Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Review
Ratchet and Clank set out for adventure
by Chris Scott
reviewed on PS3
Something to Get Excited About
It has been a tough first year for the Playstation 3. Outside of Warhawk and Heavenly Sword, a pair of good but not great games, and last year’s best title Resistance: Fall of Man there has been very little in the way of quality gaming for players to get excited about. Sony is hoping that Insomniac Games’ second title on the system, the first being the aforementioned Resistance, will breathe some life into the powerful, yet languishing system.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is the fifth game in the popular Playstation Ratchet & Clank series (if you count the Playstation Portable game and a mobile phone adventure it’s actually the seventh). Those that enjoy the series are going to enjoy Ratchet & Clank Future. Those that do not like the series are not going to be swayed by this iteration. The third group of people, those that have never played a Ratchet game before will find plenty to like but the overall design of the series in general may deter people from trying it.
Pixar Quality
All three groups will be hard pressed to not admire what Insomniac has done graphically with Ratchet & Clank Future. While I said in my preview that the visuals were not quite Pixar quality, the final version is. Nothing on the system, or any other console for that matter, looks this good. Looking at Ratchet & Clank Future, you see the power of the PS3.
The visuals aren’t the only Pixar similarities though. The writing is top notch. It is clean enough that you can have no fear if the little ones are playing it but it also has enough over the top adult humor thrown in to make it enjoyable for adults as well. The only complaint I can really come up with about the writing is that some of the same jokes from previous iterations are still being used. But even then they will bring a smile to your face when seen in the context of the game.
The story itself is arguably the best in the series. You will start the game off by getting a request for help from the cowardly Captain Quark. Upon arriving at Quark’s location you’re introduced to the prime bad guy of the game, Emperor Tachyon, who wants to destroy the Lombax race and Ratchet in particular. After a daring escape, Ratchet and Clank set out to find out what happened to the Lombaxes. Along the way, the duo will meet up with an armada of robotic space pirates, a pair of geriatric battle droids, and a mysterious race called the Zoni. It is all quite satisfying and you will find yourself laughing quite a bit at some of the excellent character banter, all of which is fantastically voice acted. In fact all the sound in Ratchet & Clank Future is top notch. From the great voice acting all the way to the rousing theatrical like score, Ratchet & Clank Future is a sonic masterpiece.
Gameplay
From a technical standpoint Ratchet & Clank Future is the showcase title Playstation 3 owners have been waiting for. However it is still a game and games live and die on gameplay. Fortunately the game is solid on that front as well. Fans of the series will need a little time to get acquainted with the new control scheme, which is not quite as solid as past iterations. It does its job well enough however and most people will have the hang of it before they reach the first checkpoint. The gameplay hasn’t really changed much from the previous games in the series. Ratchet will still have to slash, with his wrench, or shoot his way through the level while also managing some simple platforming sequences all the while collecting tons and tons of bolts, the games currency.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
