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Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction 2010-07-15

Reviewer: K. Schoenbaum

A very fun game. Easy to play for those of us who are not that good yet challenging for those who are.

Great fun! 2010-05-17

Reviewer: Justin Hosmer

This is one of the best Ratchet and Clank games I have played, and I've played them all. If you are a fan of the series and you don't purchase and play this game, you are seriously missing something great! The graphics and gameplay are outstanding! The replay value is also really fun. You can go through the game and upgrade the weapons and armor that you missed in the first round. Just really fun stuff! Play this game!

Believe the hype... 2010-04-28

Reviewer: Maek

What an extraordinarily fun game! This review is for those who are not familiar with Ratchet and Clank.

Ratchet, supposedly the last Lombax in the universe, receives a distress call from his self-inflated friend Captain Qwark who gets kidnapped by mechanized vehicles operated by the evil Drophyds led by their Cragmite emperor, Tachyon. What follows is a hilarious adventure that includes the race of Zoni aliens who are only visible to Clank (Ratchet's robot companion).

Ratchet and Clank has successfully done for Playstation 3 what Mario has done for Nintendo and that was to generate an all-exclusive platformer that's fun to play.

What sets Ratchet and Clank apart, however, is the game play. Mario has his temporary powerups whether you play him in Galaxy, Super Mario Bros (old and new), etc. Ratchet has his weapons which are upgradeable in many different ways. Just using the weapon alone gradually upgrades its power and, eventually, its capabilities and the collection of bolts allows you to buy additional weapons and ammo. Collecting Raritanium (sp?) allows you to upgrade weapons in other ways including ammo capacity, range, capabilities etc. And there are weapons galore, including something resembling a simple blaster, to other weapons that attack enemies through nano-bots, grenades, guided missiles, goo that turns into beasts, etc., etc.

And the weapons are not completely the same across the board either. Some are fire and forget, some are guided, some require active aiming...and some are downright hilarious. The Groovitron, for example, is a disco ball that forces your enemies to dance to various disco tunes thus allowing you to mop up an area as they helplessly strut their stuff. Another device, Mr. Zurkon, is a small robot who follows you around and protects you to the best of his abilities via a laser as he hurls insults at his foes. Mr. Zurkon is by far my favorite as he interjects his own commentary for every situation. If you happen to drown, Mr. Zurkon will growl in his mechanical voice, "Mr. Zurkon cannot swim" as he hovers over the water calmly as you sink below the surface. It's one of those things that you have to experience through actual play to fully appreciate how funny Mr. Zurkon can be.

The humor is very tame (read "age appropriate"), but funny nonetheless. Just as an example, Qwark runs through a plan with you to break into a prison and he shows his confidence in the overall operation by giving you the code name, "Dead Meat." When Ratchet and Clank flee in an escape pod, the computer announces that its passengers will be administered a sleeping gas to make their journey easier. Clank amusingly observes, "It's a good thing that robots are immune" to the sleeping gas. At this point, the glove compartment opens and Clank is punched unconscious with a mechanical boxing glove. Again - you have to play it to appreciate the comedic timing; words don't do the game justice.

Many reviews have said that this is about as close as you can get to playing as if you were in a Pixar movie. I was skeptical at the claim, but after having played it, I can honestly agree with that assessment. The environments are beautiful and there is never a frame rate drop despite the mutltitude of explosions, bolt gathering, movement, and combat occurring all at the same time.. The levels are cleverly designed, too, and just when I thought that they couldn't think of anything new for a platformer, I am floored by the next level. Even the mini-puzzles (the Decryptor) get increasingly challenging, but never frustratingly so. Whereas Mario occasionally has its "you must jump with exactly this timing to clear a level," Ratchet and Clank have never made me feel like hurling my controller at the wall. It's pleasantly challenging, and never impossibly so. All the gadgets (Robo wings, heli-pods, etc.) are fun to use and I find the time to experiment with everything. Obsessive-compulsives (including, admittedly, me)...beware! You will find yourself trying to be a "completionist" with every device that you own, every Gold Bolt that is hidden, every Leviathan Soul that there is to collect, etc.

What else is there that's good about it? The story is fun and the music is awesome. The music walks the line between electronically generated sounds and a fully orchestrated soundtrack and the merge between the two is flawless and sounds natural.

Ratchet and Clank is a game that is fun for all ages although that I would say that it's probably quite a challenge if your kids are under 7. But then again, there have been other reviews stating that the younger children seem to grasp it quite well so take it with a grain of salt.

