The lombax is out of the bag. Insomniac's next game is Ratchet And Clank Future: A Crack In Time, making 2009 the fourth year of leapfrogging between the Resistance and Ratchet And Clank franchises. The game was announced via press release during GDC, but game assets were nowhere to be found. Thankfully we haven't had to wait long before this teaser trailer, which can be seen after the break, was aired on GT TV.
The trailer doesn't show a lot, though there is a lot of narration about the nature of time involved. We're hoping there's a sufficiently mind-bendy-time-paradoxy storyline in the final game. While most of the visuals in the trailer revolve around various pipes and cogs, we do get a glimpse of a mysterious pocketwatch, as seen above, and an elderly lombax. Are those Ratchet's parents? Who's the flying, growly voiced lombax? We're looking forward to finding out this autumn.
Do I have to play the PS2 Ratchet & Clank games to get into the series on the PS3? I only had my PS3 for a year or so and I haven't played Tools of Destruction yet. Is it too late to get on the R&C wagon? Do I have to play the PS2 ones to understand the story? Thanks!
My guess is that with this newest title coming, a little brush up on the other games would only benefit.
Jumping straight into Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is probably fine but I do recommend you do your best to start from the first PS2 game and work your way up. Every single one I have played has never disappointed.
Knowing the series kind of just allows you to familiarize yourself with the subtle jokes and events that are touched on by each sequel.
"How was I supposed to know she was your sister! It was mating season!"
IMO, you can just jump right in and enjoy the games, they are awesome. They do have some story elements that carry over, namely the mystery surrounding the Lombax species. Also, this game will be a direct continuation of Tools of Destructions. So I'd recommend just starting with Tools of Destruction. If you enjoy it, buy Quest for Booty and then wait on this new one.
As far as I remember, you won't miss much storywise, but you will be lacking some character background information - about Captain Quork for instance.
If I were you I would pick up the first three for PS2. Heck, those might even be worth picking up a PS2 if you do not already have one (or a backward compatible PS3). You can easily skip "Gladiator" or "Deadlocked" (US and European names for the fourth title), which is a beefed up version of the Arena fights from earlier iterations.
Playing through all the games will also give you a feel for how the gameplay has evolved. The first two are putting more emphasis on the Jump and Run aspects, while the series leans more towards combat later on - but they are all excellent and - at least for me - offer an immense replay value.
The best games of the series are Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal and R&C:Future Tools of Destruction.
Up Your Arsenal is the best game of all of them, but it obviously isn't as pretty as Tools of Destruction since it is a PS2 game.
All of them are worth playing, although one annoyance is you probably want to use the lock-strafe control system (it works like an FPS) and it doesn't exist on R&C 1 and 2. It's in 3, but I think it has a slightly different name in 3.
this is one of my favorite series, one of the few platformers still going strong. platformers are my favorite genre but good ones are certainly few and far between these days for whatever reason. has me playing a lot more RPG's because of it and i've even started playing the FPS genre now. at least i know i have another platformer to look forward to now.
Yeah, definitely fell in love with it after a few of the PS2 iterations. R&C will definitely be the first title I pick up whenever I inevitably purchase a PS3. The series has great character and charm, and the humor is top notch.
There will always be a place in my heart for R&C games. If this one is even half as good as ToD (still haven't picked up QfB) I'll be getting it day one. I should probably get on that booty-questin' gig ASAP, though.
