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Ratchet and Clank - Tools of Destruction Review
In an era where games are increasingly complex, sometimes it's important get back to your roots. For the Wii and the PlayStation 3, just closing out their first year of launch life, this holiday season is a time to set down standards and 'classic' titles for the system. This week sees the release of Mario Galaxy for the Wii, and a few weeks back Sony's own platforming mascot made his next-gen debut in Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. For better or worse, the PS3 launched without a Ratchet and Clank title last year. It was well worth the wait. Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction is pure, uncomplicated fun. It's easily the best game I've played yet on the PlayStation 3 and is essentially a new classic for anyone with Sony's next-gen console. Read on for my impressions of a back-to-basics title that looks better than every other platformer you've ever played.
As with most platformers, of course, the plot is really just an excuse to get you from point A to B. As Ratchet you'll be destroying enemies across a variety of planets and settings in a well-realized 3D world. There are a number of jumping/platforming elements, but you're equipped with a number of tools that make the gameplay easily approachable. There are also a few simple puzzles to tackle, but none of them will take more than a few moments to solve. These run and jump sections are also broken up by 'rail grinding' segments that have you following a fixed course, moving from track to track to avoid obstacles. There are also a few vehicle segments, including repeated space-shooter sequences. Both of these elements are well-integrated into the flow of gameplay, and feel completely at home in Ratchet's futuristic world. The shooting elements didn't do much for me fun-wise, but they didn't detract from the experience either.
Combat, pure and simple, is where you'll be having most of your fun. As you're jumping and dodging from place to place you'll be fighting a number of different enemy types. The colorful, creative enemies you'll be facing are only matched in number by the true hallmark of Ratchet games: the weapons. Though you start with just grenades, a pea-shooter laser weapon, and your trusty wrench, there are a galaxy of different destructive devices to find, purchase, and upgrade throughout the game. This never gets old. You're constantly tweaking weapons with the resource rareitanium to improve their powers, or deliberately using certain weapons to level them up through experience. That dinky pea-shooter becomes an impressive hand-cannon, and it's joined by laser whips, rocket launchers, tornado machines, spike guns, gel-tossers, saw-flingers, and a vicious nano-swarm machine that takes your enemies apart atom by atom. Each of these can be modified in the same way as the pea-shooter, with special 'ultimate' modifications if you completely upgrade them. Leveling them up is as simple as using them in combat, and also leads to a transformation after you get in enough 'dings'. These destructive toys are joined by a series of ingenious devices that assist you in more supportive roles. There's a leech bomb that restores your life, a grappling hook, stunning gas, and a grenade that turns your opponents into penguins. There's also the groovitron, famously demonstrated in the trailers for this game, that forces your enemies to dance for your amusement. At least, till you cut them down where they stand. It sounds gimmicky hearing about it, and you may feel like you're burdened with an overabundance of choice, but this system really pays off. Like all of the side-elements to the game, upgrading and leveling your weapons is completely optional. If you don't want to bother, just pick the one or two that you like the best and exclusively use those. The game will let you know if you're using a weapon ineffectively, and switching items is as quick as hitting a button.
The whole time you're combatting your foes with these weapons, you'll be collecting the bolts that fly from their destroyed forms. That's just one of the currencies and collectibles you can find throughout the game, along with giant bolts, the aforementioned rareitanium, special devices, hidden weapons, and even achievements. Ratchet and Clank is one of the first PS3 games to feature an achievements-like system, called skill points. Skill points have been in Ratchet games for some time now, and unlike many Xbox 360-style achievements, these actually do take skill to complete. Earning them can allow you to unlock behind-the-scenes videos and other goodies, making them worth even more than the static gamerscore points. For those who enjoy collecting, there are tons of hidden areas and squirreled away treasures to keep you busy. And (most enjoyably) none of these things are requirements for the game to continue. All the core devices and contraptions you need to complete the game are given to you over the course of the story. Everything else, all the upgrades and extras, are just icing on the cake.
It plays great, and there's a story worth listening to, but over the course of the hours required to complete the game you're going to want to look at something pretty, right? In this, Ratchet is a pure win. Heavenly Sword may be more detailed, and Gears of War may be grittier, but Ratchet and Clank has a pristine cartoon beauty that is unmatched by any other title currently available. The PS3's processing power results in sweeping animated vistas and incredible cartoon villains. Explosions, special effects, and weapon damage all cause suitable on-screen mayhem ... and that's not even counting the occasional dancing robot. The best sections to demonstrate the game's graphical prowess are the rail grinders, where you can really take the time to look around and appreciate the beautiful scenery. Graphics aren't everything, of course, but in an action-focused title that focuses so much on transitory fun it's amazing to see the level of detail Insomniac has brought to this game.