For those of you worried about violence, Ratchet and Clank is violent only in a cartoonish sense. Aliens get blown into goo and robots get blown to pieces. It's not over-the-top by any means, but if you run a household where violence of any kind is unwelcome then you may want to view the video link that Amazon shows on this item to see if it's something to worry about or not. You can also download the still-available demo for this game from the Playstation 3 Store. The demo will definitely give you a superb taste.

And ... not to spoil the ending ... but what an ending, sating your appetite for the bridge-between-games episode of Quest for Booty (on PS3 or Amazon download) to come to its ultimate conclusion in Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time.

Another success for Ratchet and Clank 2010-03-20

Reviewer: maninblue

This series is a great genre that distracts from tired First Person Shooters and gory beat-em-ups like God of War. I hope this series goes as far as the Mario series. The characters are memorable, the gameplay is zany and action packed, and there is always an explosion of colors, rewards, and great sounds going off at all times. Never boring. The story in this game stands alone in the series, but rewards fans of the past games with many character references. The game starts with a cutscene of Captain Qwark calling you for help. After that, the opening level is mind-blowing is so many ways. Aliens are blowing up buildings while you escape on grind rails, the city is crawling with deathbots piloted by squishy little aliens out to get you, and you are blasting or smashing everything in sight. The first level is easily playable over and over again and in fact is how I became a fan of ht series in the first place. After playing this first level that is included in the demo for Tools of Destruction on the PSN, I went out to purchase the first game for the PS2 and have been a fan ever since.
The game continues with superb level design throughout the game. There is plenty of variety and nothing ever gets boring. You lay waste to hoards of different enemies ranging from Amoeboid-like fish guys driving war machines, space pirates, and insect-like cragmites to a host of other things that want to tear you up (or blow up and give you bolts). There is a crazy assortment of unique weapons and devices that you obtain throughout the game like in other Ratchet and Clank games, but the standout item is the Groovitron, a discoball that forces anything on the screen to stop in it's tracks and dance dance dance.
There has always been a perfect mix of platforming and jumping mixed with LOTS of shooting and blowing things up with a few puzzles to make things interesting. Now that Ratchet and Clank has moved to the PS3, however, things look amazing. This entry into the series takes almost everything from the previous games and perfected it.
There are a few things that could have been better. The space battle sequences take you on a linear path rather than allow you to fly around like you could in a couple of the previous installments. What they have instead is an on-rails shooter in which you can dodge around on screen, but the presentation here is very nice. They show you a lot of cool environments as you fly around blowing up space pirates and dodging asteroid fields and arcs of flame from a lava planet.
I was always a fan of the racing in the first two games and they still did not bring that back after Going Commando. Up Your Arsenal didn't have any races either, but they game you multiplayer and the vehicles instead, which were good. I also would have liked trophies to be in this game, but the next game in the series includes them.
All in all, I recommend this game to everyone. The cartoon silliness might put off some at first but the mayhem, strange assortment of clever weapons, and constant rewards and fun will seal the deal for almost anyone who gives these games a shot.

A Must Have For Any PS3 Owner 2010-02-13

Reviewer: Shannen Fisher

Let me get this straight, first of all. I'm new to the Ratchet and Clank series. Sure, I've read reviews about it, but I've never actually played a Ratchet and Clank game. I recently got my PS3, and purchased Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. It's amazing. The combat is great. The controls feel tight and responsive, and enemies can be alot of fun to fight. The weapons in this game are AMAZING. A few of my favorite weapons are the Shard Reaper, a weird shotgun, Buzz Blades, which sends spinning saws ricocheting across the area, and the Negotiator, a powerful rocket launcher. Not to mention all the weapons can be upgraded via spending raritanium at Grummelnet weapons vendors, and once you use them they gain exp. If they level up 5 times, they upgrade into a new, more powerful weapon (i.e. Shard Reaper = Nitro Reaper, Buzz Blades = Doom Blades, and Negotiator = Judicator). There is also armor to purchase, and hilarious "Devices" (i.e. a disco ball that makes enemies dance). The game's platforming is fun, to. You get to use a variety of gadgets to traverse platforms. And, on top of it all, the game is HILARIOUS. never gets to serious, and made me laugh out loud as much as Battlefield: Bad Company. There are some epic moments thrown in there to, by the way, like when you jump out of your ship with two warbots, land, and are immediatley thrust against waves of enemies. The story of Ratchet and Clank's search for the Lombax Secret is enjoyable. My only gripe with this game is that most enemies and bosses are far to easy, but, hey, that's what challenge mode's for, eh? The combat feels tight. The platforming is fun. The weapons, armor, and devices are awsome. The high definition graphics are beautiful. And the warbots (Cronk and Zephyr) represent the PS3 and 360, respectfully, and are always arguing over whos best. I've said enough. GO BUY THIS GAME!

Final Score - 9.6