Insomniac announces Ratchet & Clank
Another Jak & Daxter inspired platformer on its way
Spyro the Dragon creator Insomniac Games has announced its latest project, the Jak & Daxter-alike, Ratchet & Clank. This PlayStation 2 project will emulate J&D's seamless worlds with an equally impressive array of animation and detail according to Sony's official PlayStation.com website (which, based on our encounters with the staff, is trustworthy as opposed to your average corporate mouthpiece). Furry space mechanic Ratchet and his shoulder-mounted refugee robot buddy Clank are fighting to save the galaxy from an evil empire, whose plans for a new hybrid world could claim the lives of millions of spaced out humans. Insomniac Games has focused on augmenting the duo's quest with a mixture of 35 different weapons and gadgets, including crowd-pleasers like the flame thrower, making this sound a degree less cuddly than its competition. Although Ratchet can collect and spend the game's currency, bolts, on ammo and other items from interplanetary merchants, the game will still allow you to succeed with only a small fraction of its treasures uncovered. Objectives can be skipped, too, for Ratchet to return later and complete. All in all, the game sounds and looks very similar to Jak & Daxter, and the official screenshots indicate that the game certainly takes a visual cue from its eponymous, presently unequalled counterpart. Whether the balance will shift when Ratchet & Clank is released at the end of this year is difficult to tell, but it will also face strong competition from Acclaim's Vexx, which, like R&C, plays host to a tale of interstellar oppression. Related Feature - Vexx preview