Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction Review

By Kristan Reed Published 9 November, 2007

Retro futurism.

Version tested: PlayStation 3

There aren't many game series that can trot out almost the exact same formula six times in a row and get away with it, but Insomniac has managed just that with the Ratchet & Clank games. The secret? By keeping things fresh and interesting through always changing the weapons and gadgets to the point where you don't mind that - to all intents and purposes - it's a minor variation on a theme.

Anyone expecting some sort of radical next generation reinvention can think again. Sure, the game engine has been polished up beyond belief, but when it comes down to talking about the actual gameplay it's business as usual for the big eared Lombax and his faithful robot backpack. Just like every Ratchet game since 2002, Tools of Destruction is set across a series of (extremely pretty) intergalactic locations. You land your ship, you wander around, ears flapping, you whack a cluster of dinky looking critters with your wrench, and blast away at the bigger, harder-looking monstrosities that hove into view.

Each and every time you kill these Pixar escapees, they erupt into a sea of twisted metal and bolts (whether they're squishy critters or gigantic mechanised monsters of maximum doom, curiously). You scoop up said scrap metal automagically, and all this chaos and destruction works on benefiting Ratchet on several levels. The more you kill and the more boxes you smash up, the quicker you level the furry fiend up (gaining more hit points every time you do so), the more currency you end up with and the quicker you can augment your weapon's death-dealing abilities.

Part six

'Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction' Screenshot 1

For once, the screenshots really do look like that in-game.

But as crushingly familiar as all this probably sounds, there has been a minor tweak to the way you power-up your arsenal. Rather than simply level-up weapons by using them over and over again, you also gather a special crystal-like substance called 'Raritanium', which allows you to spend it at weapons vendors on on improving things like the rate of fire, the amount of damage dealt, as well as special one-off abilities. As initially satisfying as it is to be given a greater degree of control over which weapons to power-up, after a while it feels a little like micromanagement for the sake of it.

In common with all the other Ratchet & Clank games, it once again delivers a few mini-game diversions to keep things fresh and fun, and, for the most part, Tools of Destruction's are well up to scratch. By far the most prevalent is the hacking minigame which involves rolling a ball around a little circuit board, To borrow Tom's Mercury analogy, it's a bit like tilting a tray with a boiled potato on it, moving the Sixaxis pad to roll the metal ball into place and bridge the points to the goal. Fail, and it short circuits, but guide it to the goal and you'll bypass the security. It'll remind you of the pipe puzzles in BioShock, but is more sedate and more fun, not to mention a great way of utilising the motion sensing capabilities of the pad.

Elsewhere in frivolous mini-game land, there's an amusing-if-pointless riff on dancing games, where you get to 'shake yer booty' (by jiggling the pad, no less) while dressed as a peg-legged pirate. On top of that, there's the usual rail grinding stuff that always seems to find its way into Ratchet games somewhere, not to mention little sky-diving segments where you tilt the pad to dodge missiles and so on, and also some utterly spectacular-looking shoot-'em-up levels. Riffing on Rez and Panzer Dragoon, these on-rails sorties allow you to blast freely or lock-on to multiple targets in as thrilling a way imaginable. In full high definition, these majestic sequences are a real treat for the eyes, if a little undemanding in terms of the actual difficulty these pose. Replete with obligatory boss sections, they certainly do their job in providing the requisite eye candy, and remind you that someone really needs to make another spectacular 3D shooter for the current crop of consoles.

Same again, please

'Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction' Screenshot 2

Don't you hate it when people don't floss?

As regards the main game, Insomniac knows full well that that core gameplay has been pretty much nailed since the original came out in 2002, so hasn't exactly gone out of its way to meddle with the successful platform-combat formula. The interest value, as we've said, is providing an absolute array of new toys to play with, upgrade and augment, as well as challenging and inventive new creatures to duke it out with. Whether you like it or not, the game keeps dragging you on because there's always something new to discover around the corner - like the next upgrade to your weapon, or a new weapon or gadget entirely. Admittedly, having pulled this trick so many times on us over the past five years, even most of the so-called new weapons are slight variations on what's gone before, but now and then they'll pull something out of the bag that's so different from anything anyone else has done before, you can almost hear them chuckling in expectation of how much fun you're going to have with them.

With an evident rock, paper, scissors approach to the weapon vs enemy design, you'll be effectively tasked with flicking between weapons constantly, webbing up a teleporting enemy one second, then quickly zapping a shielded enemy with a blast of electricity. Solving such problems are all part of the fun, but executed with a control system that's so intuitive that you don't mind the constant swapping around. With over 30 gadgets and weapons to choose from at any one time, it's obvious that the game needed something that could accommodate all this without overwhelming or confusing the player, and - with great credit to Insomniac - it has done it even better this time around than ever before. By hitting triangle, you'll bring up a ring of 10, and can select the one you want by simply highlighting the one you want with the left stick. As you build up your collection of gizmos, this ring spreads to a second and third page, but far from being a confusing mess, simply switching between them with R1 or L1 makes it an extremely slick process to switch with ease during battle. To make it even more of a challenge, the game offers you the choice over whether to pause the action while making the switch or let it carry on. I know which I prefer, but the choice is very much yours.

