Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

The PS3 is in desperate need of good games, but help is coming, and has already arrived in the form of the next chapter in the Ratchet and Clank series. There have been two installments since 2004's Up Your Arsenal, but one focused on shooting and multiplayer and the other was on the PSP, so this feels like the first real game in a few years. I'd been looking forward to it, and while it doesn't really take the franchise to new and exciting places, it's still a very satisfying addition. Obviously, the change in system comes with a bump in graphics, and Tools of Destruction is one of the prettiest games there is. Not only is Insomniac incredibly technically efficient with making hardware do what they want, but the visual design is enjoyable and sucks you into the constantly-expanding universe. It can seem a bit too kid-friendly at times, but you can ignore that while you destroy aliens and robots with heavy explosives. There are a few more glitches than we're used to seeing in the series though, like Ratchet not properly staying on terrain that rises and falls, and controls locking up for a few seconds.

I was never a huge fan of the online play in the latter PS2 games, but the lack of it in Tools of Destruction could reduce the value if the single-player was too short. Luckily the length was pretty satisfying, as it extended a little past where I expected it to end, and in fact might have been stretching it a bit too much. Some have complained about the difficulty being too easy as well, although I didn't see much to that either. It wasn't frustrating, but it wasn't a cakewalk either, especially if you try to upgrade all the weapons instead of using the best ones over and over. The Ratchet gameplay isn't quite as magical as it used to be. It's still a ton of fun, but we've done this before, so it's really hard to say Tools is as outstanding as previous entries. And there's also the lame tilt controls that get shoe-horned into every PS3 game. You can turn them off, but it disables one of the better weapons against large groups. There's nothing terrible about the uses they've come up with, but they don't add anything to the experience besides occasional annoyance when the alignment messes up. Tools of Destruction has a few small problems that detract from the experience and it's not as original as it used to be, but it's still one of the most purely fun games of this generation.