Ratchet & Clank Future A Crack In Time: Lombax In Space Impressions
Let 2009 hereby be known as The Year Of The More Interesting Hub World. The spokes of Wolfenstein emanate from a German city overrun by Nazis; those of Halo 3 ODST to New Mombasa. The new Ratchet? An action-packed galaxy.
I got my hands on the outer-space portion of next month’s Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time this week in Seattle. The trailer for the space stuff already explained the basics, but here’s the Kotaku take.
In a Crack in Time, the levels Ratchet can explore are set on planets and moons to which the player can and must manually fly. He has no hub world, but rather a hub galaxy. Fly it, explore it, use it as a hallway with doorways to the game’s levels and side challenges.
Ratchet travels through his hub in armed space-ship that can be upgraded with weapons, a speed boost and tow cable. The ship can be flown through several star systems, all accessed from the game’s Galactic Map. The PlayStation 3 controller’s left stick steers the ship. The right stick does barrel rolls and flip stunts. Buttons fire guns or land the ship.
The space zone I saw was grand and packed with floating space rock, a streaking comet, and colorful clusters of friendly and hostile spaceships. Navigating all of that was simpler than it looked, because flight is possible only on a flat plane. The developers at Ratchet studio Insomniac Games had toyed with letting Ratchet fly in all directions, but user feedback indicated that it was too disorienting.
I sampled the richness of the one demo outer space zone. My version of Ratchet’s ship had a pair of weapons, both infinite in ammo and capable of blowing up enemy craft. Of course, I tested them. I saw a beacon in the tail of a comet and flew to where it would have triggered a mission. I engaged hostile satellites and suddenly had to fight an attacking satellite that was so formidable it had its own health bar. I flew over some small moons upon which I had watched an Insomniac rep land Ratchet’s ship. One of those landings seamlessly segued into an on-foot challenge on a spherical planetoid. I saw a much larger heavenly body, a planet protected by security satellites that repelled my approach. The planet represented a full level of the game but I would only be able to get past its defenses if I collected enough Zoni, the aliens in the game obtainable in both story levels and through some of these outer-space optional challenges.
I was told there would be boss battles in space, including some sort of ultimate fight that is accessible only on a second playthrough of the game. But even in the first playthrough, exploration of the star systems can lead the player to some fun diversions. The moon areas — the new game’s take on the spherical world levels presented in earlier Ratchet games — serve as increasingly tricky platforming areas. They come in three variations, I was told, though I only witnessed the first of the following: Hover-boot challenges that involve fast movement over ramps and jumps; Platforming challenges that are more about the gymnastics of the genre; Battle challenges that present the series-staple goals of clearing out waves of enemies in confined arenas.
There are some less conventional elements to the space game. Ratchet’s ship has several radio stations. The tow cable he can obtain is used to haul space rock and rescue troubled ships. You can be destroyed out in the not-quite-blackness of this colorfully-populated cosmos but in the demo I played, it didn’t seem all that dangerous and likely to happen.
The space game in this new Ratchet was fun. As with everything else I’ve seen in the new game, it’s visually spectacular and a joy to move through. The closest equivalent in terms of scale and in opportunity to encounter interesting things is the ocean in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I’m not sure Ratchet’s stellar range is, proportionately that vast but the positive similarities are there.
The one open question is whether travel will be mandatory, something I’m checking with Insomniac about. travelling to a moon for a challenge once is fine. Having to fly back there later in the game would be less alluring.
There may be an efficiency in menu-based games that allow the player to hop from level to level with the click of a button. But this year I am enjoying the new grander takes on what a decade ago was presented as Princess Peach’s castle or the caves of Spiral Mountain. I like these new hubs and the places they reach.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
Don't forget Demon's Souls. It too has a hub world
I love Ratchet and Clank, they should bring back multiplayer into the next one.
It's so pretty. But I don't have a PS3.
I'm glad to hear spaceflight is only on a flat plane, though. I've only played Going Commando and the only reason I stopped was because of the space stages.
@ph4ntom22: Enjoy the ban.
nukee
1st
ph4ntom22
@ph4ntom22: YOU FOOL!
@Boom-Chicka-Ah: Here to Create a Star Commenter Empire: I think he meant to comment elsewhere.
Young lad, TMZ is that way ----->
Outkastprince
Man I can't wait for this game, nothing makes you feel like a kid again then playing Ratchet and Clank.
I'm doing a second play-through if it means more space battles. Man I miss rogue galaxy.
Outkastprince
No it's broken, if you got google chrome then its just our browser, i dont like usin Internet Explorer I only use Firefox and Chrome dats all, I LOVE FIREFOX!
@Boom-Chicka-Ah: Here to Create a Star Commenter Empire: You're the one who responded to them and, therefore, promoted the comment. You're a star commenter. Don't do that.
