok whom Qwark calls Snowball, Ratchet uses the time portal on Zanifar to travel 2 years into the planet's past. He learns that Nefarious and Lawrence crashed their asteroid there and somehow tricked the Fongoids inhabiting the planet to build an outpost. He sneaks into the base and sees Nefarious with a captured Orvus, who still refuses to tell the Doctor how to get into the Orvus Chamber despite running out of strength to resist. Nefarious orders the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler to attack Orvus who suddenly disappears after saying that the one who will enter his chamber is safe from the Doctor. A residual image left behind is tracked back to Clank. Ratchet exclaims his confusion, alerting Nefarious to his position. The Lombax then tosses a bomb at Nefarious creating a large scar on his left eye befoe diving out of the window. When Ratchet returns to the present, this change to the past causes the scar to appear on the current Nefarious who then screams in anger. Before leaving Zanifar, Ratchet receives a message from Vorselon who has managed to capture Azimuth. Ratchet then takes off towards Vorselon's ship.

Ratchet arrives on Vorselon's ship and fights his way through the ship's forces eventually coming into confrontation with Vorselon. The Terraklon assassin claims he will tell Ratchet where Azimuth is if he is defeated. Ratchet does defeat him, but Vorselon retreats before he tells of Azimuth's location. Ratchet searches the ship some more and eventually finds Azimuth in a containment field. Azimuth orders Ratchet to leave and forget about him, but Ratchet refuses and lowers the containment field. After releasing the General, Azimuth is angry at Ratchet for not listening to him, until Ratchet mentions that he travelled back in time. Azimuth becomes hopeful and inquires as to how far Ratchet travelled. Ratchet replies "not far enough". Despite this, the pair manage to escape Vorselon's ship.

Back on the Great Clock, Clank takes another trip into his subconscious and meets the Plumber, who claims he took a wrong turn into Clank's memory banks, originally intending to head into Qwark's brain (which he though he was in because of all the emptiness he sees). The Plumber then says that Clank must accept his new responsibilities, even though the first steps are the hardest and if Ratchet is his friend, he will understand. The Plumber then says he "wouldn't risk any more than 6 minutes", before Clank abruptly awakes. Sigmund notes that he got some strange neural activity during Clank's brief trip, but dismisses it. Clank then travels to the Orvus Chamber with Sigmund and proceeds inside. The two of them view a message left from Orvus for Clank, but it cuts off before it finishes. Lawrence has cut the power and immobilises both Clank and Sigmund with another Orb of Gratuitous Immobilisation. He informs Nefarious that Clank had lead them directly into the Orvus Chamber. Nefarious orders Lawrence to initiate "Unecessarily Evil Initiative Omega 91" just as Qwark arrives at the base in a nurse outfit.

Ratchet receives message from Azimuth who's picked up a repeating distress call from planet Vapedia. Ratchet immediately recognises it as Clank's unique signature. After defeating one of the Valkyries, Ratchet heads towards Vapedia to help Clank but is unaware that the distress call has been faked by Nefarious. The leader of the Valkyries, Cassiopeia, is waiting for Ratchet and Azimuth. She explains that she's going to kill both of them as well as Clank. Ratchet and Azimuth split up, the General going after Cassiopeia and Ratchet heading into the citadel. After surviving various death traps, Ratchet confronts Cassiopeia who taunts him by saying Clank wants to leave him. Clank is revealed to be suspended in a container, unconscious. Cassiopeia fights with Ratchet and is ultimately defeated. Clank is sent tumbling downwards and Ratchet dives off the platform to grab him. He manages to do so and narrowly avoids sending both of them falling to their deaths. The two of them finally re-unite and headback to Aphelion. Before leaving, Clank explains that using the Clock improperly is too great a risk for the universe, despite Azimuth's solid reasoning that they must use it for the Lombaxes. After realising that some risks aren't worth taking, Ratchet agrees with Clank much to Azimuth's disappointment. The General then leaves as Ratchet and Clank leave together to stop Nefarious.

