Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction Review

The Ratchet and Clank games are funny depictions about life in space for these weird comical heroes and villains, who cruise across the galaxy either for adventures or for world domination. Captain Qwark, a delusional macho spaceman dressed in green spandex, is a fan favorite in the Ratchet and Clank universe. He pretends to act like the greatest galactic hero whoever lived, only to crawl away and hide in a corner once he sniffs danger nearby. Qwark and his other colorful cast members remind you of Saturday morning cartoons, known for cheesy dialogue and one-liners (the third game in the series, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal, has some of the funniest quotes). Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction continues on as the sixth game, for the first time on the Playstation 3. It's time to find out how well Insomniac improved the series now that it's on a next generation console.

In the story Ratchet has to find out why a mysterious alien named Emperor Percival Tachyon, prince of the Cragmites, is bent on destroying him because he is the last Lombax in the universe. This question sets Ratchet and Clank off on another grand adventure, as the clues they follow take them on a journey to new alien planets. Each visit will reveal new answers that bring Ratchet closer to getting his questions answered: why Tachyon is after him, who the Lombax race were, and what big secret they were hiding. Ratchet and Clank will fight through places like the deep jungles, swamps, and volcanoes; in their way will be an army of nasty robots and aliens, like pirates, leviathans and tyrannosaurs.

The fights are thrilling, filled with hectic action, explosions, and enemy noise. They're even better thanks to the characters' convincing animation; they act mean, funny, scared, in a style close to a computer animated movie. The colorful dynamic planets they inhabit has a coated layer of details, highlights, and shadows that brings a beautiful presentation.

You play as Ratchet most of the time, and once you jump into the first level, the world you're experiencing tells you that this is going to be an epic adventure. It begins in the city called Metropolis on Planet Kerwan, where it is being attacked by aliens called Cragmites. You hear explosions and see enemy spaceships firing holes through buildings, as bridges are collapsing, and balls of fire are falling from above. Soldiers are fighting it out in the sky and on the streets. While that crazy stuff is going on, you're busy trying to move from one building to the next blasting enemies left and right. After all that action you will have to jump on rails and grind through the city, while trying to avoid these giant robots chasing after you.

Balancing the intense fights is the series' satirical slapstick humor that stays right on course; the buffoonery, wisecracks, and jokes here still has the Insomniac touch. Series fans won't be surprised to see evil Emperor Tachyon make a habit of throwing his own comedic material, mostly to mock Ratchet. There should have been more interaction between Ratchet and Clank in this story; in past games they were entertaining to watch arguing and making sarcastic remarks to each other. Their buddy Captain Qwark returns along with a cast of new friendly and hostile characters. While some you meet serve more as a quick break for comic relief, a few are important to Ratchet's quest, so he will meet them several times to progress the story.

Sometimes you will be able to play Clank. A squad of small aliens called the Zoni will visit him, and they will help complete his stages, plus give important inside information regarding the main quest he is on with Ratchet. Clank can control these Zoni like he did to those gadgetbots from previous games. The Zoni can repair broken bridges, attack enemies, and give Clank powers, like slowing down time so he can quickly get through rapidly closing doors. Expect similar puzzle solving if you've played Clank before from the other games.

Most of the time though you will be playing as Ratchet, who will be be jumping, swinging, flying, and swimming to get past whatever is in his way. Enemies unfortunately will have to deal with Ratchets' handy wrench and blazing weapons. Newcomers should know that Ratchet's unique guns and other toys is a signature of the series. If you are familiar with the Ratchet and Clank universe, don't be surprised with new weapons that fire strange things rather than bullets. A gun called the The Plasma Beasts shoots out slimy green creatures that attacks any enemy nearby. The Buzz Blades rapidly fires saw blades that bounce around walls and objects hitting enemies from unexpected directions. The rocket launcher's heavy damage is useful against bosses and the electric whip's lightning speed can wipe out an enemy crowd quickly. The weapon you use in battle will gain more experience; once a certain amount is reached, it will be automatically upgraded for better firepower. They can also be customized with Raritanium crystals, currency for purchasing a set of weapon skills, that are dropped by stronger enemies. You have several options to choose from like improving range, firepower, ammunition stock, or speed. The customize menu is a tree-like structure where one path leads to more ammo while another leads to better hit rate. A special ability for each weapon is available once you've come close to fully upgrading a weapon.

It doesn't make that much of a difference as to how you want to customize most of them. There will be plenty of enemies to kill that drop crystals for you that it won't take long for to give most of the weapons full strength. All this makes killing most enemies easy, like stepping on ants. Since weapons become so powerful after complete upgrades, a few like a pistol, laser cannon, grenade launcher, electric whip, and nuke missile can be enough to beat the game. But Insomniac did accomplish their goal of putting creative touches to the new weapons; it's worth watching all the mayhem and destruction you cause with them. It's a pleasure to fire bees and tornadoes while you sit back watch them decimate your enemies.

Besides mowing down foes with guns and bombs, Ratchet will have to be in other less enjoyable activities. Before he can visit certain planets, he has to be in this minigame where he's in his ship shooting down enemy spacecrafts StarFox style. But all you do is shoot, shoot, and shoot some more; there is a lack of originality and diversity that other shooters do well. To open closed areas, Ratchet has to solve the Decryptor puzzles, a game where you tilt the controller to roll a metal ball's movement across pathways on a circuit board. Your goal is to not have the ball going on a pathway that comes to a dead end; instead, the ball must move in a path that can connect to another one that will eventually get to the finishing point. Using motion controls adds a challenge, but it doesn't make it any more enjoyable since the puzzles, once you do a few, gets predictable and tiresome.

Aside from the main story, there are a few sidequests, like the fighter's arena, the challenge mode, and the secrets that lead to new armor and weapons. The world map displays helpful information about the amount of Raritanium crystals and golden bolts still available on each planet, so that way you can investigate further and find them all. These sidequests gives you a good reason for returning to previously visited planets to explore them thoroughly.

Despite the games' strengths with the story, sidequests, and graphics, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is at the end of the day, a disappointment. It's a disappointment because they stuck to conventional platforming, motion control gimmicks, and tiresome minigames. There may be different landscapes, architectures, and platforms in each planet, but most of the time the gameplay is the usual routine: Ratchet running and gunning, avoiding pitfalls, solving simple puzzles, jumping from platform A, to B, and so on. The developers didn't push enough of the Playstation 3's technology to bring new challenges for Ratchet, like smarter A.I. opponents, or more creative ways for him to interact with his environment. It's the best looking Ratchet and Clank game but not the greatest one overall. With better level designs, characters, dialogue and replay value, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal gets that prize. Tools of Destruction pretty much sticks to the same formula from previous Ratchet and Clank games. Many fans of this series will enjoy it; there's still the precise controls, wild action, and consistent humor that has been a staple of the series. Just don't expect this next generation game to be an evolution of the 3D platformer.