Action games were very well represented at E3 2009, and Sony had their fair share out on the floor. Ever since Ratchet and Clank burst onto the gaming scene back on the PS2, each release has been nothing short of a quality product from Insomniac Games. With Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time, it seems that the trend of great action games is set to continue. Sandwiched between the God of War III and Uncharted 2 booths, we were able to hop on a kiosk for Insomniac's newest adventure starring everybody's favorite Lombax and his robot sidekick.

The demo at E3 showed us that the game plays pretty much the same as it did in Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, but Clank is no longer strapped to Ratchet's back. Both characters will be playable in the final game, but they'll have their own levels and challenges to deal with separately. Obviously there were some new weapons and items, some of which were funny, others just straight up cool. Right off the bat we noticed that Ratchet was sporting some rocket boots that allowed him to hover as he came out of his double jump, which seems to make up for the fact that Clank isn't there to spin his little chopper blades. Also, Ratchet's wrench had some new tricks, including an ability to latch onto items in the distance and pull them in toward him. Cool stuff.



As expected, the game played as smooth as silk, and it looked better than any previous Ratchet and Clank game. I managed to pull one of the game's developers from Insomniac over to the kiosk and he explained that some new shadowing techniques and some water tech that was developed for Resistance 2 managed to make its way into the game. The new flair just added to an already attractive visual package. He also mentioned that framerates should hold up more consistently than they did in Tools of Destruction, thanks to some engine tweaks to that are geared toward more adequately handling all the craziness on-screen. Suffice it to say, the game looked great on the show floor.

One of the strengths of the series has always been its ability to deliver interesting enemy encounters on both large and small scales. In the demo there was a section where I was taking down large tanks in a wide open outdoor environment, only to find myself dealing with tiny bugs in a cavern not much later. Both encounters forced me to use weapons and tools in completely different ways; so as with past games in the series, variety won't be an issue.

As far as storyline goes, A Crack in Time will pick up where Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty left off. We've been told that the story will dive a bit deeper into the Lombax lore and Ratchet and Clank will both have their backstories fleshed out a little bit more as Tools of Destruction did.

As of now, Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is shaping up to be a solid title that should fit right in with the rest of the heavy hitters that Sony has lined up for release in 2009.