The duo travel to Nefarious's base and confront him to stop his plan to control the Clock. However, their plan to sneak aboard using Qwark's disguise as "Nurse Shannon" fails and the 3 of them are captured by Nefarious and his guards. Nefarious explains his plan to use the Clock so that he can undo his defeat at the hands of the duo and create a present where every villain wins. He then sends Ratchet and Clank flying to the distant planet of Morklon attached to an asteroid (which Nefarious created if he ever needed an "ironic death scenario"). The Zoni Ratchet has captured protect the two of them from the impact and they begin to search for a way back to Nefarious's station. After hearing about the battle of Gimlick Valley from a local, the pair manage to alter the past of the planet so that the inhabiting Fongoids give them an Agorean ship to get back to Nefarious. They eventually travel to the station and engage the Doctor in combat. After a long confrontation, ending on the top of one of Nefarious's ships, Nefarious suddenly overloads and collapses. Before the duo have a chance to escape, Lawrence takes the escape pod, leaving Ratchet and Clank on a collision course with the base. Ratchet is ready to say his goodbyes, but Alister appears in his ship and shouts for Ratchet to jump on. The duo do so as Nefarious's base explodes.

Ratchet, Clank and Alister arrive back on The Great Clock. Clank tells Ratchet that the Clock needs him as it is what he was built for and extends a hand for Ratchet to shake. Ratchet takes Clank's hand and hugs him close to him to say goodbye. Azimuth is confused as to why they haven't used the Clock to save the Lombaxes, to which Ratchet replies that the past should stay how it is. Ratchet walks Clank inside the facility despite Azimuth's angry shouting at Ratchet to stop. Azimuth finally snaps, outraged that Ratchet no longer wants what he does and is consumed by his desire to fix his error in the past. He fires a blast of energy from his wrench which hits Ratchet directly on his chest. The impact kills Ratchet, causing him to fall off the platform whilst Clank vainly tries to grab him. Azimuth then attacks Clank and starts to head towards the Orvus Chamber. Clank gives chase to the General and manages to seal the chamber before Azimuth can get inside.

Clank approaches the center of the Orvus chamber, where the switch for the flow of time stands. He begins to remember the words of Ratchet, Orvus and Sigmund before he suddenly remembers what the Plumber told him during his trip into his subconscious.

"I wouldn't risk any more than 6 minutes".

Clank realizes that the Plumber meant the Great Clock's ability to control the time flow. Breaking Orvus's one rule of the Great Clock, Clank reverses the flow of time for 6 minutes to just before Ratchet's death. When the shift backwards stops, time remains frozen and Clank sees Azimuth firing the blast at his friend. Clank pushes Ratchet out of the way of the energy blast just after time resumes itself, saving his friend's life.

Ratchet and Clank then give chase to Azimuth who tries to get into the chamber again. The General manages to get inside and initiates a massive time shift to save the Lombaxes. The Clock cannot take the strain and begins to break apart. Ratchet and Clank manage to defeat Azimuth in a fight and attempt to stop the shift. Azimuth screams at Ratchet to stop, but Ratchet argues the point of the Clock only meaning to keep time, not change it. Alister then realises the error of his ways and sacrifices himself to stop the shift and prevents the Clock destroying itself. Clank tells Ratchet that he should be proud of Azimuth as he picks up the General's pocketwatch.

Later, Ratchet has just helped the Zoni fix the Great Clock and tells Clank to take care of himself before leaving sadly. Clank begins to play Orvus's message again, but then stops it. He realizes that finding out about his own family means he cannot leave Ratchet until the Lombax finds his own. He promotes Sigmund to Senior Caretaker of the Clock and leaves the chamber as Orvus's message starts playing again. Clank jumps into Aphelion just as Ratchet is about to take off, much to the Lombax's delight. The duo take off into the stars as Orvus narrates over the scene:

"Like any father, my only wish is that my son does that which makes him feel whole. You are an intelligent and logical being Clank, but intelligence and logic would have been wasted gifts without honour and loyalty. I am proud to see you came into those on your own. So, should the Clock be too small for your plans, I pray the cosmos light the way towards a future you yourself design. And remember, the universe has wonderful sense of humour. The trick is learning how to take a joke!"

