It’s got all the right elements to make you perfectly happy.
Ratcheting away at a good story
The story for Ratchet and Clank has always been entertaining. You’ve got a very hyper Lombax, named Ratchet, carrying around a very wise (and brutal at times) robot named Clank. Together they have been and are one of the most powerful and amusing forces in the universe. When a very weird alien, who has a terrible inferiority complex attacks Ratchet and Clank while they just recovering from a nasty crash with their ship. What they find out in the brief moment of meeting this nasty no-good-doer is that he/she has a complete hate for Lombaxes. This, of course, doesn’t sit well with the boys and they soon find themselves in the middle of some very heated action that spans across the universe.
A simple story for a very complex and fun game.
The gameplay in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is similar, yet different, from previous games in the serious. You still have a fun-filled action-packed game that does it’s job in satisfying fans of the past. So when you’re jumping from planet to planet trying to find clues that will lead you closer to not only finding Ratchet’s past, but also helping to stop this new alien race, you get plenty of action in-between. What’s great about these action sequences is that they’re incredibly deep when it comes to weapons and upgrading. Money and Raritanium will get you far in this game. Money you can obtain by knocking the spit out of enemies and surrounding objects, it’s continually building whether you’re paying attention or not. Raritanium comes in different ways. You can obtain it by knocking off an incredibly difficult enemy, like of a mini-boss status, or you can find chests in certain areas. The money will help you obtain new weapons such as the Groovitron, which is basically a grenade that explodes into a dancing frenzy for enemies near by. You’ll relive the 70’s through this device. Or a device such as goo bomb where a giant green goo monster appears and knocks the snot out of the enemy nearby. That’s where money gets you.
Now, Raritanium will get you upgraded versions of main weapons. And it’s just not a Resident Evil 4-esque type of upgrade, no you get nearly 11+ levels of upgradability for certain weapons. And what’s even more fascinating than that? It’s incredibly easy to understand what each upgrade does. Add to this the choice to upgrade a weapon differently, just not linearly, and you’ve got yourself a fun, un-complicated, way of having a great weapon system. And since the other games clearly based their beauty on weapons and the variety, this is a very welcomed improvement over the previous versions of the series.
Outside of weapons, you also get some pretty darn clever puzzles in the game and levels where you have to collect material to complete it. This offers a nice variety and depth to what is usually considered a straight-action-series. I like this portion of the gameplay because it’s incredibly challenging. There is one desolate planet in the game where you have to collect ship parts, for a broken down spaceship, and are forced to explore the area. It took me a good hour to figure out that near the end of this area you had to send Clank through a small hole to complete your quest. Incredibly challenging at times and that’s what makes it such an even game of action and using your noggin’.
Blu-ray, what is it good for? This game!
I like what Sony did here. I like how they’ve gone Blu-ray with each title they produce and publish. They have taken games graphically, audibly and just all-around further by using their format correctly. It also is a good explanation for the $10 increase in games (has anyone figured out Xbox’s reasoning yet?).
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