Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

"It's time to go back to the way things were ya know? Leave that hero stuff to the other guys."

- Ratchet talking to an interviewer.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is an upcoming game for the PlayStation 3 developed by Insomniac Games. It will be the next game instalment in the series and will use the Ratchet & Clank comic series as a base for the storyline because All 4 One will be succeeding the comics in the Ratchet & Clank series. The game is a platformer shooter, however, it relies on a four-player co-operative system where the players can choose to play as either Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark or Nefarious.

Plot
Galactic President Qwark, Ratchet and Clank end up in another dilemma as the latest evil plan from Dr. Nefarious goes wrong to destroy Ratchet and Clank, which leads the heroes, Qwark and Nefarious himself caught into the snare of powerful and mysterious machine called the Creature Collector who takes them to a far far away planet across the galaxy. Begrudgingly, the galaxy's biggest do-gooders and its most sinister criminal have to work together to discover a means of escape and get back home.

Gameplay
The game will return as a platformer loaded with over the top weapons, but a four-player co-op system has been brought in. Up to four players can pick up a controller and join in to help each other. These players can be local through the use of multiple controllers or they can be found by playing online. The game has a platformer focus filled with gadgets, but normal shooting returns along with strafing. Each character gets their own unique attacks, such as Clank spinning on the spot to defeat enemies.

The game is a drop-in drop-out experience and the AI can take over any unused characters.

Each playable character that is currently assigned to a player gets a ring below them to indicate they are currently being used. Whenever a character is in a place where the camera cannot see it, an icon above their head with a cartoon picture appears in the foreground to indicate the character's position. These pictures emphasise the new cartoon look of the characters, such as Captain Qwark's bigger chin being the centerpiece of the picture.

Whenever an enemy is killed the team gets points as well as bolts, and points can also be accumulated by solving puzzles or completing tasks. A number with a plus sign next to it appears when a point is acquired. Points are only acquired, however, if a task is completely or an enemy is killed through teamwork.

There are many new gameplay mechanics that push the game towards a party genre. An indescribable machine with four compartments can be opened to reveal four buttons. If all the players step on the buttons the machine will close. Then the HUD will indicate that the players must move the left analog stick in a circular motion to trigger the machine, and that will shoot them up to further locations.

The triangle button is the action button in this game and some objects have a triangle button icon floating over it whenever the characters are close. Whenever a player holds the triangle button, the character performs the action related to it.

Team gameplay remains a crucial aspect and whenever one player needed Nanotech, a red cross icon would appear and the player would flash red to indicate they are low on health. Much like the Nano-Pak, extra Nanotech could be stored and then passed onto a team mate. Points are gained when health is passed over.

The camera always stays in a fixed position because of the multiplayer platforming aspect of the game (it does move around but the player cannot move it). However, during combat segments or boss fights, the camera always faces towards the enemies in hand and gives the optimal position for gameplay at all times.

Weapons & Gadgets
Because of the new four-player co-op gameplay, a bundle of new weapons and gadgets have been thrown in. One especially for the new multiplayer experience is a gadget called the Vacuum 4000 that stuffs another player inside its barrel, then shoots it out, which would normally to shoot them across to a hard-to-reach platform.



Certain objects in the middle of the environment hold a being that can be sucked up with the Vacuum 4000 and can be shot out into "keyholes" in the wall to draw a bridge or open a door. Two players at a time can suck up two objects that arethumb|300px|right|Gamescom 2010 Stage Demo connected by a "laser wire" and if both players walk in the desired direction while keeping the objects in the barrel, the wire can take out enemies or crates that happened to be between the two characters. It can also be used in the manner of the Suck Cannon, and enemies can be sucked in and shot out, however only one at a time. Despite this, larger enemies can be sucked in than what the Suck Cannon could hold.

Weapons are especially powerful when used together with the other players.

The Swingshot returns with a co-op twist. The Swingshot Orbs were placed with a lot of space between them, which means a single character could not swing to the next Orb. However, in All 4 One, one can latch onto another charcater who is hanging from a Orb. Each target had a number which indicates the amount of people required to chain-latch onto each other in order to reach the other side.

The Swingshot could also be used to perform a special move called the "Mortar Sling" where one character could latch onto another character, and at the peak of the motion when latching on, they would sling off and possibly dodge enemy fire or get to other places.

Art Style
The game has altered the art style from past PlayStation 3 titles. It has probably been based off the comic series, with Ratchet's face becoming wider, Qwark's facial features looking different and all the body to head ratios of the characters have been changed. The game takes place two years after A Crack in Time so it could signify how the characters have changed, but most of the characters have turned into a more cartoon style, evident with Ratchet's lack of visible fur, the head-to-body ratios and the paler skin colors.

Cell-shading returns with many of the characters being cell-shaded and explosions also taking on this cartoon style. The whole cartoon style, in fact, may be inspired by the Ratchet & Clank comic series

Characters

 * Ratchet
 * Clank
 * Commander Spog
 * Qwark
 * Nefarious

Weapons

 * OmniWrench Millennium 12
 * Combuster

Gadgets

 * Vacuum 4000
 * Swingshot

Armor

 * Pilot Suit

Planets

 * Magnus

Items

 * Bolts

Miscellaneous                   thumb|300px|right|Official debut trailer

 * Crates
 * Nanotech

Videos

 * All 4 One official trailer
 * Gameplay from Gamescom