• Posted July 22nd, 2007 at 13:26 EDT by
• 5 Comments

We all want to see the future: flying cars, hectic air routes, and what not. Luckily, now we can through the journey in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Our very sly Lombax, Ratchet, and our lovely robot assistant, Clank, are in the future's future by some crazy incident, and are wreaking havoc for their enemies.

The main mission starts off with our furry Lombax and hard-metal Clank, attached to Ratchet’s back, in their Pixar-like graphical state, approaching the main Metropolis, filled with bustling activity and future wonders. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the aqua-critter Drophoyd’s gracefully approach our main heroes to bash their faces in.

As the enemies approach our protagonists, the player can care less. As soon as the game starts up, no one can help but be in awe of not only the detail and scope present in the environment, but also the magnificent detail on the character models themselves. All of these features combined give the game a feeling reminiscent from only those in Disney Pixar films. Contributing to all of this, the fluidity of the animation system coupled with the game’s custom engine, allows R&C Future: Tools of Destruction to take us beyond our own imaginations, and make our vision of the future a vivid reality.

Now let’s snap back to reality for a minute, and take our details off the eye blistering realism of the graphics, and onto the true action: gameplay. So, the mysterious enemies approach to attack us full force---luckily for us, we have a couple of weapons in our arsenal. For one weapon, we have a typical combustor. Press the shoot button towards the enemy’s general direction, and be amazed as all the fine details of every single piece they’re built from burst into the air in all their glory. Even though this blow up sequence lasts for a total of 3 seconds, if you pay close attention, you can experience the marvel in slow motion with your own eyes---make its ray of sun last a lifetime. For a more pacifistic approach, go ahead and throw the disco ball. But don’t expect to remain the gentle Lombax that you are. You’ll eventually have to destroy them---which no one will mind once stunning beauty is seen in the surprised reactions of the AI getting hit while they were happily dancing.

For more destruction, you can throw a regular grenade or a transmorpher grenade that turn aggressive enemies into penguins, but Insomniac revealed to us that there will be other animals the enemies can transform into as well, such as rabbits.

Level-wise, the hands on preview displayed different specialized areas of the Metropolis. Some that were blown up to give an example of 'free fall', an amazing gameplay interface which makes use of the SIXAXIS motion control. Another area indicated the luscious and colorful details of the uniquely stylistic foliage--- don’t be fooled if you hear the word 'cartoony' - it would be a serious misconception.

Insomniac’s title is definitely forming into something no one has ever experienced in a game. Not only does it make us experience something brand new and unique, but Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction makes our ideas of what the future will be like seem dull. In fact, it revitalizes our image with vivacious colors, controls, gameplay, graphics, and as a result, makes a much more vivid incomprehensible display of the future, a true and sparkling reality.