Gamerscore points: nil

Although you might rightly reflect that Tools of Destruction isn't ever an especially challenging game, there's no doubting its quality or the fun you'll get from blasting your way through all 12-15 hours of it. And even when you're done, you can start over with your experience and upgrades intact and try it again on the unlockable Challenge mode. At the very least, you'll want to gather up all those hard to find gold bolts, max out all your weapons, go for all the skill points, beat the arena challenges, or get all the puzzle pieces. It's just a shame that Sony's achievement system doesn't work like Microsoft's, because in many ways, Ratchet & Clank games were tailor made for the patient, persistent gamer that like to really get their money's worth.

As for how the game fairs on a technical level, well, the leap from PS2 to PS3 is quite mind boggling when you look at Tools of Destruction side by side with one of the previous versions. The boasts about it being comparable to a Pixar movie weren't far off the mark, with easily some of the best next-gen visuals we've had the pleasure of witnessing. The many glorious cut-scenes, in particular are definitely the equal of any CG shorts you may have seen, with a craft and energy that makes you look forward to every single one. Ratchet & Clank games have always had absolutely brilliant cut-scenes, infused with warm humour, great voice acting and bags of goofy charm, but to see it all play out in high-def is quite something.

'Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction' Screenshot 3

Next gen schmup action. Lovely.

In-game, too, the game runs incredibly smoothly, with none of the slightly iffy frame rate issues that plagued the game on PS2 (don't believe me? Boot up Ratchet & Clank 3 after playing this and see for yourself how remarkable the difference really is). Every single part of the game's already solid visual appeal has been cranked up several notches, and bears even the closest, most anal scrutiny. Texture detail, lighting, particle effects, explosions - everything in the game world has been brought to life in the way you always hoped it would (even if you were happy with things the way they were, you'll appreciate the changes). As for character models and their animations, well, you couldn't ask for more. The few occasions you get to play as Clank allow you to slow down time, revealing in microscopic detail how beautiful and fluid every motion is of even the most insignificant character. You might even be moved to imagine that you're playing in a living cartoon world - it's that good. It's a real shame, then, that Insomniac still can't seem to figure out how to come up with a third-person camera system that behaves itself. Even with the essential lock-on facility, it still has a tendency to want to look at the floor at inopportune moments, which, given how slick the rest of the game is, is frankly baffling. It's not as if they've not had long enough to fix this perennial bugbear. Luckily, the game's forgiving enough elsewhere for this to not be too serious a problem - but when it does happen, it's jarring to say the least.

'Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction' Screenshot 4

Please don't eat me.

It's strange, also, that the previously lauded multiplayer component has been stripped out of its debut appearance on a new platform. On a personal level, playing Ratchet online was never much of a draw anyway, but that was thanks to the PS2's thoroughly annoying online implementation rather than anything wrong with that mode in itself. For those who could be bothered with the faff of PS2 online play, it went down very well, so it's not hard to imagine they will feel a little sore that it's not in this hugely anticipated title. Even more confusing is the fact that it's been developed by the same studio behind Resistance: Fall of Man - a game with a massively popular online element.

Whether Tools of Destruction is for you depends largely on whether you got on with the previous Ratchet & Clank games. If you did, and you loved them, then there's absolutely no reason not to go out and buy this, because it's a beautifully slick revision with some of the best videogame visuals around, and the usual excellent storyline to drag you along. In terms of the PS3 in isolation, it's easily one of its strongest exclusive titles to date, and should help erase some of the memories of a largely forgettable first 12 months for the machine. In some senses, Insomniac does need a clip 'round the ear for doing very little to innovate the gameplay in any meaningful sense, but if you're happy to play through a wonderful high definition version of an old classic, put your money down - you won't be remotely disappointed.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (112) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • viper_h #1 4 years ago

    first :p

  • drumbaby #2 4 years ago

    Looks and plays great. I will buy this.

  • marilena #3 4 years ago

    The demo was ace.

  • onyxbox #4 4 years ago

    krudster: can you invert the aim in FPS control mode?

  • Aretak #5 4 years ago

    I knew this would be an 8 before I even clicked on it. :)

    /is the oracle

    Personally, I'd give it a 9. It's not perfect (certainly not the rather abrupt ending), but pound for pound it's the best game I've played this year I think.

  • Aretak #6 4 years ago

    "krudster: can you invert the aim in FPS control mode?"

    I'm 90% sure you can. You can invert the standard camera controls for sure.

    Although to be honest I rarely used the first-person view. Most of the weapons lock on automatically.
    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 14:22

  • JediMasterMalik #7 4 years ago

    Yes you can invert. I love this game, personal 9, but I haven't had too much trouble with the camera, though I can see where you are coming from. It'd be nice if it had a more difficult setting though, it really is incredibly easy, but still bags of fun which is the main point.

  • SeesThroughAll #8 4 years ago

    Finally those "Toy Story graphics" that K guy was talking about...

