Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

"The first game to truly deliver the long-sought 'You are playing a Pixar movie' experience"

- New York Times

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (known as Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction in Europe) is a action/shooter game, and is the 7th game in the Ratchet & Clank series. Released exclusively on the PlayStation 3, it is one of the most highly received games on the system. It has received high praise for the graphics and gameplay.

Plot
At the start of the game Ratchet and Clank are about to try out one of Ratchet's new vehicles, but then Clank receives a distress call from Captain Qwark, who is at the Planetary Defense Center. Before Ratchet & Clank get there, Metropolis is suddenly attacked by a race of aliens called the Drophyds. They work for Emperor Percival Tachyon, the last of the Cragmites, and the most evil threat in the universe. The Cragmite Emperor is hunting down Ratchet who is revealed to be the last Lombax in the known universe and the greatest threat to Tachyon's Empire. Tachyon tries to make a deal with Ratchet that if he gets to kill Ratchet and destroy Clank he will leave Metropolis alone. They trick Tachyon and flee into his warship. Escaping from Kerwan in an imperial warship, Ratchet & Clank are put to sleep while they travel to the Polaris Galaxy.

They then crash-land on planet Cobalia in the Polaris Galaxy. Clank has a vision where he is flying in Stratus City and the Zoni are surrounding him saying, "His past is inside." the vision ends when Ratchet wakes him up. The duo make their way to a spaceport, where they meet the Smuggler, who tells them that he can take them off of Cobalia if they get a Gelatonium Plant working again and gives the Gelanator to do the job. Ratchet and Clank get the plant running again and the Smuggler gives the ride he promised but only takes them as far as Starus City on Planet Kortog.

The Smuggler ejects Ratchet and Clank onto the surface of Startus City because a lifeform scan on his ship detects Ratchet. The Zoni upgrade Clank with the Robo-Wings and Ratchet and Clank fly to the Hall of Knowledge with the Zoni's guidance. There they learn that Fastoon is Lombax planet. They then flee in an escape pod to the planet before reinforcements arrive.

The two land on the devastated Lombax home world. Ratchet wonders where all the Lombaxes are and Clank tells him that the planet was deserted years ago. They find an old ship named Aphelion. They find five Lombax Flight Components scattered around the area. Clank makes his way through a Raritanium mine with the help of the Zoni, and obtains a six one. They then repair Aphelion, who tells them what happened on Fastoon. Aphelion plays a holo-vite Ratchet recieved, which tells him about the Imperial Fight Festival on Planet Mukow.

They soon find that Qwark has sworn loyalty to Tachyon after fighting in a tournament on Mukow. Qwark gives an infobot as a prize. The infobot reveals that Tachyon is plotting to search the entire Polaris Galaxy to find the Lombax Secret. Tachyon thinks the secret is hidden in the Apogee Space Station in the Nundac Asteriod Ring.

Heading to the Nundac Asteroid Ring, they find the Smuggler who will give them the launch code to a pod that will take them to the Apogee Space Station if the give him three Leviathan Souls. Ratchet and Clank kill the Basilisks, collect the souls and give to the Smuggler, who gives them the code. Ratchet and Clank ride the pod to the station's Maintenaince Hub, traverse it and ride the elevator to the intern of the station. There they fight through the security system and almost make it until the final door locks. The Zoni upgrade Clank with the Geo-Laser and the then cut the wall open. Cronk and Zephyr try to attack Ratchet but end up running into each other. Talwyn then appears and threatens to send Ratchet the airlock. Zephyr then says,"Put that Lombax in his place!" This makes Talwyn realize that Ratchet is Lombax and she tells Cronk and Zephyr to lower their weapons. Talwyn then tells Ratchet of Max Apogee and how space pirates raided the station and stole a pyramid-shaped artifact. Ratchet recalls the Smuggler mentioning Pirates on Planet Ardolis, so they fly to the Pirate Base located in the Irquol-Sul fjords.

Ratchet and Clank make their way to the Treasure Room and Recover the artifact, but see Captain Slag and Rusty Pete flying to the room on a sail barge, so they hide behind a treasure chest. Slag's potent sense of smell tells him that there is a Lombax in the room. Talwyn then appears and throws a smoke bomb, so Ratchet and Clank drop down a hole and make their way to the Skull Radio Tower. outside the tower, they meet up with Talwyn, Cronk and Zephyr. Talwyn can't make the artifact work, so Ratchet asks her if she needs help. She then gives it to Ratchet. The artifact hovers over his hands and when he presses one of the sides, a 3D map of a planet appears, which Talwyn recognizes is Rykan V. They then fly to the planet, but first fight through a fleet of ships in the Rakar Star Cluster.

