‘Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart’ – A Celebration For Hardcore Fans And Invitation To Newcomers
by Austen Chen
Ratchet & Clank (2016) (Image: Sony)
On June 11, 2020, Insomniac Games launched the announcement trailer for ‘Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart,’ a continuation of a sixteen-year-long journey.
OG fans are not only pleased to combat Dr. Nefarious, again, with futuristic weapons, but also excited about the upcoming storyline about Ratchet and Clank, best friends in life. But this time, the inseparable team is bound to separate.
While Ratchet is crashed by Dr. Nefarious into another unknown world, Clank will be teaming up with Rivet, a blue female lambox that players will end up controlling. Although Rivet is not the one that hardcore fans have known for 16 years, a badass with a powerful bionic arm wielding a multi-functional hammer will not let you down. And through controlling her, players get to explore this seemingly familiar yet way more advanced world, continuing an adventure that started in 2002.
Indeed, the trailer manifests astounding visual and audio effects, but what keeps people talking are the dimension-hopping gameplay — a revolutionary setting that couldn’t be attained in previous generations. The seamlessly instantaneous transition between an ancient forest replete with dinosaurs to a modern city with dazzling lights leaves the audience in awe.
This technique is attributed to the PS5’s advanced solid state drive (SSD), which makes the console faster and therefore enables Insomniac to incorporate this style of gameplay. Such technical showcases will transform the gaming experience into a higher form that the loyal fans didn’t dare to imagine.
The surprise for mega fans doesn’t end with dimension jumping. As Insomniac Games promised, the controlling experience will also be enhanced by the DualSense controller’s new functions. One of the most hyped features is haptic feedback – an advanced technology that extends the virtual experience on-screen to reality with vibrations in your hands.
“We had a great opportunity with PS5 to innovate by offering game creators the ability to explore how they can heighten that feeling of immersion through our new controller,” says the PlayStation Blog. “This is why we adopted haptic feedback, which adds a variety of powerful sensations you’ll feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud.”
Besides that, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart features adaptive triggers, amplifying the tension of in-game actions, “like when drawing a bow to shoot an arrow.”
With all the new modes and functions that amaze the loyal fanbase, Insomniac doesn’t forget about potential newcomers, as guaranteed by the game director Mike Daley.
”We know that our audience includes both kids and hardcore fans who have been playing Ratchet & Clank for 19 years. So it’s super important to us that our difficulty settings hit on a very broad spectrum. So pretty much no matter where you’re at, you’ll be able to find something that’s an appropriate level of challenge.”
The official release date of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is June 11, 2021. Whether you’ve been a day-one fan or just learned about the game, stay tuned.
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