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Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)

By Mike Neylon on Monday, October 29, 2007 at 8:00 AM EST  

Blasting its way onto the PlayStation 3 for the first time, Insomniac’s platformer-shooter series Ratchet and Clank makes its entrance with Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. The game keeps pretty much everything the same as the previous titles has, while still offering a variety of weapons and gadgets, and yet manages to find some new elements to add to the mix.

This time around, Ratchet finds himself on the wrong end of a vengeful Emperor Tachyon who is seeking retribution on the Lombaxes for exiling his people to another dimension; as Ratchet is the only Lombax left, that pretty much means he’s got to stay ahead of the mechanized horde and robotic space pirates at Tachyon’s command, while trying to figure out exactly what happened in the past that has Tachyon so ticked off.

As with the previous games in the series, Tools of Destruction is centered around the use of about 15 or so exotic weapons to deal with Ratchet’s enemies. Most of these will feel a bit like standard FPS weapons initially, but as you build them up by dispatching foes or increasing the abilities using Raritanium metal found about the levels, they will become much more unique, such as a machine gun that sets foes on fire when struck. Ratchet also has his trusty wrench for close range attacks, but you’ll find that getting too close is potentially harmful to his health. Similarly to its predecessors, the weapons can be very fun and satisfying to use. However, you will find that tried-and-true weapons on the early part of the game will be rather weak against the tougher foes, requiring you to constantly work on improving your arsenal.

In addition to the weapons, new one-shot gadgets are also available. For example, the Groovitron will cause foes to start dancing, allowing you freedom to take them out at a more relaxed pace, while others can create confusion gas, spawn helpful attack bots, or transform your foes into cute penguins. Clank is used in some cases to lead robots around smaller areas, instructing them to remove debris or power up devices. There’s also a number of mini-games; an arena with various challenge, rail-shooter combat through beautiful space environments, hand-gliding and free-falling with use of the SIXAXIS controller, and breaking security doors using a tilt-marble maze to complete circuits. The SIXAXIS use is rather good within the game but also continuous with the rest of the gameplay, requiring no readjustment of your grip of the control, and fits perfectly into the mix of the rest of the game.

The game flow is similar to previous Ratchet and Clank games, as you visit planet to planet to discover clues to the next planet you need to go to. There’s not as much backtracking to previously visited planets as there was in other games, which can be somewhat disappointing, but there are plenty of side missions to gain more bolts for buying weapons or non-critical gadgets to help with mapping planets and collecting goodies. Skill points for completing strange tasks and Gold bolts can be found and completed to unlock additional content for the game. Once you’ve beaten the game once, you’ll unlock challenge mode which will allow you to power Ratchet up further while facing much tougher opponents. Having this is helpful, as one may find that the core game is just a notch too easy - getting bolts and weapon upgrades to keep up with the stronger enemies really isn’t a problem in the normal difficulty.

The game looks stunningly beautiful on the PlayStation 3, capturing both the amazing artistic design of the Insomniac team while sporting impressive detail and environments, with each planet having its own unique look and feel. The background music helps to further establish the unique flavor of each planet yet still being consistent with the general themes for Ratchet and Clank games.

While other games have shown what the PlayStation 3 can do, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction really helps to show how well an existing franchise can carry over, adding great new features without losing the core elements of gameplay. While there are some issues that past Ratchet and Clank players may find slightly disappointing, the overall game is still an excellent experience, particularly after titles like Ratchet: Deadlocked, and is very accessible for those that are new to the series.

Primotech Rating: ★★★★½

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One Response to “Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)”

  1. illien on December 18th, 2007 9:05 am

    its a great game!!

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