Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is the fifth installment of the Ratchet and Clank series, but I have a confession to make: I've never played any of the others. I may have to pick them up, because this game is freaking awesome. It's a platform/shooter in which you (mostly) play Ratchet, the last of the Lombaxes (a furry race with long ears somewhere between a fox and a cat). Sometimes you get to play his sidekick, Clank, as well.

I never would have expected such a goofy looking franchise to produce the game that finally makes me really glad that I own a PS3. But it did, and I am.

As of this writing, I've played this title for about 7 hours which, according to my research, probably puts me about half way through the game. So, while I can't tell you how the game ends, I can tell you how awesome those first 7 hours are: very. I have not one single complaint, which after seven hours of gameplay is an extreme rarity. Not once did I exclaim "hey, that's bullshit!". And while I did find one of the optional arena fights to be a bit frustrating, it was optional, so I'm not complaining.

It would appear that the existence of Ratchet, last of the Lombaxes, is somehow a problem (I know why, but I'll not spoil it) for the self proclaimed "Emperor of the Galaxy", Percival Tachyon. So, Ratchet has to save himself and the universe from Percy while simultaneously trying to figure out what happened to the rest of the Lombaxes. The story is just interesting enough to drive the game forward. More interesting (and hi-freaking-larious) are the audio bits you'll encounter as you traverse each world. For example: as you enter a chamber with a puzzle trap you'll be informed by a friendly female voice that the trap you're dealing with is more diabolical than you could possibly cope with. Once you succeed, the same voice will compliment your craftyness, but informs you that the next trap was designed by much smarter people, and you really should give up.

Yeah, it loses a little (ok, a lot) in paraphrasing. Still, I was laughing so hard, I had to pause the game.

Gameplay is relatively straight forward. From a third person perspective, you direct Ratchet to run around, jump on things, shoot things, bash things, etcetera. There are some occasional puzzles to solve, but they're mostly in the realm of "oh, I need to jump on these three switches to open the door". Mostly, it's all about shooting. As you blow things up, you collect bolts which are the main currency of the game. These can be used to buy new weapons and ammo. The other currency is raritanium, which is required for weapon upgrades and is, as you may surmise from its name, rare. While raritanium is used for specific upgrades such as more ammo or longer range, simply using your weapons will eventually cause them to upgrade their overall effectiveness. Sort of like experience points for guns.

Did I mention the guns? And devices? There are lots of each. Something like 30. There are cannons, grenades, a shock whip, the wrench, some sort of flak cannon and a tornado gun, among others. I don't much care for the tornado gun, though. Too hard to control. There are also leech grenades which heal you with the life of your foes, a disco ball which causes the enemy to dance, and some sort of goofygas which make your enemies fight each other. You'll also be able to get your hands on a nice set of black combat armor as well. Very stylish and fashion conscious.

While the majority of the game is run and jump and gun, there are number of play sequences that switch it up a bit. Sometimes Ratchet will need to "grind" (as with a skateboard, but using special boots, instead) along some rails avoiding obstacles as he goes. The grinding part is automatic. It's the dodging part that you control. Sometimes Ratchet will be falling or flying and you'll use the six-axis motion sensitivity to control where Ratchet goes. Sort of like Lair, but not sucky. There are also some spaceship shooty fights.

There are also sequences in which you control Clank. Clank, and only Clank, can see these little alien whoosits called Zonis. Clank might just be insane. The little Zoni fellows help Clank by moving things around, levitating him, and letting him slow down time. They also attack bad guys since Clank's only apparent weapon is his fist. While it could be said that all of these alternative play sequences give Tools of Destruction an identity problem, I disagree. I find that they provide a nice break from what could become a tedious crate smashing festival.

As a PS3 exclusive, Ratchet and Clank Future really stands out as both a fun game and one that shows off the system's power. There's have been plenty of titles that show off the power, but many of them suck. It's certainly one of, if not the, best titles available for the system. With excellent graphics, excellent audio design and superbly tight and intuitive controls it is, in fact, one of the better titles to come out for any system in recent months.

This may be hard to believe: but I honestly only have good things to say about this game.