  • Killerbee #9 4 years ago

    I still haven't quite gotten around to finishing R&C3 yet, but when I do (and when I get around to buying a PS3) I'll definitely be getting this. Can't say the lack of multiplayer really worries me at all.

    Looks gorgeous too.

  • JediMasterMalik #10 4 years ago

    Both companies made those claims, not sure if one was in jest of the other, or whether it was a coincidence. One might have been copying the other too.

  • SeesThroughAll #11 4 years ago

    It was both frod, that comment actually was a cheeky reply to Kaz.

    @ JMM: He could be imitating the Sony bloke too, though. Most MS PR people have zero imagination in their comments, notable exception for that snake Peter Moore...

    We all know how these things go...
    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 14:27

  • JediMasterMalik #12 4 years ago

    Someone said it about the PS2 though.

  • bdc #13 4 years ago

    8/10 is a rubbish score

    RUBBISH

    Apologie: "wow PS3 am winner 360 teh sux lolol"

  • ElNino9 #14 4 years ago

    Just about to pop into town to get this, anyone know where is selling the cheapest copy?

  • Arwin #15 4 years ago

    Lol, indeed, the comment on online is just priceless. There was a very clear decision made that the 5% of people who enjoyed the online in the PS2 versions weren't worth it for this version, and that instead the large fanbase wanted a great single player game. So given the time they had, they invested it all in the single player game. They may do some multi-player stuff again in the future, but only when it is really worth it. In the meantime they will continue to focus their considerable online effort on Resistance (obviously they'll be working on part 2 at this point) (though they haven't excluded a possible small online R&C component at some point via PSN should demand indeed change with the PS3's better online support).

    Thankfully Mario can be played online though eh?

    Oh, wait.

    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 14:34

  • Runtime #16 4 years ago

    @ElNino

    I found the supermarkets generally sell it cheapest. Tesco, Asda or Sainsburys provided you find a store that sells games.

  • onyxbox #17 4 years ago

    I'm 90% sure you can. You can invert the standard camera controls for sure.

    Aretak: cheers

  • barnard666 #18 4 years ago

    too many games, I shall get it after xmas, when it will be a bit less to buy...I cant justify buying anything until I have finished aroange box, COD 4, and next weeks mario...toooo many games!!!

  • krudster #19 4 years ago

    When you take something out of a game that people like, are we supposed to pat them on the back for it and let it pass without comment. I don't give two hoots about the lack of online, but there are a lot of people who probably do care.

  • Cheboury #20 4 years ago

    I played the Demo and just rusted in boredom! Dumb enough to have bought the game and hoped for any difference!

    What is new here? Where lies the challenge? What is the juice of the game?

    Pretty visuals, lively and well animated cut-scene, great sound! That sums it up for me.

    You jump, blast, run, fly and what else.... this on itself are ingredients that make a great platform game right?

    Yup! But I found the balance between all these features often to heavy relient on blasting and often lacking any sense to continue on playing or caring abour the furry thingy with rabbit-like ears.

    Funny enough I did enoy Kameo a great deal more!

    Bring on Mario Galaxy!

  • ElNino9 #21 4 years ago

    +1 @ frod

    I'd rather have an extra 3-4 hours than an empty online lobby.

  • krudster #22 4 years ago

    To be fair, the empty lobbies were probably more down to the abysmal implementation of the PS2's online service than a general unwillingness to play it. I wonder what the percentage uptake would have been with an Xbox Live-style service behind it.
    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 14:51

  • Arwin #23 4 years ago

    @Cheboury: You've got 30 of almost RPG-like (as in extensively upgradeable) weapons and you're surprised about having to use them a lot? :D Well, I understand your disappointment really if you're looking for more of a platformer, but that's what the R&C franchise has always been about.

  • SeesThroughAll #24 4 years ago

    More like camera issues + no multiplayer + not too difficult + no enough online features = -2

  • Arwin #25 4 years ago

    @krudster: even in the last generation the Xbox didn't have that big a live uptake. But the important part of the point here is that it's not that they don't think there wouldn't be any interest at all in online features, but that they had a choice between spending considerable resources on online features or adding a few hours of single player. They made an analysis of which of the two would please the largest part of their audience, and I think they made the right choice. Personally I thought that the online mode of the previous R&C games were quite cool, what with the magneto boots giving some interesting plays ... but they really didn't need to have another Resistance (R&C's old online modes are all in Resistance after all), while non-online gamers really needed a great single player game.

    Of course, it may still be the wrong choice. I think to test this, they should attempt to release a simple PSN R&C online mini-game.

    I agree that achievements would have been good though. They have them in Resistance after all, and Uncharted does them great also. And they could have patched them in with Home later (or maybe they'll still do that eventually who knows). But I guess it's already pretty amazing what they managed to do within one year.

  • JediMasterMalik #26 4 years ago

    Actually, I don't think he thought of the difficulty as a negative really. I'm gonna try and get my sister to play it and see what she thinks of the difficulty.

  • Kryon #27 4 years ago

    Sooo... not an AAA title then... PS3lol, Ratchet & Meh.

