Tools of Destruction has pretty graphics, but does it improve on the game play mechanics that made this series famous?
The story behind Ratchet and Clank tools of Destruction is that Ratchet is being hunted down by this Lombax hating Emperor known as Tachyon, who wants to destroy all the Lombaxes and bring back these creatures known as the Cragmites. Clank is also seeing these weird robots in his dreams called the Zoni, which slowly become a reality as they start giving Clank powers. The story is pretty good and there are some returning characters, and there is still some humor here and there.
Tools of Destruction plays out like all the other Ratchet and Clank games. You shoot, jump, some a puzzle, and shoot. You also travel to a bunch of weird planets and fight some strange enemies. Not much has changed from the previous installments, but that isn't really a bad thing. All those things I listed are what Ratchet and Clank is made of, and taking away any of those things might ruin the experience.
The combat still works exactly the same as it did before. You have your trusty wrench and some big guns and you go blow up everything that stands between you and your objective. There are some cool new weapons like the Groovatron which forces enemies to dance. The weapons are all cool, but there are some problems with a few of them. One is the Tornado gun. This gun is really cool, because, it allows you to use the six-axis control to steer the tornado, but enemies don't stop and let you kill them. They are still trying to kill you, so you have to strafe and move the six-axis around which can be tricky to do.
But besides that the weapons are pretty cool.
The six-axis isn't used much in this game. One use is to steer Ratchet as he is falling away from objects and missiles. Another use is when you are flying through circles using these wings that Clank has. The six-axis control can be a bit tricky for these things, but after the second time, you will get them down.
Another cool segment of game play added to Tools of Destruction is the space ship levels. This was kind of seen in Ratchet and Clank Going Commando, but it did not turn out as well as I had hoped. Well it is better in this game and feels a lot of like a Star Fox game. Basically you shoot anything that comes on screen and then fight your way through a boss. These are actually a lot of fun and I enjoyed having them here and there.
The Clank missions return and they are still pretty much the same. You play as Clank with very little help and power and you have to use robots, in this case the Zoni to help you complete certain objectives. These missions are better than they have been in previous games. It seems like Insomniac has finally figured out how to use Clank to create some fun levels.
The graphics in Tools of Destruction look awesome. This game almost looks like a Pixar movie. Everything from the environment to the characters looks awesome. This truly harnesses the power of the PS 3 to create an awesome looking game.
The sound in this game is what you have come to expect from a Ratchet and Clank game. The music sounds pretty good and the voice acting sounds really good. The lines are funny and well written.
Tools of Destruction does have its problems. For one thing, this game really hasn't changed at all. Some of the environments look the same as in previous games, and the game play is still the same. As this won't effect Die hard Ratchet and Clank fans, it might infect those that just liked the past game, because, of their unique feel. Also, the game is really easy until the end where it gets some what challenging. This game also had a few more glitches than other Ratchet and Clank games. Constantly enemies would freezing and or get stuck on some object or just float in the air. But overall this is a great game, and these problems don't really affect the game play.
If you like Ratchet and Clank games or plat formers, then you should give Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction a try. It is truly a game that takes advantage of the PS 3's power.