"Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus" Announced!

What's even more exciting than the announcement of a Ratchet & Clank movie coming in 2015 is the announcement of a new Ratchet & Clank title coming this fall, subtitled "Into the Nexus". After hearing that it's going to be a traditional game, I got even more excited. As fun as the more recent games, All 4 One and Full Frontal Assault, were, they were sub-par compared to the original trilogy on the PS2 and the Future trilogy on the PS3.

Yesterday, I saw this photo on Facebook and the It's Tail Time forums:

The art style reminded me of A Crack in Time and All 4 One and they kept saying it's from Insomniac Games. Despite the poster showing what looked like the Rift Gate from the Jak and Daxter series, I immediately guessed Ratchet & Clank, and afterwards, I was correct amongst many fans. The trailer was released:

Now it's time to analyze it:

Judging by the narration and use of stock footage from A Crack in Time, the game might explore the search for the Lombaxes yet again. I'm also wondering who was actually narrating? When she says "Bye Ratchet, I'll see you soon", she kinda sounded like Talwyn. Others might have thought it was Angela from Going Commando. That is until she said "My brother is going to find me, and he's going to hurt all of you" and I'm assuming the big guy who is supposedly the new antagonist is her "brother", so chances of the narrator being Talwyn or Angela is unlikely. By the way...

Is that a Lombax in the background?

We then see some of the weapons and gadgets that will be included in the game and also include the appearances of Cronk and Zephyr, with Cronk saying "Lousy space witch!" There is a gadget in the trailer that lets Ratchet navigate himself through obstacles. A best way to desbribe it is that they remind me of the Excursion Funnels (tractor beams) from Portal 2.

Lookee, here, Cronk and Zephyr!

There is a weapon that turns enemies into snowmen while "Jingle Bells" is playing, adding to the traditional comedic tone of the series. There's also this weapon that releases a robot that frightens enemies. Now that's awesome!

A new weapon in the game.

Gravity will play an even bigger part in the game. I don't really have much else to add to that as we've seen this concept in the series before.

The trailer then ends with a henchman about to fire, only to press a button that plays "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung, which left me bursting with laughter. That's probably the most unexpected moment since the Trololo song was played in Full Frontal Assault.

That's the trailer in a nutshell: epic, funny, and it leaves me excited to play the game now.

What's the story? IGN described the story in an article:

Into the Nexus begins with Ratchet and Clank transporting twin villains Vendra and Neftin Prog to a location known as the Vartax Detention Center. This voyage brings our favorite lombax-and-robot duo to haunted space, however, and while in the process of bringing his foes to lock-up, they escape Ratchet’s grasp. This leaves Ratchet and Clank alone and stranded in the scariest sector of space they’ve ever visited.

I've also heard that it's supposed to supposed to be the final part in the Future series. After all, the trailer did use stock footage of A Crack in Time and the narrator describing Ratchet as "a coward... who lost the guts to find his race." I wonder if that Rift Gate in the poster might play a big part in the search for the Lombaxes.





It's not that hard to bring her back.

Speaking of the Lombaxes, are we ever going to see Angela again? Her only appearance so far was in Going Commando (that was TEN years ago) and she made a small cameo at the end of Up Your Arsenal. In addition, in A Crack in Time, if you collect all 40 Zoni, the news on the radio will play talking about her. At least have her play a part in this game. It's too early to tell and I'm probably asking too much so I'll just leave it at that.

Judging from the trailer, Michael Bross will compose the score yet again. I thought the soundtrack of All 4 One and Full Frontal Assault were decent at best, with the main menu themes being the only memorable tracks. In short, without being a David Bergeaud fanboy, I'm not expecting too much on the soundtrack of the upcoming game.

That's enough about the story elements; what about the gameplay?

I've already mentioned the two weapons that appeared in the trailer and I'm sure more new ones will appear. I've also mentioned that gravity will play a bigger part. Anything else?

Well, Clank's gameplay, of course. I mean, what's a Ratchet & Clank game if you don't play as Clank? (Oh yeah, Ratchet: Deadlocked) His gameplay will involve him traveling in these worlds called the Netherverses, and it's all in a 2D perspective.

Other than that, familiar elements like Gold Bolts and Skill Points will return to increase replay value. And there's one thing that concerns me, though: the length. The game is going to be released in stores for only $29.99, so I'm guessing it'll be shorter than your typical Ratchet & Clank game, but longer than, say, Quest for Booty and Full Frontal Assault.

Will the game include multiplayer? After all, Insomniac Games has been making games more focused on multiplayer lately. Again, it's too early to tell. What about making a PS Vita port? Once again, it's too early to tell, especially since the PS Vita version of Full Frontal Assault was released six months after the release of the PS3 version, due to Tin Giant having problems with porting it.

And that concludes my thoughts on the upcoming Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. Next to Beyond: Two Souls, it is my most anticipated game for the rest of the year. This might be the series' swan song on the PS3 before making its leap on the PS4. I know it's a little early to analyze what was announced nearly two days ago, but what are you going to do? I'm just happy that another game is being made; a traditional one at that.

EDIT: Turns out it is a single player game only.