    /coat

  • Cheboury #28 4 years ago

    @Arwin

    You are right about one thing.... I admit... guilty of never playing any of the previous installments before.

    I know that everybody looks for something different in a game but at some point if it ain't fun it just ain't cutting it for me.

    I guess it is like one of those films that you view on a first watch and kinda dislike only to like it the second time you watch it.

    Problem here is.... with so many freaking games coming out i probably won't be able to give R&C a second chance until late 2008.

  • Trane #29 4 years ago

    Just to clarify, 9-2=7

  • Arwin #30 4 years ago

    @Krudster, didn't the R&C system have 'achievements' long before most other games with their skillpoints system? And they're still present in this R&C, right?

  • MrGilder #31 4 years ago

    Picked this up at lunch today - finally got around to playing the demo last night and loved it! The graphics are astounding - it's certainly a visual treat.

  • Rodigee #32 4 years ago

    I'm impressed that no one has mentioned halo 3 yet.

  • krudster #33 4 years ago

    I'd go as far to say that Insomniac pretty much invented the achievements system as we know it.

  • Arwin #34 4 years ago

    Ok, but I don't really see how being able to add those points (all rather arbitrary to me) to a great heap to have an overall score which basically depends on how much money you have or how much free time you have or whatever. The only thing I like is that you can compare yourself to someone else (yes I have a 360 too) and be competitive that way if you feel like it, but that doesn't really increase the value of the single player game all that much - being able to get skillpoints (and there are 750 of them in this game??) and complete those is itself a much greater addition then also being able to compare them.

    Anyway, it makes sense for a website like this one to prefer stuff like gamerscore's considering how well they've integrated their forums with Microsoft's features, eh? :) But let's not forget the core values of a game, is all I'm saying.

    Look at Call of Duty 4, receiving a 9/10, but it's a 1024/600 upscaled game. And on both systems, even. Who'd've thought eh?

    (*with a 5 hour SP mode, bad compression in the video, budgetted textures and basically a very DVD limited game made worse by the 6.8 GiB of space avialable on Microsoft's system - thanks Microsoft, even the PS2 could hold nearly 9GB, see Champions of Norrath).

    EDIT: exactly, that's what I thought they basically said on the Full Moon's podcast with Major Nelson as a guest (fun stuff)
    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 15:20

  • morriss #35 4 years ago

    Well I've never played a Ratchet Title so I'll be looking forward to this.

  • morriss #36 4 years ago

    Arwin sounds bitter.

  • krudster #37 4 years ago

    Yes, but the *sixth* revision? That's stretching it a bit, even for the hardcore fans, of which I am one.

  • Machiavellian #38 4 years ago

    After playing the demo, I would have to say that I can wait on R&C. The main problem I had is that the game did not present any challenge. I pretty much thought that this was a problem with the demo and the full game would have different levels of difficulty to present some challenge but from all the reviews that I have read says the game is easy. Though the visuals are nice, I also need the gameplay to go with it and it looks like R&C doesn't have what I am looking for.

  • jiveguy #39 4 years ago

    @Arwin (stupid non-quoting tags and ting)

    "Anyway, it makes sense for a website like this one to prefer stuff like gamerscore's considering how well they've integrated their forums with Microsoft's features, eh? :)"

    That's a bit unfair. Microsoft have made this sort of stuff available to anyone who wants it. If Sony or Nintendo had the same service I'm sure we'd see it here.

    Also, I fail to see any difference between skillpoints and gamerpoints + achievements or how its a better (or worse) system. So the ability to compare them with your friends is surely an advantage and adds (however slight) another way to "play" games with your friends.
    Edited by 2 at 09/11/07 @ 15:36

  • monkie_king #40 4 years ago

    i never really paid attention to R&C on PS2, so not sure what it's all about -- is it a bit like Jet Force Gemini, or Metal Arms or something?

  • silke #41 4 years ago

    Really looking forward to this. I never played any of the previous installments and the demo instantly "clicked" for me. Great fun.

  • robg #42 4 years ago

    "should help erase some of the memories of a largely forgettable first 12 months"

    I like this wording.

  • oldergamer #43 4 years ago

    I finished this last week and I have to say 8/10 is fair... It's a must-play for sure, but two issues kept it from being a stupendously great game. First, the platforming was too "on rails," actually quite literally many times. I wished jumping on and around things required more skill from the player. Second, the non-Ratchet parts were a little bland and felt tacked on.

  • kangarootoo #44 4 years ago

    "Look at Call of Duty 4, receiving a 9/10, but it's a 1024/600 upscaled game."

    If anything resulted in docking points from a review score, I would that upscaled scource resolution was sooooooo far down the list as be visible from space (no that makes no sense, but you know what I mean).


    "Microsoft have made this sort of stuff available to anyone who wants it. If Sony or Nintendo had the same service I'm sure we'd see it here."

    Absolfrippinlutely. XB stats are available via RSS feeds, which is why it so trivial for any website to include them. If Sony and Ninty did the same thing, then the same case of affairs would exist for their stats too (if they HAD any stats).