Ratchet, Clank, Cronk and Zephyr perform a HALO jump and fight through Tachyon's forces to fight to a spaceport, where they separate. On the spaceport, Ratchet and Clank buy a Gyro-Cycle from the Smuggler, who says he got it from a Lombax who modified it with a terrathruster. They then make their way to a room with the Gyro-cycle, where they meet up with Talwyn, Cronk and Zephyr. Ratchet then unlocks the door to the room, which is filled with nothing useful, except an ancient holo-vid projector, which reveals to them that the Lombax Secret is a helmet called the Dimensionator and tells them to report to the testing facility on Planet Sargasso for test subjects.

They then travel to Planet Sargasso and try to find a testing facility once run by the Center for Advanced Lombax Research as stated in a holo-vid. The Smuggler points out a incapacitated Robo-Wings pad and offers to give them a Decrypter to fix it for three leviathan souls. After killing three Grunthors, they head back to the Smuggler and trade. Ratchet then successfully gets the pad working with the Decrypter and the duo fly off towards the facility with the Zoni's guidance. Once at the testing facility, Ratchet and Clank encounter the Plumber once again. The Plumber then says that no possible weapon can wipe out an entire species, gives them a 3¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer, then leaves by flushing himself down a large toilet. Clank is doubtful whether the Cragmites were vaporized at all. Qwark then contacts the heroes on their way back to Aphelion and says he may have found a clue.

After battling through another tournament on Mukow, Qwark gives them a holo-vid displaying IRIS the largest supercomputer in the Polaris Galaxy, which Ratchet then believes to know where the Dimensionator is. After downloading the coordinates to IRIS's location, Clank then goes inside the computer to repair it. The Zoni appear yet again and Clank has a vision of Talwyn being locked away in Zordoom Prison. Ratchet then learned about Tachyon's origins. He was frozen in an egg and found by Lombax Trillium Miners on the Kreeli Comet who then raised him on Fastoon. However, once he learned of his Cragmite heritage and origins, he waged war against the Lombaxes. Ratchet then has an argument with Clank regarding the Zoni.

The duo then travel to Zordoom and free Talwyn from her cell. They then split up. Once Ratchet and Clank get back to Aphelion, Talwyn contacts them and says she found Cronk and Zephyr in the scrap compressor. They then fly towards Planet Jasindu but first fight through Slag's fleet in the Verdigis Black Hole.

Ratchet and Clank land on Jasindu where the pirates are at war with the Kerchu. They make their way to a grind rail, traverse it while a large robot controlled by Kerchu tries to kill them, and destroy the robot in an arena. An elevator built into the arena ascends with the Dimensionator. Captain Slag and his pirate fleet then arrive and take the Dimensionator and threatens to kill Ratchet and destroy Clank if they follow him. But Aphelion tracks them to the Ublik Passage.

The heroes willfully follow them to their fleet hidden in the Ublik Passage and defeat Captain Slag. Ratchet is then given the "honor" of becoming the new Captain of the space pirates by Rusty Pete. Ratchet refuses and says he just wants the Dimensionator. Qwark then pops out of a pirate crate, takes the Dimensionator and vows to throw it into a black hole. He then flies away in a pod. Ratchet asks Rusty Pete where the pod will fly and he answers that it will land on Planet Reepor, the Cragmite home world. Rusty Pete considers Ratchet the captain anyway.

Ratchet, Clank, Cronk and Zephyr perform a HALO jump and fight Tachyon's forces. Cronk and Zephyr take control of two large cannons, while Ratchet and Clank and Talwyn try to find a way inside the stronghold. They split up and Ratchet and Clank make their way to a raised platform and find Tachyon wearing the Dimensionator while he has Qwark under the clutches of a leg from his walking throne. Tachyon summons the Cragmites from exile. Ratchet is knocked unconscious and he is then separated from Clank. Clank finds his way back to Aphelion with the help of the Zoni. They show him another vision of Ratchet standing in front of a portal on Fastoon before a muffled scream is heard. Ratchet then traverses his way back to Aphelion and find Talwyn and Zephyr repairing a broken Cronk. Ratchet is devastated when thinks that Clank has perished.Clank then flies down with the Robo-Wings and the two of them reunite. Aphelion says that her sensors have picked up a Cragmite armada rapidly approaching Meridian City on Planet Igliak. Talwyn tells Ratchet that Meridian City is the capital of the Polaris Galaxy and that they need to hurry while she and Zephyr repair Cronk.

