With the release of Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus, the long-awaited second entry in the Ratchet and Clank series, fans of this series have been anxiously waiting for new episodes to come. Although we haven’t heard much about the second installment, we do know that Insomniac is working on the game’s sequel, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start looking for news about it. So, is Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus sequel still worth your time?
The game’s second episode, titled Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus, promise to provide more of what made the first game so popular in the first place. Although it doesn’t provide much content in the same vein as its predecessor, it does still have its high points. For example, the first game saw Ratchet using a skateboard for platform climbing, which was an innovative way to get around the maps without too much walking. Similarly, the second game gives you a variety of gadgets, such as a grapple gun, to help you climb up some walls. These gadgets can break down some of the scenery, but overall provide a much more exciting gaming experience.
However, all the great gameplay can’t really make up for the poor story and characters of Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus. Despite the new scenery, and a handful of good missions, it’s clear that this game is largely a rehashing of the first game. The story is weak, and although it does grow as the game moves along, it often feels like it’s taking place in the same timeframe as the first game. Characters aren’t fleshed out as well, and they don’t have much personality. In short, it’s just not very interesting.
In spite of these flaws, I think Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus has a strong enough storyline to make up for it. The combat, while not particularly fascinating, does feel unique. It combines some old-school style fighting with the modern touch of DualSense. It’s not exactly the best gaming action on the Wii, but it certainly feels unique. It also has some impressive visuals.
The rest of the game is a mixed bag of gameplay footage, but it does help create some interesting ideas. It looks like the developers spent a lot of time thinking of ways to make the camera work more effectively in the game. This makes for some impressive visuals, including some strange transformations that occur whenever a character gets hit by an object. For instance, one character is covered in a snowstorm when he gets hit by a rocket, but his fur instantly retracts to form a sleeker-looking cover. There are also a number of “spiders” floating around, who you can link up with. This leads to a variety of missions involving investigating crime scenes, solving puzzles, and so on.
If you’ve been paying attention to all of the trailers, then you already know that Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus looks pretty much like the last three Xbox console entries. The bad news is, this latest offering is going to be in a competition against the likes of God of War and the Fall of Rome, so it might want to up the ante a bit. It certainly has a lot more potential than those two games did. We’ll have to wait and see what the developers can pull off though.
Judging by the reveal trailer and the beginning of the in-game teaser, we should expect a couple of things from Ratchet and Clank: Rift apart from the usual run-and-gun action. The first one is that they’ll finally get to have some decent time traveling. Another is that they’ll finally get to take on the evil dimensional entity called Deathwing. The reveal trailer also mentions that there will be some puzzles to solve and that one particular character, referred to as the Ravager, will have a vendetta against the good guy, so expect a couple of high-stakes shootouts throughout the game.
There’s no clear indication if any of these details are true. One thing we can be sure of though is that the announcement trailer hints at some of the bigger themes that we haven’t heard about for The Phantom Pain. It seems likely that the game’s story will be set thousands of years after the events of previous titles, when the galaxy is still filled with warring empires. We may learn that Dr. Neo Cortex, the father of Neo and humans alike, is recruited by the humans’ enemies to help them in their fight against the Outsiders. We might learn more about why he travels to Earth in order to do so. There’s also word that we may see an unknown, powerful warrior appear who is the main antagonist of the story.