  • bioreit #45 4 years ago

    I'm a pretty much die-hard 360 player* - FPS are my number one game and almost all of the good games on 360 seem to gel with my personal ideas of what constitutes a good game and most of my friends have 360s too - and I think this game looks awesome!

    Along with LittleBigPlanet and Warhawk, PS3 owners are starting to get some fantastic games! I reckon by next Summer, if there's another price drop, the games could be compelling enough for me to bury my differences with Sony and their attitude over the last two years (which is what really put me off supporting them) and succumb. As long as Warhawk is still popular by then!

    *Past and current consoles owned include: Commodore 64, Atari 520 and 1040 ST, BBC Micro, SNES, Megadrive, PS1, PS2, Saturn, N64, Xbox, Dreamcast, Wii and PC. Just in case people think I'm a) new to gaming and b) a Microsoft fan only.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #46 4 years ago

    I have played the demo - not much my type of game but the cutscenes and the animation of the characters really is on an incredibly high technical standard. Comparisons to Pixar are definetly justified.

  • bioreit #47 4 years ago

    @ kangarootoo

    ""Microsoft have made this sort of stuff available to anyone who wants it. If Sony or Nintendo had the same service I'm sure we'd see it here."

    Absolfrippinlutely. XB stats are available via RSS feeds, which is why it so trivial for any website to include them. If Sony and Ninty did the same thing, then the same case of affairs would exist for their stats too (if they HAD any stats).    "

    Both of you are correct, but didn't you know that it is oh so fashionable these days to slander Eurogamer and accuse them of being 'bought' by games developers, publishers and console manufacturers? It's the done thing, don'tchaknow, among the more discerning type of frikkin' idiot.

  • monkie_king #48 4 years ago

    @bioreit: Atari ST sucks! 4-bitplane colour, no blitter? LOLZOR! Amiga FTW!

  • bioreit #49 4 years ago

    @ monkie_king

    Pfft! Amiga boys were always the wannabes! Hi-res monochrome beats custom CPU any day of the week! Plus our whole machine and keyboard was built into one sleek, ultra-portable unit, unlike your Wide Load units taking up the space of a small country!

  • kangarootoo #50 4 years ago

    "As long as Warhawk is still popular by then!"

    I can see years of life in Warhawk if they keep fixing bugs and release the odd dose of DLC from time to time.

  • rudedudejude #51 4 years ago

    its a kiddies game!

  • bioreit #52 4 years ago

    @ kangarootoo

    True, but I tend to find that after the initial rush that follows a good game's release and once another one or two other good online games come out, the good matches can kind of dry up.

    Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, in my opinion, is still one of the best online console games ever (if you like the 'being in a warzone' type of game), but the numbers of annoying, spawn camping helicopter pilots who've had a year or so to hone their 'skills' on newbies has really started to grate on me and my friends.

    And it's definitely suffering from the Counterstrike syndrome of only playing two or three maps over and over and over and ohmygod can we please just play SOMETHING DIFFERENT!?

    But I guess that could have been solved by little tweaks and content updates, so let's just say I'll be quietly hopeful about Warhawk, shall we? :-)

  • Calgon #53 4 years ago

    Frod a Sony rep was the first one to say such things apparently, Seamus was simply borrowing maybe because it seemed to have worked for Sony on gullable fanboys? but they are the kings of hype and missleading information. It was a good try ;) but that has always been something to laugh at Sony about, be honest they do stuff like that all the time and fanboys do nothing but make excuses for them.

    /resists urge to poke fun at another 8 for a big PS3 exclusive, not that its a bad score(seems generous really) or the score is all important or that I was interested in it to begin with. Its just that we've had to read so much Bull from the Sony trolls, you know?
    Edited by 5 at 09/11/07 @ 17:08

  • Apologie #54 4 years ago

    Super Mario Galaxy got 10/10 and Ratchet... a better game in my opinion, only 8/10???? hummmm
    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 17:03

  • zuljin #55 4 years ago

    @bioreit
    I hope Warhawk doesn't die out soon, I need mining fodder!

  • SeesThroughAll #56 4 years ago

    "/resists urge to poke fun at another 8 for a big PS3 exclusive"

    /shows reason why he should resist this urge: metacritic.

    5 sources gave it a 100%, including notable XBox fanboys X-Play show.

    Having said that, an 8 is what it should be getting in my eyes.

  • Calgon #57 4 years ago

    SeesThroughAll I dont value any of those sources that scored above 80%, but it wasnt meant to be taken to seriously I wasnt really bothered about the game to begin with(it has its fans*who were buying it anyway* I can see its not a system seller or AAA to me, atleast it turned out ok though, enjoy it :-) ), hating on a game you dont 'get' personally is something Ive never 'got' I mean it's just not my cup of tea, am I filled with the urge to join every discussion about said game to tell everyone all about that? Well no! ;)
    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 17:19

  • SeesThroughAll #58 4 years ago

    LOL, good one mate.

    edit: got your edit now

    PS: That's it, I'm really fed up of Apologie. I know he's said worst bullshit before, but I don't have the patience for his spam anymore. The guy is as bad as TRUTH.
    Edited by 1 at 09/11/07 @ 17:23

  • Calgon #59 4 years ago

    Sorry I edited incase you pointed out that wasnt resisting at all(just saying I was and then telling you) lol

  • AOFanboi #60 4 years ago

    <em>Yes, but the *sixth* revision? That's stretching it a bit, even for the hardcore fans, of which I am one.</em>

    Yeah, that's why they stopped the James Bond movies after the fifth.

