Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus doesn't rely on nostalgia

Ratchet and Clank is following a popular trend in gaming right now: it’s wrapped up in a blanket of nostalgia. The first Ratchet game came out in November of 2002, and after 11 years and 8 installments to the main storyline of the two main characters, there is a lot of material to go back to. But Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus doesn’t just rely on old ideas to woo the gamer. In our preview session with the game’s Director, Brian Allgeier, it was obvious that the development team of this project is really trying to keep the series fresh. “For us this has been a reward for long time fans,” he said, “We know that a lot of people have grown up with Ratchet and Clank…[and] we wanted more of a mature story for our fans who would appreciate the complexity.”

This manifested in a few different ways. The first is Vendra, the villain of this game. She’s a bad chick and she makes you know that with a vicious action in the first few minutes of the game. In the past Ratchet and Clank villains have been a quirky mixture of intimidating and cooky, but in this all the cookiness is focused onto other baddies in the game, leaving Vendra surprisingly terrifying. Another way the series is “growing up” is through the storyline of the title characters themselves. Instead of the bickering couple we once knew, there is real history between Ratchet and Clank now, and therefore there are real wounds that Brian and rest of the dev team can surface. Of course the crazy weapons and goofy humor that you all know and love is still in the game, and you can check that out when the game releases on November 12th.

Click through the screenshots for additional information.