Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction Review
Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction was developed by Insomniac Games, and was released on October 23, 2007 for the PlayStation 3. For those who just joined us, Ratchet & Clank is a series of 3D platform/shooter video games and is known for the inclusion of many exotic, wacky and unique weapons, gadgets and planets. Tools of Destruction is the 6th installment in the official Ratchet & Clank canon and the first PlayStation 3 installment.
The game starts with Ratchet trying to fix his aircraft, where an attack suddenly occurs on the city. The invasion is being lead by a crown prince of the Cragmites whom goes by the name of Emperor Tachyon. The Emperor’s goal is to rid the universe of every Lombax in the world, and Ratchet is the last of the Lombaxes. With this, the adventure begins.
For a platforming game, Tools of Destruction surprisingly has a very engaging story. It is the sort of story which would make a good and entertaining Disney or Pixar movie. In the beginning you will begin to ask yourself why is “Ratchet the last of the Lombaxes?” “Who are the Zoni that only Clank can see?“. These are only some of the questions you’ll find and all will be answered as the story progress.
And speaking of Pixar, the New York Times have praised Tools of Destruction for being the first interactive entertainment experience that truly feels like inhabiting a world-class animated film.
Ratchet is expressive and chock- full of family-friendly visual humor, delivered with a polish and sophistication that have previously been the exclusive province of movies like “Toy Story” and “Monsters, Inc.”
- A New Video Game Hopes Expressive Characters Lead to Emotional Attachment, The New York Times
The graphics for this game is absolutely as stunning and vibrant as you would expect from a Pixar movie. At any given time, there is so many details on the screen, it is hard to not stop and just admire the scenery. Imagine the whole sky filled with huge numbers of space ships raining havoc on the cities and in your immediate surroundings, dozens of highly detailed enemies blasting you with a variety of weapons and you retaliating with your myriad of weapons. It is chaotic and hectic yet still beautiful.
As usual with previous games in the series, the pacing is linear though there are many optional areas to explore. The stage design is simply terrific and have enough variety to keep you from feeling bored. For example, there are some sections which requires you to use a Gyro-cycle to navigate through courses (which feels like Sonic sometimes) and space combat sections.
The player controls Ratchet most of the time, with some sections using Clank. Being a shooting-platforming game, Ratchet has a ton of arsenal at his disposal. Ask any fan of the series and they will tell you that the weapons make or break a Ratchet and Clank game. There is a Tornado launcher for example, which as its name suggest launches a tornado to wreak havoc on the battlefield, Razor Claws which makes you feel like Wolverine and the Plasma Beast which creates green goos that turn into synthetic bodyguards when enemies move in.
In addition to the weapons there are various gadgets (to help you navigate the world) and devices (utility weapons) to support you. My favourite device is called the “Groovitron“. The “Groovitron” is a disco ball that causes all enemies to dance for a brief time, allowing Ratchet to eliminate them while they are distracted. And yes, the “Groovitron” works on all enemies including bosses! There are reported to be a total of 31 weapons, gadgets, and combat devices (15 weapons, 8 gadgets, and 8 devices).
Weapons, armour and devices can be bought (using bolts dropped from enemies and crates) from vendors found throughout the game. Also, weapons gain experience the more they are used and when they hit level five, they will be upgraded to a more advanced version of the weapon. In addition to this automatic upgrades, you can manually upgrade your weapons using a tiered hexagon-upgrade system. This manual upgrade costs Raritanium and allows you to add one of four properties to the weapon. Each armament will have a different array of features that can be upgraded.
The game itself is not very hard with a few exceptions for a few boss fights. Even then, it is still an easy game. Beating the game will unlock a tougher version of the game which is called Challenge Mode. There is also a Skill Point system included with the game. There are various little challenge hidden throughout the game that awards you skill points for completing them. Skill points allows you to unlock various concept art and cheats.
Overall Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction is a great and entertaining game. It is nice to play a light hearted game for a change in a market saturated with war and apocalyptic games. This game has earned the right to remain on my shelf and is only to be missed if you absolutely can’t take cartoonish goofy games.
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