Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time


 * Narrator: "...if that ever happens, the universe will need a true hero to stop it."
 * Alister Azimuth: "Are you ready?"
 * &mdash;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 upcoming sequel to the game Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty and the final instalment of Future series. It is currently scheduled for release in 2009 on October 27 in North America, November 4 in Europe (excluding the United Kingdom), November 5 in Australia and November 6 in the United Kingdom. It was stated that this will conclude the story that starting 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 will answer 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 are going to uncover truth behind their origins and discover what to do in the future. As the two come closer to be reunited they will have to decide if their destinies still lie together. Why Clank was taken by the Zoni is another question that will be answered in A Crack in Time. Captain Qwark will have more screentime then in previous games to make up for his lack of appearance in Quest for Booty and Deadlocked.

Plot
thumb|left|280px|Comic-Con 2009 storyline trailer.

The story focuses on Ratchet and Clank's origins and what they would do in the future. Another large aspect of the storyline is Ratchet, still searching for Clank. Ratchet travels into the Breegus Nebula, with Qwark in tow. Talwyn has warned that the sector is 'crawling' with mercenaries. Aphelion is promptly shot down into the Zolar Forest on a jungle planet. The Fongoids, who inhabited the planet gave Ratchet the Zoni Vessel, after Ratchet and Qwark had helped them. Ratchet then collected the zoni on the planet, and the Fongoids fixed Aphelion for him. Ratchet, Qwark and the Fongoid Cheif then came back to the village to witness a mass kidnapping of their race. Ratchet followed the spaceship that had the Fongoids trapped in and released the Fongoids. Ratchet then defeated Lord Vorselon who owned the ship. Qwark then directed Ratchet to Torren IV to locate the mysterious Alister Azimuth that Lord Vorselon kept on mentioning. He finally meets Alister Azimuth, another Lombax, on Torren IV in the Molonoth Fields. Azimuth initially thinks Ratchet is an assassin in a holo-disguise but after confrontation Alister recognises Ratchet's face and compares it to his father, Kaden. Azimuth tells him to meet him in Axiom City on planet Terachnos. The pair later went to Lumos in the Korthos sector, in search of an Obsidian Eye that would allow him to communicate with Clank. In order to receive help in finding the Obsidian Eye, Ratchet and Azimuth had to fight off the invading Agoreans. One of Ratchet's other goals was to find and rescue as many Zoni as possible who are scattered across different locations, because collectively the minds of Zoni were stronger.

After finding the Zoni, they got a step closer to Clank. Ratchet and Azimuth then travelled to Lumos.

Meanwhile, Clank has been in suspension in the Great Clock for over a year, in custody of Dr. Nefarious and his butler, Lawrence. Clank discovers he has a father, Orvus, and tries to escape with the help of the caretaker, Sigmund. However, Nefarious finds out and attempts to stop Clank leaving.

It is unknown how Nefarious and his butler, Lawrence managed to get off of the abandoned asteroid they were stuck on. The Zoni have also contaced Nefarious to 'repair' Clank, although it is unknown what connection they have to him.

The game will possibly show more details and information about Max Apogee, what happened to the Lombaxes, the Zoni, and other background information about the Ratchet & Clank universe. Ratchet will discover that Clank’s capture is just the beginning of Nefarious’ latest diabolical plot. Brian Allgeier said in an interview after Comic-Con that the ending of this game will surprise many players.

thumb|280px|left|The Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time teaser trailer.

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."
 * &mdash;Bryan Bernal[src ]



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

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.

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.

Minigames similar to those seen in the previous games will return in A Crack in Time.

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.

Space gameplay
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. There is also Space Radio with music and 'Pirate Radio'. There were five sectors in the Breegus System, with there being 10 Zoni in each sector, excluding the Corvus Sector.

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. By collecting Zoni the Aphelion can also be upgraded with features such as thrusters and a space teather.

Clank gameplay
Clank will have a larger role and Clank gameplay will allow the player to manipulate time in new ways. 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. Clank`s father is Orvus, which means Clank may be a Zoni of sorts. thumb|300px|left|[[Clank gameplay at Comic-Con.]]