I do have a few minor quibbles beyond the story's conclusion. The camera is occasionally frustrating, as happens in most 3D platfomers. It's particularly frustrating in situations where they steal camera control from you, as most of the time they allow you to be your own camera-man. By the same token, they occasionally throw in a sixaxis-controlled moment; falling out of the sky, you dodge rockets with the controller. Or, you move a laser between fixed points by tilting around the room. They seem sort of thrown-in and afterthoughty. Despite that ... they actually work. You can really control your falling Lombax or the cutting laser, and so these moments are quickly passed by.
In fact, the whole game will seem to pass by quickly, but that's not a bad thing. Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction is an amazingly entertaining experience. It has plenty of elements to keep you occupied while you're busting heads along the way, and once you're done with the game there's a great deal of replay value to keep you coming back. This title is the ultimate expression of the Ratchet franchise, and the folks at Insomniac should feel pretty darn proud of themselves for what they've brought to PlayStation 3 owners: uncomplicated fun. Uncomplicated by tiresome stories, muddy grey-green textures, unlikeable characters, or burdensome sixaxis controls, Ratchet and Clank is easily the most fun game I've played yet on my PS3.
- Title:Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction
- Developer/Publisher: Insomniac/SCEA
- System: PS3
- Genre: Futuristic Action Platformer
- Score: 4/5: This game is above average, and excels in the genre it supports. A classic for the console, likely to be a part of every PS3 owner's collection, and well worth a look for every gamer.
As with most platformers, of course, the plot is really just an excuse to get you from point A to B. As Ratchet you'll be destroying enemies across a variety of planets and settings in a well-realized 3D world. There are a number of jumping/platforming elements, but you're equipped with a number of tools that make the gameplay easily approachable. There are also a few simple puzzles to tackle, but none of them will take more than a few moments to solve. These run and jump sections are also broken up by 'rail grinding' segments that have you following a fixed course, moving from track to track to avoid obstacles. There are also a few vehicle segments, including repeated space-shooter sequences. Both of these elements are well-integrated into the flow of gameplay, and feel completely at home in Ratchet's futuristic world. The shooting elements didn't do much for me fun-wise, but they didn't detract from the experience either.
Combat, pure and simple, is where you'll be having most of your fun. As you're jumping and dodging from place to place you'll be fighting a number of different enemy types. The colorful, creative enemies you'll be facing are only matched in number by the true hallmark of Ratchet games: the weapons. Though you start with just grenades, a pea-shooter laser weapon, and your trusty wrench, there are a galaxy of different destructive devices to find, purchase, and upgrade throughout the game. This never gets old. You're constantly tweaking weapons with the resource rareitanium to improve their powers, or deliberately using certain weapons to level them up through experience. That dinky pea-shooter becomes an impressive hand-cannon, and it's joined by laser whips, rocket launchers, tornado machines, spike guns, gel-tossers, saw-flingers, and a vicious nano-swarm machine that takes your enemies apart atom by atom. Each of these can be modified in the same way as the pea-shooter, with special 'ultimate' modifications if you completely upgrade them. Leveling them up is as simple as using them in combat, and also leads to a transformation after you get in enough 'dings'. These destructive toys are joined by a series of ingenious devices that assist you in more supportive roles. There's a leech bomb that restores your life, a grappling hook, stunning gas, and a grenade that turns your opponents into penguins. There's also the groovitron, famously demonstrated in the trailers for this game, that forces your enemies to dance for your amusement. At least, till you cut them down where they stand. It sounds gimmicky hearing about it, and you may feel like you're burdened with an overabundance of choice, but this system really pays off. Like all of the side-elements to the game, upgrading and leveling your weapons is completely optional. If you don't want to bother, just pick the one or two that you like the best and exclusively use those. The game will let you know if you're using a weapon ineffectively, and switching items is as quick as hitting a button.