@ph4ntom22: your so cool
@Trolly: Yeah, we're having some tech issues right now. Trying to resolve them.
The image links appear to be broken, but maybe that's just me.
Trolly
@ph4ntom22: Well done, sir. Now posterity will always remember who it was who first commented about this article.
By the way, I hate you.
@spyker3292: Oh okay, hope you guys get it fixed then :).
Trolly
I remember the first game, and I thought it was the bees knees. :) During the summer I finished Tools of Destruction. Quite fun I thought.
@Outkastprince: I too miss that game... i actually never finished the final boss... i just can't have closure on my level-5 treasures...
@Trolly: Yup, lots of pics on Kotaku are screwed up.
spyker3292
@D-K, it's not butter? no way!: I beat the game a few times, always trying different characters just to keep the replay valve up.
Those level 5 treasures are a pain, never did get them all myself either. The game was a bit difficult to play, something I enjoy and hope they keep (praying a sequel comes out) when the series returns to whatever system.
Outkastprince
I hope the era of true 3d space flight games isn't dying out. I personally hate being confined to a basically 2d area. This is why games like Wing Commander and X-Wing/Tie Fighter are the best space combat games ever in my opinion. The Descent series actually made me better at real world navigation.
Zunnoab
I hope that they pack alot of content in this and it's not just a short-lived gimmick.
Grind_Axis
That sounds interesting really. it seems like they want to make this a much longer game.
Now I just wish they'd confirm a release date for the EU. I've already imported plenty of games this year.
As long as they don't go exploring the pirate scenario again, I was getting a bit tired after Quest for Booty. Still the three game modes, the exploration and such seems interesting.
WhatTheFrag
@awesomenessticitation....ism: Pro tip: get in insightful or jokethreads where star commenters comment, here lies your chance for acceptance, young one.
There are certain star commenters out there that still promote users/threads.
@WhatTheFrag: Same here with the Pirates.
I thought that they were used a little too much, especially since they managed to pull the whole Quest for Booty plot from nowhere. It was good and even fit with what was going on in the story, but it felt like an after thought they wanted to do to make a link between Tools of Destruction and this new game.
I'd have much preferred a Size Matters kind of game with it's own separate story and plot.
@Sisee: You worded it better than I did. And yeah I agree that it did fit and wasn't bad, just wish they'd explored a different direction.
WhatTheFrag
@ph4ntom22: idiots like you get to be apart of this site and i can't even get my damn thing approved after trying for a long time then giving up....that's so ass backwards...can i please...Please replace this ninny?
I love R and C games, despite not owning a ps2 I still bought the first 3 (the good ones) to play at my mate's house when I went round.
I'm not sure about the flat plain of flight though, sounds a bit boring tbh. I like the idea but if it is a spaceship flying rather than a ship sailing it could feel a bit... well... a bit "flat"
I love the idea of this new open hub. The space missions in RC were always my favorite. I"m glad they decided to try something different.
So Stephen, did the hub have a map? Can you see where you need to go, and are there hidden worlds?
I never played the PS2 versions of R & C, but I did finish the PS3 R&C and it was so much fun... I'm looking forward to trying this game out. I hope that they have more groovatrons with different types of music to make people dance. This time around they should make the enemies dance to MC Hammer's Can't Touch This!
@D-K, it's not butter? no way!: indeed. its not about time, but more about timing. took me a while to to rank up. gotta put in work and pay dues :P
@WhatTheFrag: Well that was the reason behind Quest for Booty. In the PS2 days Insomniac could make R&C games each year, but can't due to possible creative drain of it being annual, the longer development times, and Resistance. Quest for Booty was meant to be a link between this new game and TOD, and be a downloadable experiment for new gameplay mechanics without too much investment.
I loved the earlier moon levels in the series and the flying part seems like it feels like the Star Wars LEGO flying stuff, which is another plus in my book. Overall it seems like Insomniac is going a little more old school with this iteration (space travel, moons, Dr. Nefarious, etc.) Me likey.
iFOREIGNi
This is looking better and better. I absolutely love how they're adding so much stuff to differentiate it from the older games.
PlatformJunkie
I hate to think that when the demo of this game is shown in a shop somewhere some noob gamer will probably call this a Mario galaxy rip-off. I wish there will be a Ratchet veteran who can explain that Going Commando did it first.
rich8606
Does this mean I don't have to watch that same static ship flying loading screen when flying to a different planet that was on the last game?
I was not impressed that I was playing a PS3 game and had to stare at the same loading screen ship sequence.
Well, this has got me slightly more excited about this game ... it's a good idea, I like it a lot. Sounds fun to play as well which is obviously key. I do love R&C but have kind of lost interest in the series lately, everything felt a bit too familiar.
drag
@Kinburn: Yeah. This replaces that.
PlatformJunkie
@PlatformJunkie: Good!
Kinburn