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Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
by footballgirl07
Insomniac Games, creators of the brilliant Spyro series, brings Ratchet & Clank to the HD generation of gamers. Exclusively for the PS3, this adventure will keep you amused and entertained in a world of stunning environments and fun guns to boot. Just remember to 'Shake your booty'!
Story: Planet Kerwen, Metropolis. A ... Lombax called Ratchet, is working on his hoverbike when he receives a call for help from Captain Qwark, a cowardly person who takes all the praise. Emperor Percival Tachyon, crown Prince of the Cragmites, has invaded the capital city with his army of robotic commandos. Tachyon is after Ratchet, the last Lombax in the galaxy and wishes to kill him due too the hatred he holds against the Lombaxes. Ratchet and his pal Clank, a robot, make a hasty escape from the advancing robotic commandos.
This is a start of a brilliant journey, as you set out as Ratchet searching for answers as to why Tachyon hates Lombaxes and what actually happened to your fellow Lombax. With Clank and few other characters helping along the way, exploring the galaxy, planet to planet could never be funnier!
Secrets will be answered! Battles will be waged! Booties will be shaken! Okay, too much...
Visuals: The futuristic Metropolis is visually stunning. In fact every planet you go to has such vibrancy and life to it. The way the enemies on every planet are drawn is a cartoonish fun style that goes well with the environments you explore. The graphics of the spaceships and platforms of each level, as you wind your way around the missions, have fantastic detail. This game in HD really does brightening up any dull day. Insomniac Games really did make such a beautiful game.
Audio: The special effects are really realistic and make the environment an exciting place to explore. The cool effects added to make each weapon unique for both you and the enemy, really make for a fun battle.
Gameplay: You play mostly as Ratchet, but there are a few occasions your Clank. Ratchet carries a wrench which can be used to open stuff and when battling the enemy. There are various weapons you can receive but only a limited amount of ammo, so you need to use it wisely. However, there are crates that can be broken and vendors on levels to buy more ammo from. The currency of the game is bolts and you literally smash most things to receive them. Weapons can be upgraded at stores and be turned into amazing pieces of equipment. There are also really cool gadgets you can get, which you need to help you advance in the game. There are mini games in the levels, which you need to work out to progress to the next mission. On each planet the missions are split into different areas. You need to complete the main story ones, but there are also side missions which you can complete optionally. These side missions do bring added reward, so its well worth completing them.
This game is a platforming action game, which alongside your really cool weapons, adds to a great adventure to explore. There are times as Ratchet, where you are freefalling through the air and have to use the PlayStation sixaxis controller tilt sensing abilities, to guide him to safety. Also, with some weapons, you tilt the controller to guide the missiles. I really love how they included this aspect to make it a much more fun and hands on feel to the game and not just constant button pushing or analog stick moving. It was a real master-stroke. The controls are fluid and easy to learn. Setting up the weapons you want to use at a press of a button. Saves scrolling through menu screens looking for what you want. In the couple of missions as Clank, it really is great to explore the little areas he finds with the help of the Zoni. The humour of this game is quite cool. With subtle comments here and there. It really adds to create a fun but exciting game. The cut scenes are really great as well, again with great humour and links in to explain the story in a superb way. When you travel to different planets, there are little missions between whilst in your spaceship. They can be a little repetitive but it beats just a load screen. The action really never stops.
Conclusion: When I was little, I loved and still love the Spyro series. So when my brother got Ratchet&Clank tools of destruction and told me it was done by the same studio, I knew I had to play it. This really is such a fun game to play. It's not childish at all and the humour adds to a well written story, beautiful graphics and such brilliant gameplay, as you explore the galaxy around you. The weapons are cool but fun all in one. People of any ages will love this and really does let you escape from reality as you go on this fantastic adventure. Try it and find out why Tachyon hates you so much and just who are the Zoni?!
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Limbo (Playstation 3)
by SWSt
On its release, Limbo was one of those games that had everyone talking. Released on the Playstation Network by an independent developer, it showed that there was still a market for smaller software studios to release their own stuff and that games did not have to be a sequel to be successful.
A young boy wakes up alone in a ... forest, separated from his sister. This is not a good forest to be lost in, because it's full of danger. Can you successfully guide him to safety and help him find his sister?
Each level takes place on a single screen (or series of screens) where you must work out how to escape from the traps and dangers which lurk in that area. This is a lot harder than it sounds because death comes often and violently in Limbo. There are traps that will decapitate you, holes with spikes in waiting to impale you, spiders that are after your blood and unfriendly natives who are not happy to see you. Essentially, anything and everything in Limbo can and will kill you. Frequently and messily.