    What do you mean they didn't? They made more than twenty!!!???? Insane!

  • Red-Moose #61 4 years ago

    Not very innovative?

    What did Halo 3 get again? Was it an 8?

  • drumm23 #62 4 years ago

    I must be the only one who hasn't "ignored" Apologie - For everybody else, I feel duty bound to point out that he has just said that R&C is a superior game to Super Mario Galaxy.

    Seriously.

    I mean. *COME ON.*

  • Apologie #63 4 years ago

    solid frame rate, amazing graphics, very responsive and intuitive gameplay, inventive weapons, good story and humor... well, definitely 8/10. *the anti-Ps3 at it's best. ;)
    i would like to know in what way Super Mario Galaxy is innovative, i mean Ratchet is 8/10 because it's not particulary innovative... Super MArio GAlaxy is 10/10..., because it's not on PS3.
    Edited by 2 at 09/11/07 @ 18:12

  • morriss #64 4 years ago

    Have you play Super MArio Apologie?

    I didn't think it was out yet?

  • Pulsar_t #65 4 years ago

    I enjoyed the first R&C but the copy died on me before I could finish it. The 360 could use Team ICO and Insomniac clone studios.

    Anyone here kindly name me a few non-FPS titles coming out in 2008 for the 360.. this game almost had my mouth watering for a PS3 and that's not good.. Not good at all! :p

  • drumm23 #66 4 years ago

    Morriss - that hardly matters.

  • morriss #67 4 years ago

    How? He said he thought R&C was better. i.e. he's played both and compared them.

  • oldergamer #68 4 years ago

    @apologie

    I know what you mean. Lack of innovation/originality and short play time are used to deduct points from some games but not from others. It's too arbitrary.

  • shopmans #69 4 years ago

    Picking this up... hopefully next week.

  • Trane #70 4 years ago

    "I know what you mean. Lack of innovation/originality and short play time are used to deduct points from some games but not from others. It's too arbitrary. '"

    Well it depends now doesn't it, Mario 64 was a 10/10 game, whereas no R&C game ever was, ever heard the expression "if it isn't broke don't fix it". SMG has kept the characteristsics that people loved the same, and added some diversity and polish, it didn't need to improve per se, hence the fact both games scored 10.

  • DjFlex52 #71 4 years ago

    Not including multi-platform non FPS titles, im looking forward to:
    Banjo
    Lost Odyssey
    Halo Wars
    Cry On
    Ninja Gaiden 2
    KUF
    Fable 2
    Infinite Undiscovery
    .....and a bunch of xbla titles like Rez, Omega Factor and Ikaruga.
    Ive probably forgot a few too though if you add the FPS & multiplatform, there's more than enough to play next year

  • thinred #72 4 years ago

    One again, Eurogamer proves how firmly biased against PS3 they are. This 8/10 score is ludicrous and can only stem from ignorance or prejudice. I won't be checking out this website in a while, that's for sure.

    You lost all stock with me.

  • Vermillion3000 #73 4 years ago

    This is the 1st full price PS3 game that I actually want to play.
    Sadly there's only one download game that I also want to play (Stardust...) so it's still not enough to tempt to buy a PS3.

    I like Insomniac games though - always have!

  • Pulsar_t #74 4 years ago

    @thinred

    As opposed to the 8 Gears of Wars got! Grow up boyo

    @DjFlex52

    Nice list.. Perhaps Barlog can be tempted to join the cause now that he left the GoW team? ;)

  • Drpwnage #75 4 years ago

    "One again, Eurogamer proves how firmly biased against PS3 they are. This 8/10 score is ludicrous and can only stem from ignorance or prejudice. I won't be checking out this website in a while, that's for sure.

    You lost all stock with me."

    Boohoo, throw those toys out of the pram!

  • DjFlex52 #76 4 years ago

    Nice list.. Perhaps Barlog can be tempted to join the cause now that he left the GoW team? ;)

    @Pulsar_t

    Someone's going to snag him if he doesn't do it on his own.
    If he does, the target date for any game would have to be 2009 at the earliest.

  • thinred #77 4 years ago

    @Drpwnage:
    sod off, funny guy.

    @Pulsar_t:
    the Gears of War score was ages ago. Lately, all EG does is take any opportunity to bash PS3.

  • Apologie #78 4 years ago

    @thinred

    couldn't agree more... but that's not exclusive to EuroGamer, i see that ignorant behavior in many places.

  • DjFlex52 #79 4 years ago

    couldn't agree more... but that's not exclusive to EuroGamer, i see that ignorant behavior in many places.

    @Apologie

    Ignorance or subjective opinion/criticism?

