Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Insomniac Games was responsible for the best title of the PlayStation 3 launch with the release of Resistance Fall of Man. Now that they have one PlayStation 3 title under their belts, the creative geniuses have set their sights on bringing the beloved Ratchet & Clank franchise back to its roots in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Utilizing the power of the PS3, does this platformer have what it takes to succeed as a triple A title?

The thing easily seen at first glance are the incredibly sharp and detailed visuals. Ratchet & Clank have never looked as good, moved as smoothly, or felt as alive as they do in their first PlayStation 3 outing. Insomniac took advantage of the all the horsepower under the PS3 and has given us a game that has virtually ever color known to man. Not only is the world made up of bright colors–but the use of lighting makes Tools of Destruction feel like a Computer Generation movie come to life. And the visuals never slow down. This game runs at a steady frame rate even when the screen is crowded by as many enemies as Insomniac could throw at you.

Besides the jaw-dropping gorgeous visuals, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction plays just as well as any of the previously released titles. Just like before, the action takes place in the third person perspective where players run, jump, and shoot their way through each of the levels. The big change is that unlike the later installments of the franchise, Future: Tools of Destruction focuses its gameplay on more platformer elements rather than keeping the game focused on the weapons. That isn’t to say you won’t find plenty of weapons to keep you busy destroying enemies. There is still plenty of that! In fact, the game has an assortment of weapons that you can earn, purchase at a vendor, and every weapon has a large upgrade path. As in past Ratchet & Clank titles, your weapons will also gain levels as you use them. So the more you use a weapon, the stronger it will get.

As players dive into the story, you will find that the Emperor Percival Tachyon wants to rid the galaxy of the the lombax race. The bad news is that you are the last of the lombax and since it wouldn’t be much fun to die a painful death, Ratchet & Clank set off to not get killed and to stop the evil Emperor before he gets you. Along the way, Ratchet & Clank will learn about the Lombax race–something they know very little of. Just as you would expect, all of the clever writing and humor found in past R&C titles will show up in Tools of Destruction. The only drawback to the story is that this title gives very few details the Lombax and is setup for a future sequel. While I don’t mind having more Ratchet & Clank on my PS3 in the near future–I would have preferred to be told a little bit more complete story.

Tools of Destruction should take you roughly twelve hours to complete. As you go through of the game’s many levels, you will find that each world is its own level. This gives the player a ton of variety and you get to see a bunch of different environments for our heroes to run and shoot through. Though the levels are a bit linear, there is some room for exploration to seek out some of the hidden items. The nice thing about some of the hidden items is that they can be used to upgrade your weapons. So you get a real payoff for searching for them.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is quite a bit shorter than previous outings. However, the time spent is some of the best gaming ever seen on a PlayStation 3 and makes for a fun-filled adventure that can be enjoyed over and over again. Although I would have preferred to have a little bit more hours of gameplay, I am content with Tools of Destruction and recommend it to every PS3 owner out there.