In some ways, dodging these various dangers can be an exercise in frustration and the game can feel a little unfair. Although threats are not hidden, they are rather sneaky . You have to progress with great care and even then, the first time you come across a new type of trap, the chances are it will catch you out. Some leaps also require pixel perfect positioning or timing and it can take a few goes before you suss things out. This should be very annoying: and yet somehow as a game mechanic, it works.
The reason it works is because in Limbo you learn through failure. Yes, the game will catch you out first time around, but the old adage once bitten, twice shy applies here. Once you have been caught out, you sit back and think about what you need to do to survive... and the next time you come across a similar trap, you will be more cautious because of your previous experiences. The frustration of dying is also slightly mitigated by the fact that when you do, you re-spawn at the same point, so you don't lose all progress to date, but can gradually inch your way through the game.
Some puzzles can be frustrating to work out (particularly if they rely on split second timing), but there are very few that will have you stumped completely. The secret to the game is to explore around the screen you are on - the answer is there somewhere. It's not an illogical game, and when you finally work out the solution, you'll smack your head and wonder how you could have been so stupid. To give you some idea of the level, I only had to refer to a walk-through guide once in the entire game, and that was early on when I hadn't quite got my head around the game's logic.
This trial and error gameplay can be divisive and some see the frequent deaths as making Limbo too annoying to be fun. One thing that almost everyone agrees on, though, is that it looks incredible. Although the game is monochrome throughout, it looks superb and is incredibly atmospheric. The grey mist that shrouds the background and the dark foreboding shadows that form the landscape make for a genuinely chilling atmosphere and the giant spiders that inhabit the forest are really scary as they lumber along towards you. Even your on screen avatar, although only ever seen in silhouette oozes character and is wonderfully animated as he runs, leaps and climbs his way around.
OK, so occasionally the black and white graphics can make it a little tricky to spot traps and it's a bit easy to run into hazards you've not seen. However, the minimalist, monochrome graphics make for such an unsettling atmosphere that you are prepared to forgive this. It might be an overused cliché, but Limbo really is like playing a cartoon.
Bear in mind, though, that Limbo is bloody, very bloody. During the game, your character will get impaled by spikes, sliced by saws, electrocuted, eaten and so on. All played out in front of your very eyes. Even though the game's monochrome graphics mitigate the worst of the violence, if you are slightly squeamish, you will find Limbo unpleasant, and that 18 Certificate is there for a reason.
Sound is similarly minimalistic, but equally effective. There is no in-game tune and no constant sound effects other than the patter of your feet as you run along. Other sound effects come and go as the game demands and add to the eerie atmosphere. There's nothing more scary than hearing a giant spider slowly stomping its way towards you before you can see it, and not knowing where it is going to come from!
Like the rest of the game, controls are limited and therefore very easy to pick up. The left stick controls movement, whilst the X button is used for a whole variety of different functions, depending on context. Using these simple controls, your character can climb, run, jump, drag or push objects to help him negotiate each stage. If you can't control this character, then you really have no business playing computer games!
Levels are imaginatively designed and, despite the fact that they pretty much boils down to moving left and right and avoiding hazards, traps and nasties., it is addictive stuff. You want to make sure the little boy is safely reunited with his sister and so will do everything in your power to make that happen. The game becomes curiously addictive and each time you fail, rather than switch your PS3 off in frustration, you sigh, pick yourself up and have another go.
The real downside comes with the game's longevity: there's no disguising the fact that Limbo is short. Very short. Whilst there are 24 different chapters, most of these are only a couple of screens long and only take a minutes to play through once you've worked out what to do. I'm not the world's greatest gamer, but I was able to work my way through from start to finish in just a few hours. There are additional trophies for you to discover on different levels, but to be honest, the pull was not there to go back and play all the levels again in order to find them and I've not returned to the game since. This is one of those titles that you very much play, finish and then discard.
Due to its trial and nature gameplay and frequent deaths, Limbo is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. For this reason, I'd recommend downloading the trial version from the Playstation Network before deciding. This will give you the chance to try out a few screens and if you like what you see, you can download the full version for £9.99. It's not that cheap, but if you enjoy the puzzle solving, trial and error nature of the gameplay, then this imaginative little title is well worth adding to your collection.
(c) Copyright SWSt 2013
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