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Gaming

12th May 2021

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be the first game to properly test the PS5’s capabilities

Rory Cashin

If you’ve got a PlayStation 5, then this will likely be your first absolute must-own game.

Since its release in November 2020, owners of a PlayStation 5 have been waiting for a game that would truly demonstrate the next generation capabilities of the new console.

Some of the new arrivals sure do look pretty – Resident Evil Village, the Demon Souls remake – while others put some of technological advances of the system to good use – Returnal, Astro’s Playroom – but we’ve mostly still been left waiting for that Killer App of a game.

Having been invited to take part in a global press conference for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and witnessing what this game is capable of, both graphically and technically, it is probably fair to say that this is very much that first proper must-own PS5 game.

The first day of the conference was dedicated solely to showing off some extended gameplay sections, kicking off with Ratchet and Clank during a sort of celebratory parade of their previous victories, before long-time nemesis Doctor Nefarious arrives and uses a malfunctioning Dimensionator – a device capable of opening wormholes between dimensions – in an attempt to end all organic life in the universe.

We then jump to a later section of the game, where the player is controlling Rivet – a new character in the series, a resistance fighter against Nefarious’ regime – and attempting to escape the clutches of a giant sentient (and very emotional) robot.

Both sections perfectly demonstrate the giddy, high-speed mix of shooting and platform, and both sections were absolutely overflowing with genius weapons and edge-of-your-seat escapes. Particular note must go to Rivet’s portion of the gameplay, where we get an amazing look at the different types of ammunition she is using against the enemies, from the Topiary Sprinkler (which effectively sets off an explosion of damaging plant life) to the Shatterbomb (which is exactly as fun to use as it sounds).

On the second day of the conference, the folk from Insomniac Games held several chats about their work in creating the visuals, sound design, score, and story behind the new entry into the Ratchet & Clank series.

Insomniac Games gave us the first R&C game way back in 2002, and the last “new” entry was Into The Nexus way back in 2013 (2016’s Ratchet & Clank was essentially a remake of the very first game). Since then, they’ve given us the amazing Marvel’s Spider-Man games, but with Ratchet & Clank, it seems like they are truly going all out on what can be achieved with the PS5.

Among those on the panels, Marcus Smith, the creative director at Insomniac Games, and Mike Daly, the Game Director, both spoke at length about what kind of experience gamers can expect when Rift Apart arrives this summer, and as much as they went into great detail about what must have been countless days of hard work that went into making the game look and sound so fantastic, what was truly obvious was just how much fun they have made the game look.

The gameplay looks relentlessly exciting, with Insomniac clearly taking note of the shooting dynamics they learned while making the Resistance series, as well as the superhuman parkour-esque platforming from the Spider-Man games, and they’ve put them together brilliantly in a gameplay world that is never less than utterly stunning to look at. We can’t wait to play it on the biggest, loudest TV possible.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will launch exclusively on the PlayStation 5 on Friday, 11 June.

All clips via PlayStation