Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) review

A year after the release of Resistance: Fall of Man, Insomniac Games released the first Ratchet & Clank game on the PS3, which serves as the first part of the Future sub-series.

Story

On Metropolis, Ratchet & Clank receive a call from Captain Qwark who was under attack by heavily armed robotic commandoes. As they make their way to the Planetary Defense center, Metropolis was under attack and the Intergalactic Duo runs into the Cragmite leader, Emperor Percival Tachyon, who was responsible for the disappearance of the Lombaxes, Ratchet’s race.

Ratchet and Clank escape to the Polaris Galaxy, where they meet a Markazian named Talwyn Apogee and her two robotic caretakers, Cronk and Zephyr. They find out that Tachyon is after a device that the Lombaxes used to defeat the Cragmites in order to rule the universe and they have to find it before he does.

Emperor Percival Tachyon

The story goes for a bit of a dramatic and cinematic approach, but still keeping the trademark comedy, and the new characters, Talwyn, Cronk, Zephyr, and the space pirates Captain Slag and Rusty Pete are just as welcome and loveable. Tachyon's an okay villain, but he's more like Ripto from Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage as they were short in size and have a hatred for a certain species.

Gameplay

The gameplay remains unchanged from its predecessors. The player controls Ratchet with Clank on his back as he can purchase weapons and gadgets with bolts. Your health and weapons can still be upgraded with experience points, and upgrading weapons to the maximum level will change their appearance, as well as making them more powerful. In addition, you can further upgrade weapons by collecting Raritanium, similar to the Alpha and Omega mods from Deadlocked. Armor can still be bought in order to protect Ratchet from harsh attacks.


"Mr. Zurkon does not need Nanotech.
Mr. Zurkon lives on fear!"

New to the series are devices, which are kind of like weapons, but don’t do much damage. The most unique device is the Groovitron, where it forces nearby enemies to dance, making it easier to defeat enemies. Another device is a trash-talking synthenoid named Mr. Zurkon, who is weaker than the Synthenoids from Going Commando, but provides extra firepower. He may not be as useful, but he is hilarious to listen to.

The duo up against a Leviathan.

There are various ways to earn bolts like taking part in the arena battles as well as collecting Leviathan souls and trading them to the Smuggler.

There are two types of collectibles hidden throughout the game: Gold Bolts and Holo-Plan pieces. There are a total of 32 Gold Bolts hidden and collecting them will unlock skins for Ratchet. Once you collect all the Holo-Plan pieces, you return to the Smuggler and he will construct the weapon.

The space combat makes a return, this time in style of a Star Fox rail shooter, where you fly on-rails and shooting at targets. There is usually a boss at the end, where you shoot it down until its health is depleted.

Clank’s gameplay remains similar, only this time he controls beings of pure energy called Zoni, who can attack enemies, repair bridges, and power up machinery. Clank also has the ability to slow down time to get past obstacles quickly.

Using the Tornado Launcher requires the use of SIXAXIS.

Tools of Destruction is one of the earliest PS3 titles to use the SIXAXIS controller, where during the freefalling, Geo-laser, and Decryptor sections, you tilt the controller. There is also a weapon called the Tornado Launcher where you control the tornado by tilting the controller. If you don’t like motion controls, you can turn them off, but it is still needed for the Tornado Launcher regardless.

Graphics, Level Design, and Audio

For an early PS3 game, the game looks gorgeous. I’ve heard a lot of people compare the graphics to a Pixar movie, which pretty much sums up how good the game looks. The character models were even given a nice update.

The Groovitron

The audio is yet another mixed bag for me. The voice acting is great, as usual, but the score by David Bergeaud, while still combining (mostly) orchestra, ambient, and electronic music, they felt less memorable. However, I will give credit to the Groovitron music and the end credits song "Let's Celebrate", for their catchy beat that made me bop my head like there's no tomorrow.

Conclusion

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is a great game overall and yet another one of the stronger installments in the series. While it tries to experiment on some new things like the motion controls, which were kind of gimmicky, the series formula is still going strong and it does not show any signs of growing tired. This is a must-buy game for any fan of the series or PS3 owners in general.