The Playstation 2 had its fair share of buddy-buddy platforming duos, and right at the top of that list stood Ratchet and his robo-sidekick, Clank. A coming-of-age tale of sorts, Ratchet & Clank took its title characters through an epic journey to save the galaxy from sure destruction at the hands of the dastardly Chairman Drek. Armed with your Omniwrench 8000, and a choice selection of weaponry collected throughout the game, Ratchet & Clank became one of the PS2’s defining platformers, and was roundly praised for its combat mechanics, witty dialogue, and cutting-edge graphics.
Ratchet & Clank went on to bigger and better adventures on the Playstation 3 with such touchstone titles like Tools Of Destruction, A Crack In Time among others. Today marks the end of an era with the release of Into The Nexus. With the rise of open world gaming and first person shooters the platforming genre has become something of a lost art in the video game world.
While I’ve heard that Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus being touted as a ‘mini-game’, I think that description misses a lot. Its about six hours so about half the length of A Crack In Time, as a bonus is has a challenge mode and arena challenges. It goes back the classic gameplay set up that fans have been asking for. There’s plenty of upgrades through the Raritanium system like Tools Of Destruction and each weapon levels up to level six now. And it’s priced accordingly at $29.99!
Will I get this? Hint: I own every Ratchet & Clank game that is out on the PS3 That stuff – the cool, inventive weapons, the smooth platforming and run’n’gun shooting – it doesn’t get old for me. It doesn’t matter how old i get or the more ‘mature’ I become because Ratchet & Clank always look so cool. Thank you Insomniac! I just wish it didn’t take you four years after the masterpiece that was/is A Crack In Time to finally release a proper Ratchet & Clank game again. Even though I still enjoyed All 4 One and Full Frontal Assault, you’re officially back on track.
I will cry tears of joy when Insomniac announces R&C’s next adventure on PS4. In the meantime, I have burned a lot hours on this series and I loved every minute of it. Looks like a few more hours are going to get burned.
Extra bonus- I was able to speak to James Stevenson, the marketing and community lead at Insomniac Games this past August at Pax Prime. The interview uns about thirteen minutes long, my constant GUSHING aside…He gives a concise, brief overview of Into The Nexus…Enjoy.
-Dagobot
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