    For weeks, Apologie, you've claimed how superior the PS3 is to the 360 in EVERY way. But then you want the PS3 games to be judged on the same plane as 360 & Wii games.
    IMHO, PS3 is more scrutinized because of all the hype of its "superiority" by Sony and Sony fanboys and the higher cost compared to the 360 & Wii.

    With all its PS3 superior tech, a game (SMG) on a system that costs almost half the price of a PS3 is comparable (somewhat) graphically and gameplay-wise to Ratchet on the "superior" and costly PS3.

    Hence, SMG a 10/10 and Ratchet a 8/10 ;)

  • ronuds #80 4 years ago

    Are we mistaking lots of color for great graphics? Many of the textures are very PS2-esque.

    The game does look pretty good, but "some of the best we've seen" good? I hope not...

  • Der_tolle_Emil #81 4 years ago

    The game does look pretty good, but "some of the best we've seen" good? I hope not...

    Art direction is one thing - I don't have a PS3 so I only know the game from what I played at Games Convention this year - but from a technical standpoint the game offers a lot. If you like the art direction the game definetly shines, however if you aren't a great fan of the style then the draw distance and quality of animation don't mean much though.

  • CallousB #82 4 years ago

    Eurogamer is hardly the only place that gave it an 8. Around a 3rd of all the reviews so far are under 9.

    Many of the major sites/mags have scored it under 9.

    Gamespot 7.5, Edge 8, Games TM 6, Gamespy 4/5, 1Up 8.5.

  • JediMasterMalik #83 4 years ago

    The game is beautiful, the textures are bold, yes, but not PS2 level, that's idiotic. The models reallyare incredibly impressive though, especially the humanoids as opposed to the robots. Ratchet, for example is simply amazing to look at.

  • dk_rare #84 4 years ago

    Crikey moses! Mario Galaxy gets a perfect 10/10, while the PS3's "killer app" only gets an 8/10! If I were Sony I would be scared about two years ago when the Wii was announced!

  • JediMasterMalik #85 4 years ago

    Mario Galaxy is not good because of the Wii I think you'll find. The game is good, from what I can tell, regardless of platform.

  • Kryon #86 4 years ago

    The game is beautiful, the textures are bold, yes, but not PS2 level

    Bold is the new 'shit' then eh? ;-)

    No, but seriously R&C has never been a particularly amazing franchise, I don't know why some of you are crying about the 8/10 and calling EG 'biased', if the last Ratchet games are anything to go by, an 8 is more than generous imo. Oh and even mentioning SMG and R&C in the same sentence is ludicrous! This franchise well never compare to the likes of Mario (and I'm not even a Mario fan ffs)

  • dsmx #87 4 years ago

    A much better review than the joke that was the gamespot review.

  • TriggerHippie #88 4 years ago

    Excellent. One in me Santa sack, thanks!

  • tonynibbles #89 4 years ago

    I can understand an 8. Not having played the full game...
    Better than the really quite harsh EDGE 6.

    Best looking platformer?

  • Azazel #90 4 years ago

    the PS3's "killer app"

    lawl

  • Les #91 4 years ago

    "In some senses, Insomniac does need a clip 'round the ear for doing very little to innovate the gameplay in any meaningful sense, but if you're happy to play through a wonderful high definition version of an old classic, put your money down - you won't be remotely disappointed."

    There's plenty of cases in which doing just that can earn you a 10/10...

  • Les #92 4 years ago

    "That wasn't Ken, it was Microsoft talking about the Xbox:"

    No, no, no, that can't be right. Ken is EVIL

  • Les #93 4 years ago

    "When you take something out of a game that people like, are we supposed to pat them on the back for it and let it pass without comment. I don't give two hoots about the lack of online, but there are a lot of people who probably do care."

    Please name all 5 of them...

  • betahoven #94 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:36:16 17-12-2011

  • SeesThroughAll #95 4 years ago

    ZOMG!

    Teh jaggiezzz !!11!!!!

    My eyez blid!

  • Yaz #96 4 years ago

    Arwin wrote: "(*with a 5 hour SP mode, bad compression in the video, budgetted textures and basically a very DVD limited game made worse by the 6.8 GiB of space avialable on Microsoft's system - thanks Microsoft, even the PS2 could hold nearly 9GB, see Champions of Norrath)."

    Dual layer DVD states 8.5GB but hold 7.9GB of data Arwin (same on the PS2 or any other DVD drive), not 6.8GB or nearly 9GB. So that's 7.9GB of data for 360 games.

    [link url=http://www.dvd-and-media.com/dual-layer-dvdr-media.htm
    ]http://ww w.dvd-and-media.com/dual-layer-...[/link]

    Some people think Dual layer DVD holds 9GBs and therefore 7.9GB for 360 games means 1.1GB is reserved. However, the 'missing' 1.1GB is actually not reserved at all, but a result of how GBs are measured on DVD. As with hard drives, it's measured to base-10 instead of base-2, so 1GB is 1000 x 1000 x 1000 (base-10) instead of 1024 x 1024 x 1024 (base-2). Hence a 100GB HDD will be 100 x 1000 x 1000 x 1000, which is 93GB (base-2) when formatted, and is the reason why some people are confused when they format a HDD and find that it is smaller than they expected!

