Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [PS3]

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Not that Tools of Destruction is for everyone. The gameplay is more action-driven than based on platforming and puzzles; the few brain-teasers slotted into levels here and there will tax only the most inexperienced gamer. It's not a very hardcore game.

Lack of a hardcore sensibility isn't any sort of bad deal, however. Insomniac excels at creating massive, enveloping game worlds that don't require complicated maps to explore properly. The main pathway is always clear, and during almost every step of Future, you'll be able to blaze merrily along as the distribution of enemies and objects turns your eye in the proper direction. There are some side paths and diversions, most of which reward you with extra items and upgrade options, but they're hardly necessary.

Our only major complaint is that Tools of Destruction offers no multiplayer option. This is odd, since Insomniac was always at the forefront of getting PlayStation2 players online with previous entries in the series. Given the beauty and weaponry on display here, we'd love to have modes that brought friends into the same battlefield.

Online play is an easy oversight to overlook, though. The single-player game is as tight as any platformer around, and the presentation is so far beyond what we've seen before that you simply can't afford to pass it up. The future is bright, indeed.

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