Ratchet and Clank then travel to Meridian City, fight off Tachyon's forces, Gyro-cylce through the Sector-3 Construction Zone, fly through a tunnel and find Qwark cowering in a closet at the end point. Clank then believes that Tachyon may be heading Fastoon, based off his vision from the Zoni. Ratchet then willingly agrees to go there, finally seeming to believe Clank about the Zoni.

Ratchet, Clank, Cronk and Zephyr perform another HALO jump and destroy five Magna Cannons so Talwyn can land. Once fighting through Tachyon's Cragmite army on Fastoon, Ratchet, Clank, Talwyn, Cronk and Zephyr arrive in the Court of Azimuth, an old Lombax citadel. Tachyon then reveals a large amount of information about Ratchet. The Lombaxes took shelter behind the walls and used the Dimensionator to flee to another dimension after Tachyon invaded Fastoon. Only two Lombaxes stayed behind, the Keeper of the Dimensionator and his infant son (who Ratchet realises is himself). Ratchet's father is revealed to have been killed by Tachyon but not before sending Ratchet to Veldin, which explains how Ratchet came to be on the planet. Tachyon then opens a portal to the Lombaxes' dimension and gives Ratchet the chance to join them. Ratchet however realises that no one will be safe as long as Tachyon has the Dimensionator and vows to destroy the device. Ratchet and Clank then battle Tachyon with some assisting gunfire from Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr. After they get Tachyon to about 3/4 of full health the Dimensionator opens up a portal which sucks Tachyon in. Clank admits to Ratchet that wormhole devices are dangerous. Ratchet says that it's not like a holo-film, then Tachyon grabs Ratchet's hand with a leg from his throne and takes them with him. They end up on a large asteroid. Tachyon then is defeated and he declares that only he knows Ratchet's real name, His father, and his purpose and is then sucked into a black hole. During the battle something snapped off the Primary Reflux Coils in the Dimensionator. Clank holds up the 3¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer the Plumber gave them on Sargasso and Ratchet puts it in. Ratchet and Clank then use the Dimensionator to "find home". Ratchet then awakes surrounded by Clank, Talwyn and Cronk and Zephyr.

Back on Apogee Space Station, Rusty Pete tries to teach Qwark how to become a pirate, and Cronk and Zephyr pretend to redo the battle between Ratchet and Tachyon. Ratchet wonders if Tachyon told the truth about his purpose and father. Clank tells Ratchet that Tachyon was telling the truth and that Ratchet had filled his purpose by vanquishing Tachyon. The Zoni appear once more, visible to everyone. They then trap Clank in a psychic field and take him through into a dimensional portal only to tell him who he is and who he will become. Ratchet tries to stop the Zoni but the portal ejects him to the ground. The Zoni then mind-meld Clank and he "willingly" goes with them. The game ends with Ratchet staring upwards at where Clank was taken, speechless.

With this cliffhanger ending, Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty will explain what happened next.

Gameplay
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction has been regarded as the greatest Ratchet and Clank game ever released (and the best game, currently on PS3 only) for the game's lush visuals and fun game play mechanics, although the game itself is not that different to any other Ratchet and Clank game. Clank returns as a playable character where he controls futuristic robots called the "Zoni" to aid him in his platforming adventures, such as giving him the ability to slow down time, or modify Clank himself to earn new capabilities, such as the Robo-Wings for flight and the Geo-Laser to cut holes through walls.

The game also features a powerful new group of "Combat Devices", weapons that are too powerful to be used as a full weapon, but still aid the user in combat. Such devices are the Groovitron or Mr. Zurkon. Combat Devices can not be upgraded (except for the Groovitron). They only have an ammunition capacity ranging from one unit to four units (except for the Golden Groovitron, which has an infinite ammunition capacity) and the only way to replenish ammunition is to buy it from device vendors or to bust open crates the contain Raritanium. There are a total of eight combat devices (including the Golden Groovitron).

The game does not, however, feature online play, as the developers felt that other important parts of the game would have to be sacrificed in order to accommodate online play. This came as a shock to gamers, as the two previous Ratchet and Clank home console games (and even the Size Matters PSP game) had online play.

Unlike previous games, Tools of Destruction does not support PS2 memory-cards to unlock previous weapons, due to the previous installments to the franchise having a much lower polygon-count. Instead, weapons and devices from previous games have been upgraded and re-drawn in Tools of Destruction.

