Full Review

20 November 2007 - The PS3 may be a classy console, but where’s the games? What we need is an old school classic – something fun with big guns.

It was only a matter of time before PS2 staples Ratchet and Clank popped up on Sony’s new toy. They’re about the closest the company has to Mario, Sonic and MasterChief. OK, so they look like the kind of cutesy characters you’d see on CBeebies, but there’s no mistaking the firepower.

We’re happy to report that the action’s back to being about platforms, running and blasting. We’ll overlook that daft arena based combat cash in that debuted a while back.

Tools of Destruction is a true return to form for the long living series. We’re right back to the winning formula of running, jumping and blasting away as many evil baddies as possible.

Slip your brain into first gear and R&C is the perfect game to wind down to. So what it’s not "real world"? There’s level upon level of fun so we’re not complaining.

You’ll be controlling Ratchet most of the time, as per usual. Clank never gets much time in the limelight, but his sections bring a welcome change of pace and lots of little levels to explore. It’s even better now the guy has a pair of robotic wings.

If you’ve played R&C before though, you’ll know that Ratchet and Clank are merely window dressing for the main action. The weapons are the real stars here.

There’s been some great Ratchet weaponry down the years but Tools of Destruction ups the ante somewhat. You start with a handful of dull looking blasters, but grab a few bolts (the game’s currency) and you can start buying some cracking stuff. Look out for the Grooveatron.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. As you use each weapon, it’ll grow in stature and transform into new and even more powerful piece of gadgety goodness. You’ll find over time that some weapons suit your style of play better than others, so most will stay at their rubbish starting point.

All those weapons would count for nothing if the game was dull as a wet weekend in Barnet though. Ratchet on the PS3 is more like a riotous action packed holiday in the Canaries thankfully.

The only downside is the length of the game. Losing a life is a rarity and you’ll be through it in a few days. That’s great for the young ‘uns, but not so much fun for us old hands who like a challenge. Mind you, finish it and you’re rewarded with a far harder difficulty setting. Just try completing Ratchet twice.

The graphics are spot on. The PS2 versions were always glorious to look at, dripping in detail in both the fore and background, but the extra pixel processing power of the PS3 has been used to gorgeous good.

Each world has its own feel and style and to see the vast number of characters, explosions and various effects all go off at once is the equivalent of a nice cream stuffed cake for your eyes.

VERDICT
If it lasted a little longer and had the difficulty standard ramped up a touch, this would be a sure fire classic.

Instead, it’s only essential to those who crave a good looking, action packed blast-a-thon. So, almost everyone really. Unless Dungeons and Dragons is your thing.