Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction feels a lot like the games that came before it. The only mechanic that I feel could not have been done on PS2 hardware is maybe the wing item. The story still doesn't reach the highs of R&C 1 for me, however it is better than Going Commando's story. Tachyon as a villain doesn't do much for me and isn't as interesting as Dr. Nefarious. The gameplay is pretty much the same as Up Your Arsenal, only major addition are now the grenades that players can use. Levels aren't as good was Going Commando's, still being mostly linear like Up Your Arsenal, however this game features some interesting platforming sections unlike the former game in the series. Personal favorites are the prehistoric stage and Planet Kortog. The arena is a bit of a disappointment in comparison to past entries. The selection of weapons is better than Up Your Arsenal's, and I enjoy the new upgrade system using raritanium. Music is forgettable, and Clank sections are pretty much the same.

Do you remember that one level of the original Ratchet & Clank? The one where you get the pilot's helmet? How about that level from Up Your Arsenal where you do a HALO jump and fight wave after wave of enemies with the Galactic Rangers? Well, Tools of Destruction is a game dedicated to those forgettable mid-game levels. Why make players go through memorable early- and late-game levels when you can just make every level completely forgettable?

Divertidíssimo como sempre, mas sem novidades em relação aos antecessores de Playstation 2. A essa altura da série, isso me decepcionou - principalmente em comparação a como Going Commando e Up Your Arsenal (e até o Deadlocked) são jogos com visões diferentes entre si.

Isso de lado, o gameplay segue excelente, seja pela variedade de armas característica da série, as arenas de combate bem montadas ou o aspecto exploratório. O enredo não é nada digno de nota, mas é interessante a forma como expande a lore da série.

Talvez pensando em atrair um novo público na virada de geração, a Insomniac optou por um jogo mais fácil em ToD - para mim, um ponto negativo, mas não acho que seja um demérito do jogo.

I'll admit, I never cared too much for the PS3 era Ratchet an Clank games, despite the better graphics and animations, the bigger levels, and greater variety in mini games. I just didn't like the design as much, the villain, the story, it just felt like Ratchet at this point was beginning to overstay its welcome. Its like after Crash 3 and CTR when the Crash series started declining, although maybe not as severe as that series, I always feel like 3 is the perfect number for the amount of core games that should be in a platforming series, after that the series will begin to grow stale, I mean look at Crash, Spyro, Sonic the Hedgehog, even Megaman to a lesser extent until the X series, all these series were growing stale after the 3rd entry and now all these series have been run into the ground and the only thing that saved Crash was the N Sane remaster and Sonic was essentially a glorified fan project, Sonic Mania. Ratchet Tools isn't bad, in fact its about on par with the quality of the First game, which wasn't bad by all means, but compared to 2 and 3, I just didn't care much for this one. Maybe its just me but the villain in this is kind of lame, sure Nefarious was silly and a bit too cartoony at times, but he seemed interesting and had a decent enough backstory and motivation, this villain is just generic and forgettable. The game just doesn't stand out as much, the design is average, it doesn't suck but its barely memorable. I just feel this is a big downgrade from the previous 2 games which were debatably the greatest PS2 platformers ever made. This is a solid platformer but there are way better ones.

Plays everything way too safe but for the weapon selection, one of the wackiest in the series, and the story, which ditches a lot of old characters for a fairly aggravating side-case that would stick around for too long. Otherwise, it's a more than welcome extension of the series that still holds up visually even ten years later, and its more mature attempt at a story with a greater emphasis on continuity was a bold move.