Weapons
The following weapons are available in Ratchet & Clank: Future: Tools of Destruction:


 * Combuster
 * Fusion Grenade
 * Plasma Beast
 * Tornado Launcher
 * Shock Ravager
 * Predator Launcher
 * Shard Reaper
 * Buzz Blades
 * Nano-Swarmers
 * Alpha Disruptor
 * Pyro Blaster
 * Negotiator
 * Razor Claws
 * Mag-Net Launcher
 * RYNO IV

Combat Devices
Combat devices are limited use items with immense power or advantages, they were left out of previous games to keep balance but are be featured in Tools of Destruction as special items for tight situations.


 * Groovitron
 * Golden Groovitron
 * Visi-Copter
 * Transmorpher
 * Mr. Zurkon
 * Death Springs
 * Leech Bomb
 * Confuzzler Gas
 * Mega-Leech Bomb

Gadgets

 * Swingshot
 * Geo-Laser
 * Heli-Pods
 * Holo Pirate Disguise
 * Gelanator
 * Robo-Wings
 * Decrypter
 * Grind Boots
 * Gravity Boots
 * Charge Boots
 * Bolt Grabber
 * Gyro-Cycle

Characters
(In order of appearance)
 * Ratchet
 * Clank
 * Captain Qwark
 * Emperor Percival Tachyon
 * Zoni
 * Smuggler
 * Captain Slag
 * Cronk
 * Zephyr
 * Talwyn Apogee
 * Rusty Pete
 * The Plumber
 * IRIS

History
At the 2006 Game Developers Conference, a Ratchet & Clank tech demonstration was shown for the PlayStation 3. The tech demonstration video showed a walk-through of one of the levels from the game. It was a huge futuristic city with greenery grown in places which end up leading to a tunnel. The tunnel has gears rotating inside of it with plants growing around; it looked like the person walking through it had just come out of a dark jungle. The city itself was huge with massive, futuristic buildings and towers with flying cars everywhere. The city was later confirmed to be Kerchu City.

It was revealed at the end of 2006 that the game will use the graphic engine of Resistance: Fall of Man.

In late 2007 the game was released.

Reception
The game was universally well received, earning an average score of 89 out of 100 on Gamerankings.com, and has won numerous "game-of-the-month" awards from various different magazines and web-sites. It received 98 out of 100 on PS3M (PlayStation 3 Magazine) and was highest rated PS3 game for several weeks after its release.

Sequel
During the Sony Conference at E3 2008, a short downloadable sequel was announced titled Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty. After Clank's mysterious abduction by the Zoni, Ratchet sets off to find Captain Darkwater, a Pirate and an apparent expert on Zoni Culture. He discovers Darkwater is dead, but his clues are scattered around Hoolefar Island. Ratchet is helped by Talwyn and together they explore Planet Merdegraw. In the game there will be four locations for him to search for clues; the Pirate Fleet, Hoolefar Island, Morrow Caverns and Darkwater Cove. An all new wrench mechanics allows Ratchet to push, pull, and manipulate objects around him. A mix of Light/Dark gameplay, Ratchet must illuminate dark areas with Heliogrubs and use his wits (and wrench) to survive. The Player must solve pirate puzzles- Mix brew, manipulate shadows and play tunes to find hidden booty. The game also welcomes all new enemies and offers up to four hours of gameplay for a smaller price. Quest for Booty is only available on the PlayStation Network, but has been confirmed it will launch on both the PlayStation Network and Blu-ray Disc for Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In the last scene Ratchet discovers one of his old Enemies is holding Clank captive in the Breegus Nebula who is none other than Dr Nefarious from Ratchet & Clank:Up Your Arsenal who tried to turn all of Solana into robots and will be returning in the Next Game as Ratchet declares he will save him.

Trivia

 * In Europe the game has a different cover and is called 'Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction' due to difficulty in translating "Future" into all the required languages.
 * A demo of the game could be found on the PlayStation Network, on the PS3.
 * As a joke, when Ratchet and Clank meet the Plumber, the plumber says, "Almost didn't recognize you there in high-def." This is a joke because of the improvements of graphics on the Playstation 3.
 * In the level "Nundac Asteroid Ring" the first seven letters of the Greek Alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilion, Zeta, and Eta are used as teleporters and the first six letters are necessary for a skill point called "Alphabet City".
 * It was found, that some users could not load the game, with a message saying there is not enough space, despite the hard drive being far from full. A workaround was released, allowing users to add or remove 500mb of content, after which the game should load normally.