Game Review: <em>Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction</em>

I’ve always found game reviews to be entertaining to read and a pain in the ass to write.

First, you have to play the game. That’s OK as long as it’s a game you really want to be playing. Or a game you don’t have to buy. That’s one of the reasons you so rarely get to see me write game reviews here, despite the fact that they are the staple of all game journalism ever written.

My brother’s friend Peter Graham recently asked me if he could contribute to the blog by reviewing games. He works at GameStop, and they apparently let their employees rent any game they want long enough to play it through. As far as job perks go, that’s a pretty good one.

I told him we’d give it a shot, so he pulled the new Ratchet and Clank off the shelf, played it through, and wrote up a review. You’ll notice this post appears with his byline (or you would if I could get the author template tag to work. Sigh - JP). Any future reviews will follow the same rule.

Hope you enjoy,

- Jason Preston

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Ratchet and Clank is a pretty long series of games that started back on the PS2. These games have been a hit with many game reviewers and gamers alike, however some are turned away by the “cartooney” style of graphics and the fact that it isn’t dark and violent. However, this if the first of the series on the PS3, and it has made a fantastic transfer.

Gameplay

This is one of the most polished games I have played in terms of tight controls. The character movement, camera, and shooting controls are all very responsive, to the point of perfection, and my only complaint is the six-axis controls, but thankfully, they are rarely used and are completely optional. The basic Mechanic of the game is run around and shoot enemies with crazy, varied guns in 3rd person.

You travel to dozens of different planets (somewhere around 30), all being completely unique, all looking awesome. When I say there are crazy guns, I mean turn your enemies into penguins, shoot lava, and fire 30 missiles at a time crazy. All of the weapons can upgrade 5 times in your fist play through, and you use a currency in the game, cleverly named “raritanium” to upgrade the weapons further. The other currency is bolts, which you use to purchase weapons, and sparse armor upgrades. This is a fast paced, extremely addicting combat system, which I have enjoyed since the first game.

Graphics This is honestly the coolest visual experience I have had with a game in a long time. It honestly looks like you are playing within a Pixar movie. The game will have lush forest environments, with huge, moving cities in the background, all in full HD, without a single drop in the frame-rate. The art style is fun, and always entertaining to look at. It may not attempt to look “realistic”, but that does not stop it from looking amazing.

Story/Sound

First off, let me say, that the voice acting is very good, and the dialogue, while not as good as some previous installments, is still witty and funny. The Story of the game, is significantly more interesting than the other games, involving ancient robots, and a hilarious little alien, who is bent on destroying an entire race.

The Sound effects, are all awesome. All your guns make crazy noises, and the explosions and smashing sounds just make you feel like you are tearing everything apart. The music, while not a highlight, serves its purpose as decoration, and seeing that the game is never too serious or sad, it never takes away from the experience. I will say this however, the ending, as is becoming a pattern in every freaking movie and game released nowadays, sucks, and leaves you waiting for the next game.

Complaints?

The few things I question about this game are pretty nominal, but here you go. First, why is there no multiplayer. There was great multiplayer in the 3rd major installment on PS2, and with the PlayStation Network struggling for good games, I question why they didn’t include online multiplayer in the package. Also, the game is a bit easy.

While you’re too busy having fun to notice, there are few times, besides some tough boss battles, and some tricky enemy set ups, in which you cant blast everything to bits with your insane weapons. The game doesn’t really do much new, however, it doesn’t need to since the formula is as close to perfect as your gonna get.

Why this game is cool (start with a bias, eh? ;) - JP)

Besides the graphics and tight controls, this game delivers one of the most fun, stress free, and addicting experiences in a while. The collecting of bolts, and constantly adding crazy, exciting weapons to your arsenal is a blast. These are literally the coolest weapons in any video game ever.

The enemies vary and change throughout the planets, and you really don’t get bored, or sick of an area. The game also keeps you using all the guns with a leveling system. What’s so great is, you get new armor, weapons, and power-ups, but the game never feels like an RPG. You rarely go into the menus, unless your saving, and you don’t have to stress about what you should equip in each situation.

A unique weapon leveling system makes you want to try out all your different weapons. The game also never feels stressful, and the environments never close in on you, you explore mostly open environments, with cool visuals surrounding them.

Posotives
Amazing Graphics, Witty Banter, Awesome weapons, Great Combat.

Negatives
A bit easy, No online.

Final Score: 8.5/10