The whole time you're combatting your foes with these weapons, you'll be collecting the bolts that fly from their destroyed forms. That's just one of the currencies and collectibles you can find throughout the game, along with giant bolts, the aforementioned rareitanium, special devices, hidden weapons, and even achievements. Ratchet and Clank is one of the first PS3 games to feature an achievements-like system, called skill points. Skill points have been in Ratchet games for some time now, and unlike many Xbox 360-style achievements, these actually do take skill to complete. Earning them can allow you to unlock behind-the-scenes videos and other goodies, making them worth even more than the static gamerscore points. For those who enjoy collecting, there are tons of hidden areas and squirreled away treasures to keep you busy. And (most enjoyably) none of these things are requirements for the game to continue. All the core devices and contraptions you need to complete the game are given to you over the course of the story. Everything else, all the upgrades and extras, are just icing on the cake.
It plays great, and there's a story worth listening to, but over the course of the hours required to complete the game you're going to want to look at something pretty, right? In this, Ratchet is a pure win. Heavenly Sword may be more detailed, and Gears of War may be grittier, but Ratchet and Clank has a pristine cartoon beauty that is unmatched by any other title currently available. The PS3's processing power results in sweeping animated vistas and incredible cartoon villains. Explosions, special effects, and weapon damage all cause suitable on-screen mayhem ... and that's not even counting the occasional dancing robot. The best sections to demonstrate the game's graphical prowess are the rail grinders, where you can really take the time to look around and appreciate the beautiful scenery. Graphics aren't everything, of course, but in an action-focused title that focuses so much on transitory fun it's amazing to see the level of detail Insomniac has brought to this game.
I do have a few minor quibbles beyond the story's conclusion. The camera is occasionally frustrating, as happens in most 3D platfomers. It's particularly frustrating in situations where they steal camera control from you, as most of the time they allow you to be your own camera-man. By the same token, they occasionally throw in a sixaxis-controlled moment; falling out of the sky, you dodge rockets with the controller. Or, you move a laser between fixed points by tilting around the room. They seem sort of thrown-in and afterthoughty. Despite that ... they actually work. You can really control your falling Lombax or the cutting laser, and so these moments are quickly passed by.
In fact, the whole game will seem to pass by quickly, but that's not a bad thing. Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction is an amazingly entertaining experience. It has plenty of elements to keep you occupied while you're busting heads along the way, and once you're done with the game there's a great deal of replay value to keep you coming back. This title is the ultimate expression of the Ratchet franchise, and the folks at Insomniac should feel pretty darn proud of themselves for what they've brought to PlayStation 3 owners: uncomplicated fun. Uncomplicated by tiresome stories, muddy grey-green textures, unlikeable characters, or burdensome sixaxis controls, Ratchet and Clank is easily the most fun game I've played yet on my PS3.
"In an era where games are increasingly complex, sometimes it's important get back to your roots. "
Pong! But seriously I'd like to see low cost dev tools for the previous console generations. Right now you have to jump through hoops to do homebrew development.
A game called "Tools of Destruction" for Wii. Why does that sound so cool and expensive at the same time?
It's the first console game my wife has ever actually enjoyed.
I think it's the combination of being pretty and the fact that it's a very easy & fun game to play. The death penalty is minor and it's fairly easy to kill the enemies.
Make sure you go out and rent/buy the first four Ratchet & Clank games for the PS2 and play them to completition. They are by far some of the best games for the PS2 platform. While your at it, pick up the game for the PSP and play through it as well.
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
This was my first R&C game. The last platform game I actually played was Crash Bandicoot on the original Playstation. I bought the game late Friday night and got hooked into the story (even though I had no other R&C background). It's not a complex story. It's simple (and somewhat predictable), but it was the characters that kept me intrigued. They're likable and memorable.
:)
It ended up being a pretty short and easy game. I played the game all day the following Saturday and finished it the first time through later that night. I ended up buying all the weapons and mostly upgraded all of them (level 5) and only had the last weapon left to put together before beating the game. Playing it through a second time (to get the final upgrades) seemed a bit harder. Enemies took more shots to kill (but this is easily off-set when you're able to upgrade your weapons via the OMEGA versions of it and re-level them to 10). It felt like no matter how much nano-tech you gathered (how much HP you have), enemies were always doing relative damage. After getting the golden groovitron, the game got really easy (especially in the arenas) by spamming your disco ball and swapping to your weapon of choice.
The only thing left I have to do in the game is find the rest of the skill points (think achievements).
Despite it being short and simple, I still had a great time blowing up enemies with a range of destructive weapons
Almost makes me want to get a PS3... but not for just 1 game that I would like to play.
