New Ratchet & Clank game coming in October

[Valigarmander]

New Ratchet Game Gets Official Release Date

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time finally has an official release date. Eurogamer reports that the sequel will be hitting on October 27, with various bonus offers available from retailers. Goodies include the Insomniac Moon from Gamestop, the Cryo Mine Glove and extra hit points from Best Buy, power-ups and bolts from Amazon, and bolts and a ship skin from GameCrazy.

While the rest of the industry seems keen to move games to 2010, this announcement came later than most and is still looking to hit this year. Of course, seeing as it's more family-oriented, it probably doesn't run the risk of trouble against the 400-pound gorilla that other publishers are avoiding. Check out our preview for more detail on Ratchet's hunt for Clank.

I've never played R&C before, but I've heard it's pretty good. So, this is for all you fans here.

[Redshirt]

I've played parts of 1 and 2 at friends house. They seemed like good games.

[Robotazy]

f**k yeeeeeeeeees

[Valigarmander]

Ratchet & Clank Future A Crack in Time Review for the PS3 from 1UP.com

With its fantastic mix of platforming and shooting gameplay, the Ratchet & Clank series has always struck me as a sort of modern day Mega Man. I mean, there are obviously plenty of differences between the two series, but on a fundamental level the two share a perfection and balance of their core mechanics. What attracted us to one series two decades ago still enthralls us today -- though Ratchet & Clank has the benefit of several gameplay lessons the developers have learned along the way, from the appeal of item collection to weapon upgrades.

But let's be honest, in the Ratchet & Clank series Insomniac found itself a fantastic formula that's remains consistently fun and entertaining, and has been easy to replicate -- we've seen nine Ratchet & Clank games in the past eight years (counting the PSP titles). Because of this, if you're burnt out on the series, I'll completely understand if you plan to skip out on this latest installment. I'll understand, sure, but I'll still try to convince you otherwise.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time provides some of the most fun I've had with a game in quite some time. And I don't mean in the grandiose, immersive experience sort of way -- I have Uncharted 2 for that sort of thing -- I just mean in terms of unadulterated, platforming-shooting fun. A Crack in Time is a complete blast from start to finish. It takes the already-great graphics and gameplay engine of Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty, tosses in lots of time-based puzzle challenges, a non-linear space setting that has you traveling to many planets and universes, and a bunch of cool new weapons (such as the Sonic Eruptor, literally an alien creature on a gun that bellows its mating call as a sonic shockwave, Tesla Spikes, stakes that you can toss in the ground to electrocute passing enemies, and the Dynamo of Doom, a massive ball of energy that you can control with the SixAxis).

What's most impressive about A Crack in Time is just how much Insomniac was able to cram into the game -- from the many explorable worlds and upgradeable weapons to the space battle sequences and time-rift blasting mini-games, there's just so much to do, and it's all spread out and paced well. Throughout the game you do find yourself fighting many of the same enemies over and over, but A Crack in Time constantly mixes things up with different gameplay styles to keeps things from feeling monotonous or repetitive.

As for the game's story, A Crack in Time concludes the PS3-based Future trilogy that began with Tools of Destruction. But you needn't have played the previous titles -- the game does a good job of getting you up to speed right from the start with well-produced cut-scenes (though having game saves from the previous titles does earn you some bonuses). Speaking of which, the cut-scenes are quite good -- a tad silly at times, but generally amusing. Even better are the animated instructional videos from GrummelNet, the game's weapon store -- part of the fun of unlocking each new weapon is simply seeing the hilarious accompanying video.

There's very little to complain about in A Crack in Time. The game starts out a tad slow (mainly because of the lack of the really fun weapons), and I would have liked to hear a bit more background musical tracks for the different levels. But really, just about everything in A Crack in Time is done very well, aside from the fact that it's all been done very well before.

And that's the thing... if you've really gotten your fill with either Tools or Booty, I'll admit that there might not be enough to tempt you here. But know this: I'm a casual fan of the series and I still found myself excited to get home and play the game each night the past week. It may be a lot of more of the same, but more of the same has never been so darn addicting.

They gave the game an A. Check the link for pics and video.