Great timing on this thread, I finished the game myself a week ago.
I first started to properly try this series with Tools and Destruction but shelved it halfway through on account of the fact that I just wasn't having much fun with the gameplay at all, so it took me some time to finally try a Crack in Time and I can say that it was a better game that the previous PS3 entry.
I'll start with the good stuff...
- Nefarious: Part of the drive to continue further in this game was to make it to the next Nefarious cutscene, this guy cracks me up, love the design as well.
- Clank gameplay: I've always liked Clank more than Ratchet, so maybe i'm bias in his favour when I say his sections were more interesting than the rest of Ratchets game. The recording puzzles were smart and while the platforming is hardly taxing it's still better than everywhere else in the game. Visually the sections that took place in Clank's mind (I think?) were pretty stunning. It's a shame Clank was confined to the great clock, he could've used some more location variety but obviously that wouldn't make much plot sense. Speaking of which the plot itself was more than enough to keep interest so good job there.
- Hover boots: Makes journeying as Ratchet much more fun and enjoyable, especially with that long jump, I never wanted to take the things off if I could help it.
- Mr Zurkon: I swear this guy is just the most useful thing in the game and kind of funny to boot. Actually on this note I felt the humour in general was just a lot better than tools, maybe I was just in a bad mood when playing the previous game but the comedy just irritated me back there, I was much more jovial about it here.
- Filled with Content: Clearly Insomniac put a lot of effort into their games, this game is packed with content, unlockables, collectables. Presentation is great as well from the visuals in general to the little scenes describing your latest weapon.
- Small planetoids with platforming: occasionally dropping onto a uncharted planet and being set on some sort of small obstacle course was almost always enjoyable.
And now for what I wasn't such a big fan of...
- Core Ratchet gameplay: honestly I should've seen this coming from the previous game, my main flaw with this series is despite everything else i'm just not that big a fan of the core gameplay, lots of crate smashing, ammo emptying, enemy gauntlets with the occasional moment of platforming respite only to be whisked back into another pile of enemies. Damage wise the game seems to take jumps every now and then (probably when new armour is available) which can come as a bit of a spike at times when all of a sudden Ratchet keels over in mere seconds and since i've never been great at this whole third person shooting stuff it wasn't exactly uncommon to have to repeat some enemy waves. While you have plenty of tools at your disposal some feel too weak or situational, in the longer punch ups it turns into an everything but the kitchen sink approach, i'd say some enemies could do with perishing faster but eh, I guess everyone else enjoys this stuff, at least it doesn't use a cover system with regenerating health.
Also it doesn't look like much has changed on this front since the PS2 games but honestly I can't remember too much about them so I may be dead wrong, it sort of gives me a kirby series vibe in which the main gameplay has solid foundations but seems to be in some sort of unmoving limbo where not much is changed about it through many entries aside from minor tweaks, I guess if it's not broken it doesn't need fixing but I think the action side of things could use a shot in the arm.
But feel free to rip my apart of this stuff has been taking leaps and bounds since the PS2 games.
Space Dog Fights: Well this was just unpleasant, I never enjoyed these at all. The actual space travel in itself was fine though.
Bosses: Not because they were boss battles in general but they seemed to have health bars that were just perhaps a bit too big, it turns what few bosses there were into a bit of a slog.
Small planetoids where you fight like 50 enemies: Well at least the groovitron can get a big "party" going in these cases, actually this is also a gripe with some of the late game sections where it's just a bunch of enemy waves over and over.
Okay I think that's it, I do want to like these games more than I actually do, everything is in the right place but my own qualms with the action side of things seems to hinder that, clearly if I were in control of things they'd but more less shooting and much more jumping but that would probably mortify the rest of you, I may try another one of these games somewhere down the line but I still don't see myself jumping in on any entry day 1.
Oh yeah, I guess the summary of the game itself that it's a good one.