I loved the game so much I actually finished it, and that's saying something for me. With my busy work and personal schedule and a glut of great titles on several different platforms I often get distracted by a new game and move on to something different without finishing the prior one off. I'm not alone in this, I know, but for me to be motivated to see a game to completion it has to be a) fun and b) not punish me too harshly when I screw up. R&C does both very well.
As a side note, having finished R&C a week or two ago that puts me at a total of two full completions on the PS3: Resistance and R&C, both developed by Insomniac. Hats off to them for making games that I'm motivated to finish! It's quite an accomplishment!
I have a ps3, and it is not as bad as the Internet makes it seem. A lot of the games I have are very good games, all of them at least average. No one focuses on that, because they are too busy saying exactly that ^ . The console does have its flaws, but it just needs more time, or some more games like Ratchet and Clank to get it going.
Need I say more? Bad time for a release, Insomniac :)
Who are you, and what have you done with Zonk?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
a Wii is only £180 get both and enjoy the best of both platforms :D
--
Let me just state first off that I agree with pretty much everything in this review. However, being an R&C afficionado (I played through the first 4 PS2 games countless times), this one was a step backwards in every regard except graphics. The secrets were too easy to find, the levels were too linear, the weapons and gadgets (with a few exceptions) were all basically the same as in previous games. There were no mini-games this time around, and the "colosseum" area was pathetic. The second time through the game, the weapons only get more powerful, they don't add any cool new features, and I never once had to worry about running out of bolts.
From the title, I was hoping that there'd be some real evolution in the game design, but this one's strictly back to its roots. They shoulda called it "Ratchet & Clank Past" in all fairness.
That said, it was still quite fun to play.
"This game is above average"
LOL!
It really isn't that Zonk has ruined Slashdot as a gaming site from his two year long lunatic FUD fest against Sony and the PS3 - it's that he does such a utterly lame and tedious job at it.
If we wanted to read yet another tired old fanboy 'feint praise review' we could all just spend five minutes browsing gamefaqs message boards or others.
This latest Zonk PS3 troll is a 3/5 - I'm sorry to say that is below average.
Same here. I just figured I was one of a few select people that liked Untold Legends, NFS:Carbon, Motorstorm, Warhawk, and R&C. I'm sitting on a few games I haven't even got to play yet because of Ratchet eating my PS3 time.
I guess I didn't get my "cool badge" that gives me permission to bust on the system.
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
This is typical of all consoles. Look at the Wii, it hasn't had any real great games come out and the 360 took about a year before it started releasing great games. Next year we will see all 3 consoles really competing and a lot of great games for gamers.
Can I bum a sig?
wait, you have some "hits" that you're sitting on because you're busy playing another "hit"? I don't think the ones you are sitting on are hits at all.
Can I bum a sig?
*cough*GundamCrossfire*cough*
Come on, you aren't going to show up on metacritic with a rating system like that!
Rachet and Clank received a 10.5/10 from some much more reliable and unbiased sources...
http://www.sonydefenseforce.com/?p=301
I too thought it was a step backwards. But that's not a bad thing. I thought Ratchet: Deadlocked was too weapons-oriented; it was fun, but it wasn't spectacular. So I appreciated the straight-forward gameplay.
The thing I disliked: the spaceship flying bits were too lock-step. The dogfights in the PS/2 R&C games were free-form, real dogfights. In ToD, the ship flies itself, and you just aim and shot and dodge.
Otherwise, I absolutely love ToD. It was worth the wait.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
I loved the games so much i named one of our cats ratchet and one of our ferrets clank. His show name is Dr nefarious :D.. Great fun games and the first game my gf ever finished without cheating.
My faves of all time.
My GF loves the game. My wife, on the other hand, hates them.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
I don't have any of the new round of consoles (too expensive so far) but I'm looking toward getting a Wii. I also love R&C. Anyone know if this is PS3 exclusive?
Is it still written in a Lisp dialect?
Viper is the preferred editor of the Emacs operating system.
I'm a huge Ratchet & Clank fan, and I'm pretty disappointed with Future Tools of Destruction. It's still a good game, but it doesn't impress me nearly as much as Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal did on the PS2. Both those PS2 games had better levels, better stories, better weapons, and a better upgrade system. Collecting hidden platinum bolts to use at Slim Cognito's (the illegal black market weapons dealer in the PS2 games) was a lot more enjoyable than the current upgrade system in Future Tools of Destruction.
