New dimensions for Ratchet & Clank

When “Ratchet & Clank: Rift apart” was first shown, it was one of the few games that really felt like it belonged to the next generation of video game consoles.

In the trailer, the main characters seem drawn to cry between dimensions and the changing worlds. What stood out was that everything happened in an instant, something that previously required several seconds – if not minutes – of charging time.

We learned that it is possible to use an SSD to show fast charging. We began to adapt the gameplay and the story to it. We might not have gone this route if we didn’t know that the SSD would radically change everything, says Marcus Smith in a video interview with TT.

He’s creatively responsible for the game at California-based Insomniac Games, which has been owned by Sony for several years and is probably best known for its “Spider-Man” games.

New and old players

Smith says evolution was driven by opposites. To keep fans of the “Ratchet & Clank” series happy partly, partly to attract new players.

– He says some guys weren’t even born when the latest title in the main series was released twelve years ago.

In the same way, Insomniac wanted to squeeze out the new device, with the title delivered on time. And also in the midst of a pandemic.

– Obviously, the timing could have been better. But the positive thing is that I think everyone in the group felt they had something positive to focus on, and let’s find new ways to get closer to each other, at a time when people are going through difficult things, he told TT.

The game revolves around the furry cat character Ratchet and his robot Clank, who jump and fire with a variety of exaggerated weapons in one form or another.

A new number has been introduced

An evil villain steals a machine that creates cracks in the world that allow characters to change dimensions. The second dimension is a kind of quirky reflection of the Ratchet universe, in which the new form Rivet is introduced. Rake is the second variant of the Ratchet, and it has the same capabilities.

From the start, it was believed that they would be very different from the game, but during the tests it became clear that in stressful situations they were easy to get confused, which could lead to a reluctance to one character or another.

So we decided to share everything, if one character gets something, the other gets it too, says Smith.

When asked about something that surprised Marcus Smith when the test subjects got their hands on the game, he said he was surprised when his 11-year-old daughter tried it.

I laughed at the same joke as my colleagues, who are between the ages of 45 and 20. So it seems we have found something that everyone loves, and the series itself is known for it, but I always feel anxious. Humor is always the hardest thing when targeting a wide audience. So seeing her play was very satisfying, he says.

“Ratchet & Clank: Rift apart” will be released on Playstation 5 on June 11th.

Gustav Scholm / TT