With Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time having released earlier this week we caught up with James Stevenson, Sr. Community Manager of Insomniac games to discuss where the series is, where it's headed, and how you can recreate some of those neat gadgets at Ratchet's disposal in your own shed. Although highly ill-advised.

CraveOnline: Firstly, can you bring us up to speed with the adventures of Ratchet & Clank at this point in time...

James Stevenson: In Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, a tyrant named Tachyon attacked Metropolis with the goal of bringing back his banished race and destroying Ratchet, who he believed to be the last remaining Lombax in the universe. Ratchet and Clank defeated Tachyon, but afterwards, Clank was kidnapped by a mysterious group of creatures known as the Zoni. In Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, Ratchet discovered that Dr. Nefarious (Up Your Arsenal) was behind the kidnapping, and in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, we pick up with Ratchet and Captain Qwark racing to the Breegus Sector of the galaxy to rescue Clank.

CraveOnline: For those who might be interested in picking up Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, but haven't played any of the previous games in the series, will they be able to easily pick up the game and follow the story?

James Stevenson: Absolutely, we try to keep the stories somewhat contained, even while they exist in a larger arc. In addition, while we cache some data on the hard drive, we play a movie of Captain Qwark bringing folks up to speed. Even if you don’t follow it, as long as you know that Ratchet and Qwark are searching for the kidnapped Clank, you’re pretty much up to speed.

CraveOnline: Sell those gamers on Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time in seven awesome words...

James Stevenson: Best Ratchet campaign and story ever made.

CraveOnline: On the flipside of the coin, for those who are the diehard Ratchet & Clank fans, does A Crack in Time close a definitive chapter on the characters?

James Stevenson: This is the end of the Future trilogy that we began with Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. We have had two games in a row end in a cliffhanger, so we wanted to give our fans some resolution with this title. On top of that, we also looked back to some of their biggest questions from the previous games, and even PS2 titles, and try to find ways of answering those questions as well. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time ties up a lot of loose ends, and the story is really a love letter to our fans that answers their biggest questions about the origins of both Ratchet and Clank.

CraveOnline: In previous games in the franchise the Clank controlled sections always seemed second fiddle to the Ratchet portions of the game. How are you guys counter-acting that feeling in A Crack in Time to make the Clank moments just as exciting as when you're blowing lots of crap up with Ratchet?

James Stevenson: As we are telling the story from both Ratchet and Clank’s point of views, we needed to make sure the Clank gameplay could stand on its own. We were inspired by the indie-game scene, and specifically how those games create puzzles that give you an “ah-ha” moment. You want players to be initially confused, but as soon as they get over the cognitive jump, be left with a strong feeling of accomplishment. Clank’s time record gameplay came together really early for us as a key feature of the game, and we think for a lot of folks, it’ll be one of their favorite parts of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.