There are so many things that annoy me with the current Future Tools of Destruction that on several occasions I was actually upset while playing the game and it ruined the rest of the game for me. Luckily I still own Ratchet & Clank 1, Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal and I can go back and enjoy those games after I finish Future Tools of Destruction.
your $600 bucks doesn't get you anything more than 'very good games'. Back in the days of the N64, half that got you Mario 64, an amazing and revolutionary game, and a third of that got you Final Fantasy VII. The PS3 doesn't have a killer app. To be fair, I don't think any console's had one at launch since the Dreamcast (i.e. SoulCalibre).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
First, I'm pretty sure it's "raritanium". Granted, I'm playing in 720p and not 1080p so the resolution might just not be there. :)
I thought some of the sixaxis control parts were horrible, ESPECIALLY the roll-the-marble-around-the-labyrinth-like-you're-in-the-waiting-room-for-the-dentist. But then again, I've hated the unlock-a-door minigame in every previous R&C game. They take you out of the main game too long, require entirely different hand-eye skills compared to shooting stuff, and generally require you to restart the whole thing from the beginning if you screw up at the last second.
Also, the space-shooter levels were tough since you suddenly needed to use two analog sticks. I'm not one for first-person-shooters on consoles, so the only thing I've ever really used two analog sticks simultaneously for was Katamari Damacy. This doesn't provide you a good warm-up for having to position your ship (dodging shit at the same time) AND positioning your targeting reticle at the same time. I ham-fisted my way through them and didn't even bother to go back for the skill points or platinum bolts... and that's saying a lot since I'm an anal-retentive completionist on games like this (and lego star wars, with its even more frustrating "percentage complete" meter).
But yeah, it boils down to being the Reason I Bought A PS3(tm), and also boils down to Thank God I've Finally Got Something To Play On This Really Expensive Paperweight That's Mostly Been A Blu-Ray Movie Player(tm). It's everything I wanted the next-gen Ratchet and Clank to be. And yeah, it does feel like playing a Pixar movie, as much as I hate the reviewer-speak analogy.
I bought both a Wii and a PS3 at launch. Currently, I own about 20 Wii titles (not including VC games). I own a grand total of five PS3 titles (six if you include Warhawk as a "real" title even though I bought it online). Three of these suck and/or work better on the 360.
Yes, there are some great titles on the PS3: Warhawk, Resistance, Motorstorm or R&C are examples. Even so, some these have major flaws. Warhawk is online-only, Motorstorm has way too few tracks, and R&C's gameplay is basically unchanged from the PS2 versions: it's a simplistic shooter with far too few platforming elements. Heavenly Sword, the game everyone wanted to save the PS3, is over in 6 hours.
Let's compare this to the Wii, which sports titles such as Twilight Princess, Resident Evil 4 (which, while a port, is also clearly the best version of the game), Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario, Trauma Center, Mario Strikers, Wii Sports or Rayman. Reviews indicate that the soon-to-be-released Mario Galaxy will be the best Mario game since Mario 64. Even the crappy Wii games are often a ton of fun - me and my friends are having a blast with EA Playground right now (I love the slot car game, although my pals are partial to the plane race and dodgeball). Saying that the Wii "hasn't had any real great games come out" when it has Metroid Prime 3 or Twilight Princess only betrays your bias.
Since it has become quite likely that the PS3 will never pull itself out of the hole Sony dug it, I have now also bought a 360 (fully expecting it to explode within weeks), and I already own more games for the 360 than for the PS3.
Despite of my immense dislike for Microsoft, and despite of the fact that I bought one at launch and had the highest hopes for it, I will have to say that as of now, the PS3 is not a viable competition for the other two. If you play with your friends locally, get the Wii. If you like online gaming, get the 360. If you just like console gaming in general, get both. There is no scenario where I would recommend the PS3; not even as a Bluray player: It's just too loud for movies with silent parts (although I must say that the 360 is even louder; in fact, I would never have thought that a console can make as much noise as the 360; if my friend's wasn't as loud as mine, I would have thought mine was defective).
DASM and batariBasic are freely available for coding Atari 2600/VCS games.
The freely available emulator Stella has a really nice integrated debugger that really helps figuring out issues.
And you can even get your 2600/VCS game published! AtariAge has a 58 homebrew games, including my homebrew Medieval Mayhem, an updated version of Warlords.
Coding for the Atari is a challenge - 4K of ROM(though bank switching can be used to exceed that), 128 bytes of RAM(not K, not M, just bytes), no video memory - your program has to generate the screen on the fly, even controlling the TV sync signals. Andrew Davie has a nice series of articles, 2600 Programming For Newbies that can get you started.