Anthony and I were in the Sony booth mostly to check out Ghostbusters, but there was quite a line for it. Before we committed to making our way through it, we popped over to the side to try out the second episodic Ratchet and Clank Future title, A Crack in Time. After we finished the demo, we did go to the Ghostbusters line, only to duck out at the last moment after restarting the game and getting a long, unskippable intro cutscene, much to the chagrin of everyone in line behind us. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Even though we made fools of ourselves in front of everyone at E3, at least we got to play A Crack in Time.
You know what to do from here. The jump will tell you more.
(UPDATE:) We screwed up and mistakenly labeled the game as a downloadable title rather than a full, disc-based release. Forgive our mess.
Ashley: I really like Ratchet and Clank, even though it never really deviates from its established formula.
So I wasn't expecting anything new and groundbreaking from A Crack in Time. Just some good ol Ratchet and Clank going about their usual business in new locations.
Anthony: Yeah. Literally every Ratchet game is exactly the same as the last one, except for a tightening of the mechanics and new weapons.
That's why I tend not to enjoy them very much after about three hours of play.
Ashley: But I enjoy it. It's comforting to have a series that's so dependably fun. If you're into one, you'll be into them all.
I played the Crack in Time demo today before finishing Tools of Destruction or playing through Quest for Booty, so I may not be too familiar with exactly what is new in this upcoming episodic entry.
But even so, I can say that I enjoyed what I played of it. The demo took us through three missions, all which took place on the same planet. The mysterious Lombax that we've all seen was there to help too. He helps you find your way and shoots the baddies with you.
Anthony: And Clank's gone, for some reason probably explained in the other games.
It was Ratcher & Other Guy.
Ratchet*
I fucked that up.
Ashley: You sure did!
I'm leaving that in.
Anthony: Goddammit.
Ashley: The demo had about five weapons or so, some that were very familiar to me (Buzz Blades) and some that were not (a gun that freezes enemies, another gun that appears to be forcing a little critter to belch to make a shockwave).
Again, I apologize if none of this is new to you. I don't know any better.
Anthony: And some hoverboots Ratchet used to jump off ramps and speed around.
It was pretty satisfying to sort of jet by on your hoverboots and whack dudes with a wrench, I thought.
Ashley: Something that I personally found that was new and neat was a more intuitive boss fight. Instead of just strafing and shooting, as you did damage to this particular boss, little bolts would pop out for you to run up to, grab a hold of, and screw out.
Anthony: It's nothing mindblowing, but it was slightly less mindless than the Ratchet bosses I'm used to.
Ashley: It's not much, but maybe the rest of the bosses will be peppered with special little things like that.
Anthony: I don't expect it to be anything really different or special, but that's par for the course where R&C was concerned.
I will say, though, I was surprised at the graphics.
Ashley: They were definitely very good for a downloadable title.
Anthony: Not only that they looked awfully good -- the new enemies are sort of blocky-but-in-a-good-way like Pixar characters -- but that they sort of vaporize in little red particles that look kinda like blood.
Ashley: Yeah, it was very surprising to see, though it's not blood for sure. But maybe.
Anthony: It was blood-ish enough to make me utter one or two "holy shit"s.
Ratchet got gangsta.
Ashley: It's going to be Jak II all over again.
Next thing you know, Ratchet will have a goatee.
Anthony: And his voice will get needlessly gruff, and he'll act all emo.
And his games will get really fucking hard and make me throw my controller against a wall.
Ashley: I think we're pretty safe.
Anthony: People say that shit all the time, but I literally did that with Jak II. You remember.
Ashley: I certainly do. I don't want to relive that again.
Anthony: Especially because I beat the shit out of you with my belt after it was through.
Ashley: :(
Contest:
6:10 PM on 06.03.2009
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Other than the graphics and slightly more emphasis on the narrative TOD was a step backwards from Going Commando. I hope they go back to a less linear level progression with this new game now that they've got all their tech nailed down on the platform.
Also, I wish I had a PS3 for R&C.