I'm going to open this review with a disclaimer, which I rarely do. I had already reviewed Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time for Click Magazine, where I gave it 5/5 and the Click Recommended seal of approval. Having had even more game time between that review and this one, I'd like to make an alteration to the context of my review.

Mainly, I may have suggested that A Crack In Time wasn't quite the greatest platformer I have ever played. In retrospect, I was horribly wrong. The more time I spent with it, the more incredibly fun it became, and the more I was blown away with it.

However, now I'm going to tag the disclaimer with another disclaimer... I'm an unashamed R&C fanboy, but I only mention this because in terms of this game, I don't think it's important in the slightest because this game is just so bloody good. Okay, so on with the review...

In case you didn't know, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time follows on from the previous two R&C games available exclusively for the PS3, namely 2007's Tools of Destruction and last year's downloadable Quest for Booty. In terms of storyline continuation, you might be worth checking out both titles before this one if you're unfamiliar with the series. Foruntately, you'll get them both for less than the price of a regular game. If you're not that bothered, then all you need to know is that at the end of Tools of Destruction Clank (the robot) was kidnapped by a mysterious race known only as the Zoni, leading to Ratchet (the fluffy yellow one) trying to find him in Quest for Booty. A Crack In Time is basically the culmination of everything that has come before it, but that's the main crux of the game.

The game progresses simultaneously in two seperate story arcs; one following Ratchet, the other Clank, right up until their inevitable crossover. In previous titles, the Clank sections were always more than a little limited - almost feeling like they were tacked on with the intention of justifying the existence of the character, but with A Crack In Time things are a little different.

While the Ratchet sections are very much as you were (not a bad thing), Clank now has the ability to manipulate time in a couple of ways that prove to be quite challenging as the game progresses. The first is by lobbing out bombs which drastically slow down time on any area they come into contact with, the catch being that only one of them can exist at any given time.

The second, and for me the most impressive, is the ability to create multiple versions of yourself and play them all together - making seemingly impossible puzzles and level navigations a doddle (at least until the later levels that is). The mechanic is wonderfully simple and while it might seem a little confusing at first, it really only takes a couple of attempts for it to feel like second nature.