    So to repeat, all Dual layer DVDs are 8.5GB, i.e. 8.5 x 1000000000, which is 7.9GB when measured to base-2 (7.9 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024), hence there's 7.9GB available for 360 games.

    Besides, you've counted the difference 'lost' twice, subtracting 1.1 from 7.9 to arrive at 6.8GB. What next? Will it be 5.7GB? ;)

    EDIT: Sorry, I thought the first page was the last. Still, after typing all of that reply, I'm leaving it. :)

    (Other edits are for spelling and grammar).
    Edited by 4 at 09/11/07 @ 23:51

  • Der_tolle_Emil #97 4 years ago

    So to repeat, all Dual layer DVDs are 8.5GB, i.e. 8.5 x 1000000000, which is 7.9GB when measured to base-2 (7.9 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024), hence there's 7.9GB available for 360 games.

    That's still not entirely correct for 360 games though :). About 1.5 gb of the 360 discs are used up by security measurements and the DVD part that shows the info that it's a 360 game should you put it into a DVD player. So a 360 disc can actually hold about 7GB of data.

  • Dizzy #98 4 years ago

    >One again, Eurogamer proves how firmly biased against PS3 they are. This 8/10 score is ludicrous and can only stem from ignorance or prejudice. I won't be checking out this website in a while, that's for sure.

    Errr.. Gamespot gave it a 7 :)

  • Yaz #99 4 years ago

    "About 1.5 gb of the 360 discs are used up by security measurements....So a 360 disc can actually hold about 7GB of data."

    Ah, forgot about that. Thanks.

    I've slapped my own face in response. :D

    Sorry Arwin, you right, me wrong, me go now. ;)

  • ronuds #100 4 years ago

    Ok...saying the textures were ps2-esque was stretching it, but some are saying it's one of the best looking games out there.

    The grass is a flat texture, like a piece of wood painted green...hardly anything to write home about.

    Heavenly Sword is clearly better looking.

  • Cubfan #101 4 years ago

    8/10? Wow, Mario eats this game up and shits it out his hairy Italian ass!

  • djed #102 4 years ago

    i enjoyed it. never really had a camera problem either. looks pretty nice too, but man, after 30 minutes of playing any game, do you really care/notice anymore?

  • Darren #103 4 years ago

    I've been playing the game all night and I love it. It's my first Ratchet & Clank game as I only tried the PS2 games in demo form. While it's not doing anything particularly innovative, it's all very slick and enjoyable and surprisingly varied so far. The game even has decent Star Fox shooting sections. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's the best game ever or anything but it's definitely the best exclusive game on the PS3 and it would appear in my top ten games of the year. It's also very funny too (l was in stitches at the bit where Clank gets "knocked" out while he and Ratchet are escaping the first planet in the Emperor's ship) and the two lead characters are appealing and well-animated.

    Looks absolutely lovely too. So what if it doesn't have hi-res textures, it makes up for it with fantastic art and terrific design. This is meant to be cartoonish not realistic. It's definitely one of the prettiest games I've seen and is up there with Eternal Sonata in my opinion. Love colourful cartoon games me.

  • kissthestick #104 4 years ago

    just as good as Gears of war?

  • Kryon #105 4 years ago

    "just as good as Gears of war?"

    No, have a look at Game rankings or Metacritic, but nice try son.

  • MaxiSleep #106 4 years ago

    Is anyone there having problems installing the game on P33. It keeps coplaining of insufficient hdd space (have 40gb free) Tried deleting stuff (more then 500 GB as per the advice on some threads) and updated the system but still the same problem

    Is here a company WORSE then sony at the moment?

    Deleted a few gigs worth of installs and it now works. But lord, what sort of quality control can miss such a basic problem with the installer?
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/07 @ 16:35

  • Kryon #107 4 years ago

    Ratchet & Pants: Tools of Meh

  • b0t #108 4 years ago

    can't wait to play it :)

  • 3william56 #109 4 years ago

    Xiphos - chill out dude. It's a great game, and anyone who misses out because of prepubescent prejudice or system hate is only denying themselves a load of top grade gaming fun. Only you lose, sucker.

    I thought the SMG review should have mentioned what a debt it owes to R&C. The much lauded little worlds, and gravity bending puzzles and platforming, and ship hub and the basic premise was done on the PS2 years ago, just minus the mustache and wiimote. Doesn't stop SMG being brilliant, and worth it's 10/10, but there does seem to be a rose tinted specs for anything Miyamoto based (not just at EG).

  • Hughes. #110 4 years ago

    Nostromo13 seems to think this review score is too high!

  • Kryon #111 4 years ago

    ^^^ You love the PS3 because it has one 8/10 platformer. Lol, times must be hard as a PS3 owner eh...

  • ElNino9 #112 4 years ago

    ^^^ Just because his tastes are dissimilar to yours mean you have to mock him? R&C is a great game, if it's not to your taste why troll this section?