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. The new weaponry will apparently offer a "much more engaging player experience".

Weapons with a lava effect will be used. Some "classic" weapons from previous games will also be returning. . 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. 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. 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 in Quest for Booty. 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. 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. 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=channel Additionally, a commercial could be viewed for every purchasable weapon.

Weapon contest finalists
thumb|300px|right|Brian Allgeier revealing the winning weapon.

Five finalists were chosen for the My Blaster Runs Hot weapons contest and announced on April 17 2009, they were held up for voting. The finalists were:
 * Plasma Sprinkler Glove
 * Spiral of Death
 * Bubble Shot
 * Qwark Machine
 * Super-Sized Sticky Hand Toy

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

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. James Stevenson said that the demo will be released a couple of weeks before the game's release. The demo is currently released but only in the North American PlayStation Store.

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. This was later confirmed by Gamespot. 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.

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.

Trophies
James Stevenson from Insomniac Games has confirmed that there will be PSN trophies in A 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. 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. There are 37 trophies in total, with 17 hidden trophies.

Early Release
Recently, the US retailer Best Buy sold copies of A Crack in Time to over 120 people before the official release date. It is unknown whether or not the store will face any sort of punishment.

Characters

 * Azimuth, Alister
 * Clank
 * Lawrence
 * Nefarious
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Ratchet
 * Sigmund
 * Talwyn Apogee
 * The Plumber
 * Orvus
 * Fongoid Cheif
 * Fongoid Children
 * Fongoid Mother
 * Junk Trader
 * Smuggler
 * Vorselon, Flint
 * Zoni

It is possible that Skrunch will appear in the next game, as an action figure of him will be made however, this is unconfirmed.

It is also possible that Klunk will appear in A Crack in Time, since Nefarious (Klunk's creator) is in it, but given that he was defeated in Secret Agent Clank, as well as the fact that Secret Agent Clank was not made by Insomniac, he will most likely not be in it.

Species

 * Lombax
 * Robots
 * Agorean
 * Fongoid
 * Vullard
 * Zoni
 * Zyphoid
 * Terratrope

Planets and locations

 * Great Clock - Sector One
 * Quantos - Zolar Forest
 * Lumos - Krell Canyon
 * Lumos - Vogal Caves
 * Terachnos - Axiom City
 * Torren IV - Molonoth Fields
 * Tobolia - Tombii Outpost
 * Agorian Battleplex - Battleplex Arena

Organizations

 * The Elders

Playable weapons

 * OmniWrench Millenium 12
 * Constructo Pistol
 * Constructo Bomb
 * Sonic Eruptor
 * Plasma Striker
 * Negotiator
 * Spiral of Death
 * CryoMine Glove
 * Buzz Blades
 * Mag-Net Launcher
 * Rift Inducer 5000
 * Chimp-o-Matic
 * RYNO V
 * Groovitron Glove
 * Mr. Zurkon
 * Dynamo of Doom
 * Tesla Spikes
 * Constructo Shotgun

Other weapons

 * Double-ended wrench

Gadgets

 * HoverBoots
 * OmniSoaker
 * Swingshot
 * Grindboots
 * Gravity Boots
 * O2 Mask
 * Heli-Pack
 * Thruster-Pack

Items

 * Gold bolts
 * RYNO V holo-plan pieces

Other collectibles

 * Zoni
 * Battery Bots
 * Constructo mods

Action figures


Action figures for the game have been announced. They are scheduled to go on sale at around the time of game release.

Skins
It has been confirmed in a replayability feature video that there will be skins in A Crack in Time. One skin is to be an Agorian, another will be Dan Johnson in a red shirt and another will be a black outfit covering most of Ratchet.

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. 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. 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.

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."
 * &mdash;Insomniac Games[src ]

The title for the game was released in late March 2009. A teaser 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.

Title



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

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

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Special edition
Insomniac Games confirmed on Twitter that there will be a special edition for Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time in Europe. 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.

Videos

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

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.

Sources and references
Link title