Clank's Turn
We finally get a hands-on taste of Ratchet's little robo-buddy with a new build of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.
Published: August 30, 2009
Poor Clank. The decidedly metallic half of the Ratchet & Clank series' namesake is brimming with so much personality and potential that we almost hate to have even played through Secret Agent Clank, so disappointing was his solo outing. Luckily, it seems as though his adventures in the duo's latest adventure, A Crack in Time is finally going to give the little robot his dues -- and in more than just a few sequences where he commands robotic minions. No, this time around, Clank is decidedly bad ass.
How bad ass, you ask? How does being able to manipulate the very flow of time strike you? Yeah, we thought so.
Though we've spent a bit of time talking about Clank's ability to record himself [preview=8362]in our preview from E3[/game] we really only got the chance to play as Ratchet, left only to watch as the folks at Insomniac took us through the mechanics of what the mini-bot was going to be able to do. Now, thanks to those very same folks at Insomniac (which more than a little help from their SCEA overlords' FTP server), we were finally able to go hands-on with things. Now, this is the same demo that was on hand for the GamesCom expo in Germany, but since we didn't get a chance to go (Paji, the head of our German office, however, did), we jumped at the chance to check things out.
For the most part, Ratchet's bit was fairly similar. We scooted around Krell Canyon, took on a Hydra Tank and generally just oohed and ahhed at the games continually evolving visuals. This really is a fourth-gen PlayStation 3 game, and Insomniac's familiarity with the hardware is paying dividends with each successive iteration of their core engine. The bright, cartoony visuals, the ridiculous amount of detail in animations, the self-shadowing, the ripped-from-cell-animation explosion effects -- all of it looks absolutely stunning.
But we'd already seen Krell Canyon. We wanted to see what was up with Clank. We were not disappointed.
For those that haven't followed the story as it began with Tools of Destruction ended with Quest for Booty, Ratchet & Clank have been separated. Quest for Booty was actually Ratchet's attempt to find his robotic pal, culminating in the reveal of Dr. Nefarious (the villain from the PS2 game Up Your Arsenal as A Crack in Time's main antagonist and Clank's location. Kidnapped by the mysterious Zoni, Clank's journey seems to be something of an origin story. We were dropped into The Great Clock, a massive, sprawling machination that controlled the flow of time for the entire universe. Semi-trapped in this machine, we got to know the surprisingly helpful Sigmund and learned (by way of extrapolation, the build doesn't explain too much yet) that Clank was apparently created here, and hidden inside his little robo-soul is the secrets of Orvus, the Caretaker of The Great Clock and his creator.
What started as a quick romp through The Great Clock, taking note of the dilapidated look of some of the otherwise shiny rounded edges and 50's-style future tech environs, quickly turned into a discovery of some new moves Clank's picked up since we last got to play with him. For starters, he now has the ability to do a triple jump of sorts, using the propeller that sprouts from his skull to lift himself a bit higher with subsequent presses of the X Button. He can coast after gaining some altitude, but not for long (indicated by a light in the middle of the propeller blades that will change from green to yellow to red to indicate he's about out of lift juice). The tech upgrades to the game's engine are also manifest in the way bigger bits of flora will actually shake as Clank runs by them, releasing a few bolts (used for cash to buy upgrades for those that don't know the series). The interaction isn't amazing, but it's a nice touch.
How bad ass, you ask? How does being able to manipulate the very flow of time strike you? Yeah, we thought so.
Though we've spent a bit of time talking about Clank's ability to record himself [preview=8362]in our preview from E3[/game] we really only got the chance to play as Ratchet, left only to watch as the folks at Insomniac took us through the mechanics of what the mini-bot was going to be able to do. Now, thanks to those very same folks at Insomniac (which more than a little help from their SCEA overlords' FTP server), we were finally able to go hands-on with things. Now, this is the same demo that was on hand for the GamesCom expo in Germany, but since we didn't get a chance to go (Paji, the head of our German office, however, did), we jumped at the chance to check things out.
For the most part, Ratchet's bit was fairly similar. We scooted around Krell Canyon, took on a Hydra Tank and generally just oohed and ahhed at the games continually evolving visuals. This really is a fourth-gen PlayStation 3 game, and Insomniac's familiarity with the hardware is paying dividends with each successive iteration of their core engine. The bright, cartoony visuals, the ridiculous amount of detail in animations, the self-shadowing, the ripped-from-cell-animation explosion effects -- all of it looks absolutely stunning.
But we'd already seen Krell Canyon. We wanted to see what was up with Clank. We were not disappointed.
For those that haven't followed the story as it began with Tools of Destruction ended with Quest for Booty, Ratchet & Clank have been separated. Quest for Booty was actually Ratchet's attempt to find his robotic pal, culminating in the reveal of Dr. Nefarious (the villain from the PS2 game Up Your Arsenal as A Crack in Time's main antagonist and Clank's location. Kidnapped by the mysterious Zoni, Clank's journey seems to be something of an origin story. We were dropped into The Great Clock, a massive, sprawling machination that controlled the flow of time for the entire universe. Semi-trapped in this machine, we got to know the surprisingly helpful Sigmund and learned (by way of extrapolation, the build doesn't explain too much yet) that Clank was apparently created here, and hidden inside his little robo-soul is the secrets of Orvus, the Caretaker of The Great Clock and his creator.
What started as a quick romp through The Great Clock, taking note of the dilapidated look of some of the otherwise shiny rounded edges and 50's-style future tech environs, quickly turned into a discovery of some new moves Clank's picked up since we last got to play with him. For starters, he now has the ability to do a triple jump of sorts, using the propeller that sprouts from his skull to lift himself a bit higher with subsequent presses of the X Button. He can coast after gaining some altitude, but not for long (indicated by a light in the middle of the propeller blades that will change from green to yellow to red to indicate he's about out of lift juice). The tech upgrades to the game's engine are also manifest in the way bigger bits of flora will actually shake as Clank runs by them, releasing a few bolts (used for cash to buy upgrades for those that don't know the series). The interaction isn't amazing, but it's a nice touch.