Meanwhile, Qwark and Snowball remain trapped on an asteroid, with Qwark calling out for help to no avail. Snowball acts excited, with Qwark understanding he's hungry for blood. Panicked, Qwark runs in circles around to avoid getting eaten by Snowball. The screen snaps to black, with Qwark yelling at Snowball to go "easy on the goods".

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[edit] Gameplay

"A Crack in Time should feature a good balance of both platforming, puzzle gameplay, and shooting without leaning toward any one type too heavily."

—Bryan Bernal^[src]

The new levels will allow the player to explore more, and will have hidden areas. ^[9] Boss battles in the game will be larger than in previous games.^[8]

A Crack in Time, was revealed to be a full-length game, possibly longer than Tools of Destruction, not downloadable from the PlayStation Network. An image of Pause Menu was also released.^[10]

The secret locations seen in previous Ratchet & Clank games will be expanded with many secret areas appearing in the game, it is likely that the Hover Boots will have to be used to reach many of these areas.^[11]

Minigames similar to those seen in the previous games will return in A Crack in Time.^[12]

A new quick-select menu was released that allowed Ratchet to equip a gadget or an item by simply pressing one of the directional buttons. It acted as a faster version of the existing quick-select menu.^[13]

[edit] Space gameplay

Main article: Space exploration

The game will offer space action gameplay, allowing the player to take part in space combat and exploring star systems, including 3 in order to gain items.^[9] There is also Space Radio with music and 'Pirate Radio'.^[14] There were five sectors in the Breegus System, with there being 10 Zoni in each sector, excluding the Corvus Sector.^[15]

[edit] Aphelion

Ratchet's ship, Aphelion, will be somewhat customizable in A Crack in Time, in a similar way to Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal. To customize it, Ratchet will have to collect Zoni that are in some side-mission moons and other planets.^[16] By collecting Zoni the Aphelion can also be upgraded with features such as thrusters and a space teather.^[17] Also, different paint jobs could be unlocked after earning enough skill points.

[edit] Clank gameplay

Clank will have a larger role and Clank gameplay will allow the player to manipulate time in new ways.^[8][9] One way he will be able to manipulate time is by duplicating himself through time travel instead of using robots such as Gadgebots to help him.^[12] Clank's father is Orvus, which meansClank may be a Zoni of sorts.

[edit] Weaponry

The new weaponry in A Crack in Time will be brand new to the series, and will allow the player to customize and modify their weapons, perhaps expanding on the Raritanium upgrades seen in Tools of Destruction.^[9] The new weaponry will apparently offer a "much more engaging player experience".^[18]

Weapons with a lava effect will be used. Some "classic" weapons from previous games will also be returning. ^[8]. Confirmed weapons included the CryoMine Glove, a glove which deposited homing mines which froze enemies, the Sonic Eruptor, which was described as being 'a bloated creature held by a harness' which emitted a powerful sound wave when fired, and the Plasma Striker which zooms in on enemies and shows their weak point which if hit does a lot more damage.^[19] Also shown in the demo were the Negotiator and the Buzz Blades from Tools of Destruction. If a previous game save from Tools of Destruction contains these weapons then they will be obtainable earlier in A Crack in Time than they would be otherwise.^[11] Also known to be in the game is the Rift Inducer 5000, a modified version of the Rift Inducer from Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. There was a weapon contest, the winner of it was the Spiral of Death which was described as a "deadly yo-yo" because the blade always came back. A new line/type of weapons were introduced at Comic-Con called Constructo Weapons that were highly customizable weapons that allowed the player to change how they look and how they functioned. There were three types of Constructo weapons; a pistol and a bomb glove, and a shotgun. The Constructo Pistol allowed Ratchet to change the barrel, the stock of ammo, and the shots it fired. The Constructo Bomb allowed the player to change the type of explosions. Ratchet could also change the paint of the weapons, and the Weapon Mods for the Constructo weapons could be found throughout the galaxy.

