Get Ready To Ratchet & Clank The Crap Outta Your PS2
Who? What? Huh? Guess you'll just have to start clicking to find out what the heck we're talking about.
Published: April 18, 2002
As far as game names go, few are as finger-tangling complex as Ratchet & Clank, the recently revealed project from Spyro the Dragon creators Insomniac Games. Much like Naughty Dog, who found themselves up a creek without a bandicoot paddle, Insomniac had to come to terms with the fact that they no longer were in control of Spyro's developmental direction. Since Universal owns both Crash and Spyro licenses, and decided to delegate the task of development to different teams, the boys and girls over at Insomniac found they now had plenty of possibilities for their next big game. Again, much like Naughty Dog with Jak & Daxter, they decided to go with what they knew.
Ratchet & Clank isn't an adventure game, it's a "3D character action game," according to a news story on the official UK PlayStation site. Insomniac recently showed the game off to a few choice game editors, and the story details that have come back are relatively scarce, but enticing. R&C chronicles the tale of two buddies that work in tandem in much the same way a certain other man-and-oxel team play off each other, except Clank actually participates in combat. The pair are battling an evil empire that aims to slice up a handful of planets and borrow sections from each to form a bigger, jimmied-up amalgamation, which would needless to say wreak havoc on the current planets' inhabitants.
Clank, a robo-refugee actually rides piggyback on Ratchet, a big eared furry orange space mechanic, and provides weapons by way of sprouting them from his robotic body as the situation calls for them. UK's PlayStation.com says the two move incredibly smoothly, and much like Jak & Daxter, exist in a world free of nagging and interruptive loading screens. What's more, R&C promises to offer a bit of a diversion from the classic fetch quest by not requiring you to collect lists of items, but instead reveals new levels as part of the story. The option to revisit puzzles from past planets is always present, so you shouldn't get too hung up on a particular section of the game.
Ratchet & Clank is slated for release sometime this year, though full details should be revealed at E3 late next month. In the mean time, take a gander at these screenshots we so unabashedly pilfered from their rightful place on PlayStation.com, and stay tuned for the full scoop in the next few weeks.
Peering into a valley
Tasty rocket launcher
Makeshift axe?
High above some water
boom
We're still trying to figure out what these are
Sprawling vista
bolts galore
Whatever it is, it's big
Throwing a wrench into the works
Big ol' hammer
Tossing a hammer?
Ratchet & Clank isn't an adventure game, it's a "3D character action game," according to a news story on the official UK PlayStation site. Insomniac recently showed the game off to a few choice game editors, and the story details that have come back are relatively scarce, but enticing. R&C chronicles the tale of two buddies that work in tandem in much the same way a certain other man-and-oxel team play off each other, except Clank actually participates in combat. The pair are battling an evil empire that aims to slice up a handful of planets and borrow sections from each to form a bigger, jimmied-up amalgamation, which would needless to say wreak havoc on the current planets' inhabitants.
Clank, a robo-refugee actually rides piggyback on Ratchet, a big eared furry orange space mechanic, and provides weapons by way of sprouting them from his robotic body as the situation calls for them. UK's PlayStation.com says the two move incredibly smoothly, and much like Jak & Daxter, exist in a world free of nagging and interruptive loading screens. What's more, R&C promises to offer a bit of a diversion from the classic fetch quest by not requiring you to collect lists of items, but instead reveals new levels as part of the story. The option to revisit puzzles from past planets is always present, so you shouldn't get too hung up on a particular section of the game.
Ratchet & Clank is slated for release sometime this year, though full details should be revealed at E3 late next month. In the mean time, take a gander at these screenshots we so unabashedly pilfered from their rightful place on PlayStation.com, and stay tuned for the full scoop in the next few weeks.
Peering into a valley
Tasty rocket launcher
Makeshift axe?
High above some water
boom
We're still trying to figure out what these are
Sprawling vista
bolts galore
Whatever it is, it's big
Throwing a wrench into the works
Big ol' hammer
Tossing a hammer?
