[The Weapons]
The first area we checked out was the new weapons design from Gameplay Lead Anthony "Moo" Yu, who took us through the paces on a huge chunk of the armaments Ratchet will wield this time around. For starters, none of the weapons from the PS2 games will be making a return -- 23 all-new weapons and what Insomniac is calling "combat devices" (which don't level up with use and serve fairly specific purposes like disguises and cutting through geological formations) will be coming along for the ride this time, still selected with the familiar circular menu buried under a held Triangle Button press (though now the shoulder buttons can be used to toggle between "pages" of weapons and devices).

The upgrades process has been refined too, taking the usual system of just letting people run around and shoot stuff, thereby gaining experience to level up a weapon, but an additional suite of weapon-specific mods and upgrades have been created. This replaces the old system whereby just about any mod could be applied to any weapon. It made sense in, say, adding acidic properties to grenades, but it didn't really pay to add fire damage to the Sheepinator (not that you could, but we suck at making proper examples).

This time around, the weapons will have their own, super-premium upgrades that can be added on later by visiting a hex-based grid where buying one basic upgrade like more firepower or ammo would unlock adjacent hexes, and if all of the surrounding hexes were unlocked, it would open up the ability to buy that aforementioned super-upgrade. Very, very cool stuff.

The balance of the weapons has been tweaked too. Some of the new goodies are so powerful that Insomniac had to keep the ammo scarce, only allowing it at certain vendors spread across the game. After seeing weapons like the Alpha Disruptor, which fired an energy lance powerful enough to take down even the biggest bosses in a few hits, we thought the balancing was a rather good idea. In fact, all of the weapons and gadgets seemed like a good idea. Here's a little snippet of what we saw with some descriptions:

Predator Launcher -- Offers multiple lock-on points as the weapon is upgraded, either targeting multiple enemies or different parts on bigger foes; features a fire and hold system similar to the LAARK rockets in Resistance.

Gelinator -- Fires globs of gelatonium, a substance the pirates in the game are mining, and makes cubes that grow as more gel is added on to become platforms that allow Ratchet to reach previously inaccessible areas.

Death Springs - A Slinky bomb with springy little minions that seek and destroy.

Negotiator - The game's token rocket launcher, packs quite a punch.

Tornado Launcher - Insomniac essentially ran out of buttons, so they mapped the controls for this now-infamous tool to the SIXAXIS, allowing you to move and attack at the same time. In a fun little twist, it also busts crates and scoops up bolts into the vortex.

Plasma Beasts - One of the co-called "Trap Weapons," the beasts will sit and wait in a puddle of goo for incoming enemies and then pop out to attack them -- useful during those oh so familiar cranking segments that usually spawn enemies.

Alpha Disruptor - A massive charged shot with a huge energy beam. It's the most powerful weapon in the game and will take down most enemies in a single shot, bosses in just a few.

Combuster - The go-to default weapon, it features rapid fire and plenty of ammo for newcomers to get used to using weapons and the wrench.

Buzz Blades - Little flying sickles that bounce off walls and home in on enemies.

Visi-copter - One of the combat devices, launching this allowed simple flying around and some light annoyance with weak weapons fire, but it could also self-destruct if needed.

Mr. Zirkon - A robot with a bad attitude (sort of like a surlier version of the Combat Bots that would follow Ratchet around in Ratchet: Deadlocked), it follows you around, spouting out one-liners near-constantly. As an aside, a hidden bonus is Captain James, the character created by Insomniac for one of the kids in a family on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, he celebrates while attacking and of course pesters enemies with plenty of shots.

This was but a slice of the total loadout, but it's still an impressive (and, in trademark Ratchet & Clank fashion, creative) suite of tools. Also demonstrated were a gun that turned all enemies in to penguins (cause hey, they're popular right now), the Robo-Wings, which allow Ratchet to soar around levels where there are launch pads, and the Geo-Laser, which carves its way through a string of pre-set points in ice stalactites using the SIXAXIS.