Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction Member Review for the PS3

First of all, I just want to say that when it comes to the Ratchet and Clank series, I'm about as impartial and completely unbiased as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I even took great pride in clocking Ratchet: Deadlocked, for goodness sake! It probably all stemmed from years of childhood torture and bullying, that I needed some form of revenge, and beating the tar out of millions of robots with a wrench seemed to help. Needless to say, I'm a fan of the series.

So when I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of the newest installment (I say lucky, I work at a video store. FREE RENTALS!), I was ecstatic. And after playing the game, my elation was not unjustified. It's a dilemma for me, deciding which aspect of the game to talk about first. Where do you start when eating a donut, or drawing a circle? So I figure I might as well start where everyone else seems to. The graphics do the PS3 justice, and the game is presented with flawless clarity. I never noticed any obvious problems with the character animations, backgrounds, or explosion and other effects. That said, I am currently using my system on a TV smaller than your average car subwoofer. (Ah, the sacrilege...)

The gameplay has stayed relatively similar, so if you've played the other games in the series, the controls should be second nature. If not, they are easy to pick up, and you'll find Ratchet very easy to manipulate. The Sixaxis has been implemented in a few specific points in the game, specifically the minigames, but I got the feeling that for the slightly fiddly minigame situations, it was easier and more precise to turn off the motion control, and just use the analog sticks.

The story (and this is probably where my bias shines through) was easy to follow, but not without it's shortcomings. In the past, the story has been one of the defining points of the game, but in the newest edition, you feel a bit let down near the end of the game. And the major villain is about as threatening as Lord Farquaad from Shrek. Percival is not exactly the kind of name that strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies. These discrepancies do let the game down a bit, but nowhere near enough to stop this game being another breakthrough that the PS3 has needed. I also managed to play through the game the first time in just over an afternoon, probably around 8-10 hours, so whether or not that is a reflection of my awesomeness, or if it's just a short game escapes me.

I'm not going to talk about the weapons. Everyone before me, and everyone after me is going to do that. You'll have to experience them for yourself. My suggestion for Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction would be to rent it, form your own opinions, and if you like it, buy it. You wouldn't buy a donut because someone told you it tastes good, you'd buy it because you think it tastes good. Games are the same shape, so in theory the same rule applies. Don't take my word as gospel, but write your own game Bible.