So this review will focus on the PS3 exclusive Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. It was the first appearance for the beloved Ratchet and Clank on the PS3 and the first of what came to be known as the 'Future' trilogy. The game was well received and was up against strong opposition when it originally released but still managed to sell over 2 million copies. Another interesting fact about the Ratchet and Clank series is that I genuinely think that this series is the best I have ever played. More so then Portal or Zelda or Mass Effect or Viewtiful Joe etc. I just love this series and by that statement alone you can probably guess how this review is going to end. Is this game still worth your time and money? Hell yes, go forth and buy it.

See you next time folks.

*Editors note – Article is not long enough and it needs to be lengthened to be accepted. Thank you*

Well then where to begin? Let's start with the characters and story. Ratchet and Clank Future tells the tale of Ratchet and Clank (see this is why I'm so good at this job) an pair of adventurers in this fictional universe and their quest to claim an ancient artefact/weapon before the evil Emperor who wishes for nothing less then your head/s. Story wise at first you might think that its quite basic but it soon becomes apparent that there is more to this tale then meets the eye. In fact entire sections of the characters history go on to be explored creating the situation that over the course of the game the characters actually go through development arks and begin to deal with important questions.

Insomniac should be congratulated on their deep and expressive cast that helps you through this tale. Be it from the main two heroes to the feisty heroine or her robot sidekicks and even the villain the developers have managed to flesh everyone out with a humorous and interesting role. Imagine a mixture say of Star Wars, a superhero adventure and buddy cop movie but done by Pixar and as a game. That is how I would describe the Ratchet and Clank series to someone who didn't know anything about it. Now go back and read that sentence again and picture the level of genius at work here. It is a hilarious, compelling and an enjoyable gaming experience.

The game is a mixture of platforming sections, time based puzzles, open world exploration, space combat and heavy action sections. The platforming and time based puzzles aren't the deepest or the most complicated but they still provide a decent challenge. The space combat sections are little side dishes to the main gameplay. Imagine a stripped down Lylat Wars (for those who can remember that far back). You shoot wave upon waves of enemies and the occasional boss battle but with only two forms of attack things quickly become boring and enemies turn into bullet sponges. Thankfully these sections require very little of your time which is good because it would detract from the vastly superior foot combat sections.

Such foot combat I would put up there with the best in the industry. Imagine a Mario game with its multiple worlds to explore, its platforming sections, its many collectables but with lots more firepower. See instead of jumping on enemies or throwing fireballs at them Ratchet and Clank prefer to do things in a manly way, on the other side of a ridiculously sized gun. And it is these ridiculous guns that the game revolves around. As I mentioned in my Resistance review Insomniac is known for including a variety and spicy mix of weaponry for you to enjoy. This game does not fail to deliver. I could do an entire review based on the weapons and gadgets available to you but I'll just give you a little taste of the best ones so you know what to expect. The 'Groovitron' which throws a disco ball into the midst of battle to distract foes by making them dance. 'Mr Zurkon' a little flying droid that follows you around blasting enemies in one hand and cracking hilarious one liners at the same time. A gun that shoots hurricanes. A grenade that turns enemies into penguins. Also the weapons all have upgrades for you to tinker with. Using them on the battlefield will level them up increasing their damage. However for those who would like there is a whole other form of leveling up for your little death dealing toys. Throughout the game you will pick up 'raritanium' which can then be spent on individual weapons to increase just about everything (ammo, damage, firing speed etc). For those who wish for depth the game provides aplenty.

Of course with so many weapons at your disposal (15+) you might be wondering if a game with so much choice in terms of firepower might be a little bit on the easy side. Well the Ratchet and Clank games aren't what I would call easy, but a good challenge. The game spawns loads of enemies and they can easily get the better of you as even the most basic grunt can take a sizeable chunk out of your life bar. The game doesn't have much variety in how enemies are dealt with except for blasting their face with whatever gun your holding but with so much going on battles can quickly become chaotic. In this chaos you are sure to die a lot. Speaking of death...

In this game dying really isn't all that bad. When you die the enemies respawn which in most games would obviously be annoying but here you need enemies to help level up the ludicrous amounts of weapons at your disposal and so dying to the last enemy in the wave really isn't frustrating because hey, more exp for your guns. A game where dying ends up a positive point simply cannot be bad, at all.

So the combat works splendidly and is great fun but what was most shocking about this game playing it again after so long was the visuals. For a game that was released 5 years ago it still looks really good. I'll admit there are moments where it's pretty obvious you're playing an old game but those occasions are small and insignificant in the greater scheme of things. See Ratchet and Clank Future does things a slightly cartoon-y way. This is the opposite to say Uncharted 1 which in my review for it I commented that the game looked old because it tried to be realistic and just got upstaged by newer games. Having a colourful, cartoon-y world full or expressive over the top characters and enemies just doesn't look bad even by todays standards.

However there will always be negatives no matter how good a game is. The most obvious here is that the subtitles suck. You turn them on and they only appear for the cutscenes. However during gameplay enemies are very expressive and are talking humorously to themselves about current events and how they are going to carve you into pieces but you can barely ever hear them! The game also has a habit of throwing tons of little Sixaxis minigames into the mix. Obviously when this game was released Sony were still into the Sixaxis gimmick but it didn't work then and still doesn't, very well anyway. I would be okay if the minigames weren't related to the plot in anyway but here its necessary to get through the main quest. Flying around, hacking doors, cutting through walls and others are all fundamental parts of gameplay and all controlled by swinging your controller around. Absolutely infuriating and totally breaks flow.

So there is more then meets the eye to the story. The game is genuinely funny with interesting characters who you want to succeed. It's the closest you will ever come to playing a Pixar film in game form (obviously none of the actual games based on Pixar films were good so don't count). The puzzles and platforming are enjoyable but never reach the stage where your turning off the console in anger. The combat is up there with the best with loads of weapons and gadgets to get your hands on and level up at you leisure. The Sixaxis sections are face meltingly awful and dying isn't a problem. The game as a whole will put a smile on your face as you play, and what more could you want? Games are to entertain are they not? But is this one still worth your time and money? As stated above, hell yes, go forth and buy it and do not ever look back! (Price average around £12 at time of writing).

Thanks for reading and remember that comments and suggestions are of course welcome.

See you next time!