Different uses for the Wrench will be seen in the game, expanding on what was seen inQuest for Booty. ^[8] The OmniWrench Millennium 12 returns in the game, along with the kinetic tether which can now be used to pull out parts of enemies, for example the Hydra can have its rechargeable ability destroyed by pulling out VersaGear. Ratchet can also pick Zoni that are scattered across the galaxy, which will lead him to Clank.^[20] He can also pick up Battery Bots with the wrench to open secret doors.

A new way of using weaponry is currently in testing by Insomniac Games.^[21] It is possible that this was the now announced Constructo Weapons.

In an interview with Brian Allgeier, a few GrummelNet vendors could be seen in the background, showing that GrummelNet would be the main weapons supplier in the game. This was later confirmed as there is a trophy in the game that requires the player to buy all GrummelNet weapons to unlock it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u8Yys51bKs&feature=channelAdditionally, a commercial could be viewed for every purchasable weapon.

[edit] Weapon Contest Finalists

Main article: Weapon contest

Five finalists were chosen for the My Blaster Runs Hot weapons contest and announced on April 17 2009, they were held up for voting.^[22] The finalists were:

• Plasma Sprinkler Glove^[22]
• Spiral of Death^[22]
• Bubble Shot^[22]
• Qwark Machine^[22]
• Super-Sized Sticky Hand Toy^[22]

The winner was announced at the Comic-Con 2009 event, between on the 23 of July.^[23] The winning weapon was the Spiral of Death.^[24] This weapon upgrades to the Spiral of Carnage, which releases 3 multiple blades at once.^[25]

[edit] PlayStation Network

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time will be involved with PlayStation Network in some way as some game trailers from GamesCom and Comic-Con end with the PlayStation Network logo and some of them don't. This connection could simply be that those trailers will appear on the PlayStation Network, or it could link to the trophies, given that the game will neither be downloadable from PSN or have splitscreen or online multiplayer, or it could relate to the PlayStation Home software. It was confirmed by James Stevenson on the PlayStation Blog there would be a downloadable demo for Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time on the PlayStation Store.^[26] James Stevenson said that the demo will be released a couple of weeks before the game's release. The demo has now been released in both PlayStation Stores.

At comic-con Brian Allgeier said that "the team was focused on closing the story arc started in Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty while creating an epic single-player experience", making it very unlikely that multiplayer would be featured in A Crack in Time.^[24] This was later confirmed by Gamespot.^[27] PlayStation world (PSW) said that no online options will be available in their game summary, and this was later confirmed by Insomniac during one of their Full Moon Show podcasts.^[28][29]

[edit] PlayStation Home

Main article: PlayStation Home

A Crack in Time is involved with PlayStation Home. There is a Ratchet costume, Nefarious helmet and Slag gloves available for purchase. There is also a Ratchet & Clank PlayStation Home space. The Ratchet & Clank space was built with several casual mini-games, with background music similarly featured in the Ratchet & Clank series. There is also a firing range game, that changes what kind of enemies you're shooting at, depending if you're playing the past, present, or future range. It has 3 levels. There is also a Ratchet & Clank personal space available for purchase.^[30][31]

[edit] Trophies

Main article: Trophies (PlayStation 3)

James Stevenson from Insomniac Games has confirmed that there will be PSN trophies inA Crack in Time, however this was to be expected with Sony making an announcement stating that all game releases for the PS3 in 2009 onwards will contain trophies.^[1] This could explain the appearances of the PlayStation Network at the end of trailers for the game. A Crack in Time also has a platinum trophy for gaining all trophies. There is also a released list of trophies.^[32] There are 37 trophies in total, with 17 hidden trophies.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Characters

• Alpheus
• Apogee, Talwyn
• Azimuth, Alister
• Carina
• Cassiopeia
• Clank^[1]
• Cronk
• Enessa
• Fongoid Children
• Junk Trader
• Lawrence^[1]
• Libra
• Nefarious^[1]
• Orvus^[33]
• Plumber^[34]
• Ratchet^[1]
• Sigmund^[24]
• Smuggler^[35]
• Qwark, Copernicus Leslie^[8]
• Slag, Romulus
• Snowball
• Vorselon, Flint
• Zephyr
• Zoni

