Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus

Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, known as Ratchet & Clank: Nexus in PAL regions, is an upcoming game for the PlayStation 3 scheduled for release in Holiday 2013 in a disc-based format and also through PlayStation Store digital downloads. It has been labelled as a "traditional" Ratchet & Clank experience, longer than Quest for Booty, but shorter than Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, and more similar to to the latter as opposed to the recent multiplayer focused Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault. Into the Nexus will serve as an epilogue to the Ratchet & Clank Future saga.

Overview
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus returns to Ratchet's personal story and acts as an epilogue to the Ratchet & Clank Future saga. The game is single-player and story driven, returning to traditional Ratchet & Clank gameplay. It is a shorter adventure then a full length release but is the longest downloadable-on-release Ratchet & Clank game, being much longer than previous short adventure Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty. The plot involves Ratchet and Clank being stranded at the edge of the galaxy after two criminals escape from a detention facility. They find an inter-dimensional event that threatens the universe and Ratchet is forced into deciding what is really important.

Gameplay
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus is a single-player platform adventure game. The game will feature a variety of weapons and gadgets typical to the Ratchet & Clank series. It is a more traditional Ratchet & Clank game with Creative Director Brian Allgeier stating he wanted to "make Ratchet feel like Ratchet again".

Among the gadgets included are ones compatible with one of the game's themes of gravity. Various puzzles will include zero-g space using gadgets to navigate the area. Clank puzzles will also involve gravity and will allow the player to control Clank in different ways to complete areas known as Netherverses which are 2D platforming based action puzzles, in addition to his use to Ratchet's moves with his Heli-Pack.

The game will feature travelling between planets and exploring the darkness of space. Skill points and gold bolts are included in Into the Nexus as is the game mechanic of collecting bolts to purchase weapons.

Trophies
The game will include PlayStation trophies and will have a platinum trophy.

Insomniac Games Tweets
On July 9, 2013 mysterious Tweets appeared on Insomniac Games referencing Thugs-4-Less. The first Tweet was a link to the Ratchet & Clank wiki's Thugs-4-Less Henchman article. Shortly after a link to a Thugs-4-Less Prison clip from Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando was Tweeted. Later that day two more related Tweets were made. The first asked who Thugs-4-Less' next employer would be, with another link to a YouTube clip from Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. The second used the hashtag "#THUGLIFE" and an image of a Thugs-4-Less Henchman. The PlayStation official Twitter page Tweeted an image to Insomniac Games on July 10, 2013 with the text "When Worlds Collide Heroes Return". Insomniac Games then posted the image stating there would be big news on July 11, 2013.

Announcement trailer
On July 11, 2013 Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus was announced and a trailer was released. thumb|left|Announcement trailer.

Production
The game will be released in late 2013 for the PlayStation 3 in both disc-based formats and also digitally through the PlayStation Store.

Gameplay development
During early development a prototype level was created to ensure the game felt as it should for a traditional Ratchet & Clank game. One of the game's key themes is gravity with various puzzles and gadgets based around the use of gravity.

Plot development
The plot maintains the Ratchet & Clank series' expected humor but also has a scarier direction while exploring the darkness of space. It continues Ratchet's personal story-arc and acts as an epilogue to the Ratchet & Clank Future saga. Into the Nexus was written by TJ Fixman. The villain's connection in finding their species is a key part of the plot in Into the Nexus and it follows previous Ratchet & Clank games in connecting Ratchet with the villains.

Title
The title shares some similarities with a cancelled project from 2006 titled Ratchet & Clank: NEXUS but no other similarities with the project are present. A working title for Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus was Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nether Regions referencing both the exploration of the darkness of space and acting as an innuendo common to the Ratchet & Clank series.

PlayStation Vita
A PlayStation Vita version is possible but Insomniac Games are being cautious after previous problems in developing the Vita version of Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault. On July 19, 2013 Amazon France listed Ratchet & Clank Nexus on PlayStation Vita for release November 4, 2013. It was removed shortly after.

Soundtrack
The composer for Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus is Michael Bross who also composed the music used in the announcement trailer.

Voice cast

 * Ratchet - James Arnold Taylor
 * Clank - David Kaye
 * Cronk - Daniel Hagen
 * Zephyr - Paul Eiding
 * Talwyn - Tara Strong
 * Plumber/Smuggler - Jess Harnell
 * Vendra Prog - Nika Futterman
 * Neftin Prog - Fred Tatasciore

Plot
Ratchet and Clank were escorting the dangerous twin criminals Vendra and Neftin Prog to the Vartax Detention Center. After a jailbreak where they both escaped, Ratchet and Clank were stranded in an abandoned sector at the edge of the galaxy. Ratchet and Clank arrived at the planet Yerek. They eventually found an inter-dimensional event that threatened the universe and Ratchet was forced into deciding what was really important.

Characters

 * Apogee, Talwyn
 * Clank
 * Cronk
 * The Plumber
 * Prog, Neftin
 * Prog, Vendra
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Ratchet
 * Smuggler
 * Zephyr

Weapons

 * Fusion Grenade
 * Nether Blades
 * Nightmare Box
 * Omniblaster
 * Omniweapons
 * OmniWrench
 * Temporal Repulsor
 * Vortex Grenade
 * Warmonger
 * Winterizer

Alpha weapons

 * Alpha Temporal Repulsor

Gadgets

 * Grav-Tether
 * Gravity Boots
 * Rift Cracker
 * Swingshot

Other technology

 * Heli-Pack

Species

 * Lombax
 * Markazian
 * Nethers
 * Terachnoid
 * Thug

Planets

 * Yerek

Dimensions

 * Nether Dimension

Other locations

 * Thug Outpost
 * Vartax Detention Center

Organizations

 * Thugs-4-Less

Currency

 * Bolts
 * Gold bolt
 * Raritanium

Crates

 * Crate
 * Ammo crate
 * Nanotech crate
 * Explosive crate