Generally I am not a fan of platformers. Some how with all the hype about this game I decided to pick it up over the holidays. Wow. It’s not as great as it’s hyped to be, but maybe that is because I generally do not like these kind of games. But for some reason, I got sucked in. The story is very pixar influenced. Speaking of which, that is one of the things that makes this game so impressive. The in game rendering engine is used for all the cut scenes. The game itself looks very very close to a pixar film on DVD. But some of the jagged edges kind of degrade the effect of it all and make it look a little less spectacular than a pixar movie. Well, enough on that. What makes this game fun? Well it has the smash boxes and grab bolts(treasure) or crystals stuff you expect from any rpg. Then we have the Weapon system which is totally upgradable along the way adding yet another RPG kind of element to the game. It is an over the shoulder shoot as well and a platformer. That is why it shines, It is a shooter with RPG elements, a great story like any good RPG, and platform style game play on top. It pulls it off very well.

Everyone always brags about the weapons in Insomniac games. Resistance fall of man showed me a taste. This game delivers here as well, one of the weapons is a disco ball that makes all the enemies on the screen dance, this is hilarious. Omniwrench is what you start out with by default, he uses this tool to turn bolts in the game to solve puzzles. Buzz Blades are a gun that shoots out circular saw blades, Tornado Launcher fires tornados that you conrol and move with the sixaxis tilt controls. Swingshot is a grappling hook that allows you to swing. Robowings lets you fly using the sixaxis tilt controls. Geo-Laser will cut new paths in weakened walls. Groovitron is a disco ball that forces all the bad guys to dance. Mr Zurkon is a robot that shoots stuff along side you. That is just a small taste of the weapons in the game. There are more advanced rock launchers and web guns later in the game that kick ASS! I used the Laser Whip through most of the beginning levels.

I said it was over hyped, yes it is in a way. But no matter what it is still a AAA title that should sell systems. Just look at the screen shots. They look amazing. Very close to pixar movies. No other game even comes close in that regard. There are levels where you play as Clank, which I found to be more puzzle oriented, and probably the most boring part of the game for me. But the good thing about the levels are that they are big but not to big. Just big and long enough to make you try again and again till you beat it. I normally don’t cover family oriented games on this site, but I made an exception for this because of how well it was done. This game delivers about 15 to 17 hours of game play. There is no multiplayer in a game like this who cares though. There are plenty of hidden places to explore and try and find the ultimate weapon thing that you can collect parts for. don’t remember the specifics, but there is a lot to come back for after you beat it if you are into that kind of thing.

Despite it’s cute nature that is geared more for kids, I did actually end up liking most of the characters in the game. I actually was laughing during parts of the story. Not many cute things do that me, well some anime does, but rarely. I did really enjoy the part of the game where you slide on the rails. The game flow was great, there is even some spaceship shooting levels where you fly around and shoot in the ship, and as clank you play gunner. There are so many styles of game play that come in and out of the levels and stories. It is so well done, you don’t even notice it, it feels natural even when the controls totally change during the different styles of game play. Not only that, Robotic space pirates are cool. I really liked the sixaxis tilt control on the mini puzzles for opening doors later in the game, you tilt the circuit board with a ball on it to bridge the circuits before the electricity gets to the points that need to be bridged. This was challenging and fun. There is a lot of fun in this game, from the story to the game play. This is worth every cent and certainly one of the best games on the Playstation 3 platform. This is why sony rules. They have a style of game for every type of gammer that is AAA and exclusive to the ps3. This is one of those.

9.5 Presentation
Everything is well set up, it is complicated, but it is not hard to figure out and really rewarding when you do. To hell with mario, i’d rather play this. The acting is great, the story telling is good.

9.5 Visuals
The best looking cartoon style game on the Playstation 3. Almost as good as a pixar movie, now that is really saying something.

9.7 Audio
I love the music, especially the cheesy disco! The voice acting is superb. The sound fx and explosions and destruction really sound great, so far this is the best audio i have heard in a Playstation 3 game.

9.8 Game Mechanics
Amazing, it does everything spot on. Every kind of game style you change to controls flawlessly and really is responsive, even the sixaxis controls ROCK in this game!

7.9 Replay
So many kinds of game play that is challenging and fun, you will come back again and again.

9.7 Total Score.
(out of 10 / not an average)

Ok I lied, this game lives up to the hype, this is the second best game of the year next to Uncharted. If you have a Playstation 3, even if you don’t like platformers, give this a chance, I did and it won me over. I have never even played a ratchet game, not even on the ps2, if all the games are this good in the game play department, I am glad I have a 60gb ps3, I’m going to go buy the ps2 Ratchet & Clank games now. This is great. Go buy it Click here to buy Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction for the Playstation 3.

Music Listened to while writing this review: Def Leppard - Pyromania.