[edit] Species

• Lombax^[1]
• Robot^[1]
• Agorian^[36]
• Fongoid
• Vullard
• Zoni
• Zyphoid
• Terratrope
• Valkyrie
• War Grok
• Terachnoid

[edit] Planets & Locations

Main article: List of planets

• The Great Clock
• Quantos - Zolar Forest^[37]
• Vorselon's Ship
• Torren IV - Molonoth Fields
• Terachnos - Axiom City
• Lumos - Krell Canyon
• Agorian Battleplex
• Zanifar - Tombli Outpost
• Vapedia - Valkyrie Citadel
• Nefarious Space Station
• Morklon - Gimlick Valley
• Insomniac Museum

[edit] Technology

[edit] Weapons

Main article: List of weapons#Ratchet_.&_Clank_Future:_A_Crack_in_Time

[edit] Playable weapons

• OmniWrench Millenium 12
• Constructo Pistol^[24]
• Constructo Bomb^[8][24]
• Sonic Eruptor^[19][38]
• Plasma Striker^[38]
• Negotiator
• Spiral of Death^[24][39]
• CryoMine Glove^[19]
• Buzz Blades^[40]
• Mag-Net Launcher^[41]
• Rift Inducer 5000^[42]
• Chimp-o-Matic^[42]
• RYNO V^[43]
• Groovitron Glove^[44]
• Mr. Zurkon^[45]
• Dynamo of Doom
• Tesla Spikes^[39]
• Constructo Shotgun^[46]
• Double-ended wrench^[47]

[edit] Gadgets

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Main article: List of gadgets#Ratchet_&_Clank_Future:_A_Crack_in_Time

• Hoverboots^[9]
• OmniSoaker^[48]
• Time Bomb
• Swingshot
• Box Basher 2000
• Armor Magnetizer
• Treasure Mapper
• Grindboots
• Gravity Boots
• O2 Mask
• Heli-Pack
• Chronoscepter

[edit] Items

• Gold Bolts^[44]
• RYNO V Holo-plan schematics
• Zoni^[44]
• Constructo Mods
• Chronoscepter
• Raritanium
• Box Basher 2000
• Armor Magnetizer

[edit] Bosses

• Lord Vorselon (Vorselon's Ship)
• The Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler (Great Clock: Sector Two)
• VX-99(Terachnos - Axiom City)
• Libra (Korthos Sector)
• Hydra tank (Lumos - Krell Canyon)
• War Grok (Agorian Battleplex)
• Elite Hydra Tank (Agorian Battleplex)
• Lord Vorselon(Vorselon's Ship)
• Carina (Bernilius Sector)
• Cassiopeia (Vapedia - Valkyrie Citadel)
• Class 3 Agorian Space Cruiser (Morklon - Gimlick Valley)
• Dr. Nefarious (Nefarious Space Station)
• Alister Azimuth (Great Clock - Orvus Chamber)
• Lord Vorselon (Vorselon's Ship)

[edit] Space Sectors

• Phylax Sector
• Vela Sector
• Korthos Sector
• Bernilius Sector
• Corvus Sector

[edit] Action figures

Main article: Ratchet & Clank Future action figurines

Action figures for the game have been announced. They are scheduled to go on sale on January 6, 2010.^[49]

[edit] Skins

It has been confirmed in a replayability feature video that there will be skins in A Crack in Time.^[50] One skin is to be an Agorian, another will be Dan Johnson in a red shirt and another is Bancho Ratchet, a black outfit covering most of Ratchet. The skin was designed in a skin contest in Japan and has been confirmed by Insomniac Games that it is be unlocked by a code. If the player collected all forty gold bolts, a Nefarious skin could be bought, along with an Alister Azimuth skin for 32 gold bolts.

