Loaded’s Chris Burke gets hands on with Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools Of Destruction for an afternoon. Here’s his thoughts.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools Of Destruction

The latest installment in the popular Ratchet & Clank series comes to the PS3 this November, with a hefty sheen of next-gen polish and a whole load of new and innovative touches, and Three Speech got some quality hands-on time with developers Insomniac’s latest game. Those familiar with the series will know that Ratchet is a sort of big-eared space squirrel called a Lombax, who’s rather good with machinery. He spends much of his time battling mutant robot aliens across the galaxy accompanied by his trusty robot sidekick, Clank.

As with the previous R&C games, you control Ratchet in third-person perspective, leaping, running and flying through what is, at its core, still a traditional platformer. That said, this is a hugely addictive and enjoyable variation on the genre, thanks to its imaginative settings, range of power-ups and weapons, and constantly varying gameplay and challenges. One minute you’re blasting mutant creepy-crawlies on acid-hued alien planets, the next flying through beautifully rendered future-cities or swinging across collapsing bridges while evading gigantic robots.

The control set-up has two variations, standard third-person, where you control the camera and you lock on to the nearest enemy, and lock-strafe – the latter is slightly easier for combat as it keeps the camera behind Ratchet as you strafe enemies with your blaster. Another control mechanic comes into play when Ratchet is free-falling or flying (with the help of Clank’s robotic wings) – you tilt the SIXAXIS controller to avoid flying cars or missiles and guide Ratchet to his goal.

More familiarly, Ratchet collects bolts from destroyed enemies which can be traded in for handy devices, and an element called Raritanium which can be used to upgrade weapons. The huge variety of mutant-splatting weaponry includes leech bombs, a tornado launcher, fusion grenades, plus synthetic bodyguards that savage your enemies for you and an electric whip called the Shock Ravager. There’s also a gun that lays down green gelatinous cubes that you can bounce on to reach higher platforms. Weapons and ammo are bought and upgraded from vendors that crop up in Space Ports, in rare respites from the action. But if all else fails, you’ve still got your trusty melee weapon – Ratchet’s big spanner.

It’s a beautiful-looking game, with smooth frame-rates and lovely animations. And it’s busy – there’s loads going on as far as the eye can see, even if you’re never going anywhere near it, giving a feeling of real depth and perspective. And, of course, it’s packed with nice little humourous touches, like when you’ve blasted the mutant enemies out of their robotic suits, the little frog-like creatures sit and tremble until you step on them. And look out for the Groovitron – a glitter ball that mesmerises enemies into disco dancing!

[Ratchet & Clank Official Website]