I’ve been a Ratchet and Clank fan since the series’ inception back on the PS2. Insomniac has always brought solid platforming and humor to the games, with A Crack in Time being the most polished Ratchet and Clank game to date. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it certainly gets every part right.
Little known fact: the game was supposed to be called Clock Blockers instead of A Crack in Time, but the legal department over at Insomniac and Sony put the kibosh on that one. Would have been damn funny, but A Crack in Time isn’t too shabby either. Check out the debut trailer of this Fall’s Ratchet game, which I can’t wait to play.
Ratchet and Clank has been a strong series on the PlayStation platform for years. The first foray on the PS3, Tools of Destruction, was both a retail and critical success. Quest for Booty follows up on R&C Future with the series’ first episodic portion on the PlayStation Network. Does the bite-sized Ratchet feel the same as the full games? Unfortunately, the answer is yes and no.
The upcoming PSN Ratchet and Clank game has been dated. It was priced at $14.99 at E3, but Sony dropped the date on us of August 22nd.
For those of you who don’t know much about Quest for Booty, Ratchet continues the search for his missing mate, Clank, in this pirate-themed sequel to Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Even though Q4B is a downloadable game, it packs all of the AAA-production punch you’ve come to expect from every Insomniac Games title.
As for the gameplay, Q4B focuses heavily on exploration and platforming, along with some of new experimental action for the franchise. For example, Ratchet will use the new kinetic tether on his Wrench to manipulate the environment, and he’ll use elements such as light and shadows to his advantage.
This is high up on my priority list for August. I absolutely loved R&C Future, so I’m looking forward to checking out this PSN game in a few weeks. No Trophy support, unfortunately. According to James Stevenson, the Community Relations Manager at Insomniac, the Trophy standards were finalized about the same time Quest for Booty was completed. Oh well.
It has to be one of the worst kept secrets in game releases. We’ve seen the European ratings board give their blessing, and now the ESRB has rated Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty as E-10 in the US.
No word yet from Sony or Insomniac about what we can expect for the new PS3 title. Will it be a complete new release? Will it be a download from the PlayStation Store? Will it be an expansion pack for Tools of Destruction?
We tried to contact Sony and Insomniac about it and haven’t heard back. I’d expect some announcements at E3 next week.
Ratchet & Clank Size Matters originally appeared on the PSP last year and was a pretty big hit. The series has always been a lot of fun and the PSP port was no different. Ratchet & Clank scaled well to the handheld. In the wake of the game’s success, Sony decided to port the PSP title over the PS2. Sadly, it didn’t work as anticipated. Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of Ratchet & Clank Size Matters for the PS2:
Presentation and Graphics: I expected a lot more graphically from the PS2 port of the game. Essentially, Ratchet & Clank Size Matters looks exactly the same on the PS2 as it did on the PSP. It doesn’t look like any of the textures were enhanced. Many environments and objects are very blocky and low resolution, even for a PS2 title. Because you’re playing on a much larger screen, these low-res textures are more evident. 5 of 10
Ok folks, things have slowed down in my life finally. Wedding is over, Holidays and traveling are over, so it’s time to buckle down and finish some games. I’m looking to play through Halo 3 and Gears of War, both co-op, on the Xbox 360 (once Live is working properly). Both on Normal, just want to play through. Here’s my problem: my game saves somehow got corrupted when I transferred everything to my new Xbox 360 Elite after the last one broke, so we’re starting from the beginning.
If you have the skills and the time, let me know. I’d like to play a few hours a day and rock through both of them within the next 2 weeks. I’m also trying to go through BioShock and Ratchet and Clank Future, but that’s on my own. Damn Rock Band is sucking up a ton of time, but I want to get back to finishing the games I’ve already started.
Earlier this week Jeff Gerstmann, GameSpot’s Editorial Director, was released from his job after posting a poor review of Eidos’ Kane and Lynch on the GameSpot website.
Apparently none of Gamespot’s staff could be reached for comment (big surprise) but the parent company, CNET, issued a statement in response: “For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis.” Considering they just fired one of their team members for doing their job and producing an unbiased review I don’t see how they can release this comment without placing ‘just kidding’ at the end.
I downloaded the demo of Ratchet and Clank Future for PS3 yesterday and spent a good deal of time playing through the game. First impressions: the game is utterly beautiful. Sure, it’s not life-like, but these are some amazing graphics! It’s been said before, but this really does look like a Pixar movie. The game has a great feel, like previous Ratchet and Clank games. There’s a good deal of humor involved in both gameplay and cutscenes.
The controls are great and feel like just previous Ratchet games. I wasn’t able to find an option to invert the Y axis, which was disconcerting. I’m guessing this is just missing in the demo, but it made the demo more difficult for me since I’m used to an inverted axis for all games. There is also no explanation in the demo of what the controls are. For users new to the series, this can be frustrating. The camera isn’t the best, much like all Ratchet games. For platforms, I’m a big fan of auto-centering the camera behind the character. Ratchet and Clank Future does this, but it’s a very slow centering. It’s a personal thing of mine, so take it as you will.
Overall, the demo is very fun. The solid gameplay combined with the beautiful graphics mean I’ll be picking this up the day it launches.
Everyone’s favorite tool swinging platformer is all set to make his debut on the PS3, as Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction has gone gold.
The game will hit store shelves on October 30th, one week later than the previous release date of October 23rd. The demo will be available on the PlayStation Network on October 11th.
If you’re too impatient to wait for the demo, go hit up GameStop and pre-order the game and you can get a copy of the demo now.
Coming Soon!
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