[edit] Critical reception

Reviews of A Crack in Time have been generally positive. The platforming elements, balance between general gameplay and puzzles and the storyline in particular have been praised. Space battles have been criticized by several websites for being too repetitive. Destructoid gave the game a "Superb" score of 9 and a "Buy it!" rating.^[51] IGN gave the game an overall 9 out of 10, and while they did not criticize the game's graphics they did rate it 0.5 lower than the scores given in the other categories.^[52] G4 gave the game a 5 out of 5, specifically praising the storyline, platforming experience and controls. They criticised the repetitiveness of space battles, lack of enough top challenge platforming and the favourable bolt economy.^[53]

[edit] Awards

• 6th Best Game of the Year, in Associated Press's Top 10^[54]
• Best Writing & Dialogue Award, given by GameSpot^[55]
• Best Platformer Award, given by GameSpot^[56]
• 6th Best Game of the Year, in ABC News' Top 10^[57]

[edit] Behind the scenes

"Just returned from RCF: A Crack in Time studio show-n-tell. Cutscenes = hilarity. If legal doesn't make cuts it will be a miracle."

—Insomniac Games^[src]

The title for the game was released in late March 2009.^[1] A trailer was released a few days after the title was announced. The game will feature new weapons and gadgets, including one weapon designed by a fan.^[58]

[edit] Title

"I don't know if I should really explain the "Crack" part though it does have something to do with the story..."

—Brian Allgeier^[src]

The title for the game was chosen through a poll of Insomniac employees after narrowing down a list of titles. As time is a part of the storyline A Crack in Time was seen as appropriate for the title.^[8]

The original name for the game was 'Clock Blockers', although Sony scrapped the idea.^[27]

[edit] Pre-order content

Special pre-order packages allow buyers to buy A Crack in Time with different in-game bonus content. Specific packages can only be bought from specific retailers. The four packages are the power package, space package, discovery package and bolt package. Each bonus can be unlocked without the pre-order package but later on in the game.^[59]

[edit] Audio

The same voice cast from Tools of Destruction will be returning for A Crack in Time, along with Armin Shimerman who provided the voice of Dr. Nefarious in previous games.^[8] Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, provided the voice of Orvus in A Crack in Time, as was announced in an episode of the Full Moon Show.^[60]

The game score was composed by Boris Salchow, who also made the music of Resistance 2. The music in the teaser trailer was also composed by Boris Salchow. The soundtrack is more film-like and orchestral then in previous games to add more emotion to the game, but it is still similar to previous soundtracks.^[21]

The music featured in the official trailers (Comic-Con, GamesCom and TGS) was not composed by Boris Salchow, but was provided by a group called Brand X Music, which is specialized in trailer scores. The name of the song is Pericles.^[61]

[edit] Special edition

Insomniac Games confirmed on Twitter that there will be a special edition for Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time in Europe.^[62] The special edition will include an art book and the discovery package. A special or collector's edition for other regions has not yet been confirmed.

[edit] Box art

Front, back,and side of box art. Back of box art is a template, which means it's not final.

Back of box art, which is a template, which means the back is not final.

European collector's edition cover art.

European box art for A Crack in Time.

[edit] See also

• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time trophies
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time gold bolt locations
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time skill point locations
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Zoni locations
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Constructo Mod locations
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time walkthrough
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Monsterpedia
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Signature Series Strategy Guide
• Ratchet & Clank Future

• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty

• Ratchet & Clank Future action figurines

[edit] Videos

• A Crack in Time GamesCom 2009 trailer.
• Space gameplay preview.
• PAX 09 - Space Gameplay Interview
• Axiom City gameplay video

[edit] Audio

• Listen to a sample of the music in A Crack in Time.
• Listen to another sample of the music in A Crack in Time.

[edit] Sources and references

Ratchet & Clank series

Main series Ratchet & Clank | Going Commando | Up Your Arsenal | Deadlocked | Size Matters | Secret Agent Clank Ratchet & Clank Future series Tools of Destruction | Quest for Booty | A Crack in Time Mobile spin-offs Going Mobile | Clone Home