Ratchet and Clank are back, and this time they need to save reality itself from falling apart. Poised to be one of the biggest PlayStation 5 exclusive of the year, while boasting some flashy visuals, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart's main intrigue surrounds dimensional shifting, which utilizes the console's super-fast SSD to move the player seamlessly between worlds.
The upcoming third-person shooter platform adventure will feature enhanced lighting, ray tracing and a targeted 60fps performance mode, as our galactic duo planet-hop to defeat the evil Dr. Nefarious. The new Insomniac-developed title will arrive on June 11, 2021, picking up the story from 2013's Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus.
A new female Lombax called Riv will also be playable, alongside a huge arsenal of weapons, including the Burst Pistol, Topiary Sprinkler and the Shatterbomb. Most importantly, the Rift Tether can pull Ratchet and Clank through anomalies to move around the world.
Want to know more? Read on for everything we know about Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
[Update: Sony's latest State of Play gave us a fresh look at some Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart gameplay. Keep scrolling to see it for yourself and find out more.]
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart: what you need to know
- What is it? A new Ratchet and Clank game and sequel to Into the Nexus
- When can I play it? June 11, 2021
- What can I play it on? PlayStation 5
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart release date
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will release on June 11, 2021, as a PlayStation 5 exclusive.
The game was first revealed during the PlayStation 5 showcase on June 11, 2020 (an exact year before it's due to release). This is the twelfth game to date in the series, with the original debuting on the PS2 at the tail end of 2002. It's also the longest gap in the franchise's release history at five years.
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Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart trailers
15 minutes of gameplay
During the most recent State of Play on April 29, Sony gave us our best look yet at Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
The gameplay footage showed off some of Ratchet's new moves, such as his dash and wall-running capabilities, as well as gameplay of the newly-introduced Rivet. The two of them share an incredible arsenal of weapons and gadgets, with both new gear and returning staples of the franchise.
All of these guns and tools are designed to feel unique due to the implementation of DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Insomniac Games is harnessing the PS5's SSD speed to load entire levels every time a dimensional rift is opened, it's not just a simple arena swap.
You can check out the new gameplay footage in its entirety below:
Introducing Rivet
A Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart trailer was released on April 26 and officially introduced Rivet, the female Lombax we previously caught a glimpse of. Rivet will be a playable character in addition to both Ratchet and Clank, you can see her in action below:
Gameplay demo trailer
We saw a glimpse of gameplay footage following the announcement trailer, but this was then expanded on in a seven-minute extended gameplay demo at Gamescom's Opening Night Live on August 27, 2020, which we will focus on here.
The extended gameplay demo began with a cutscene as Ratchet and Clank return to Megalopolis, noting that they still have time to stop Dr. Nefarious. A squad of Goon-4-Less attack, leading into the actual gameplay. The fuzzy-eared Lombax and his robot sidekick make their way through the city, disposing of enemies via a selection of new weapons and the former's trusted OmniWrench.
Eventually encountering Dr. Nefarious, Ratchet damages the former's "Dimensionator" causing numerous rifts to materialize, which consequently transports creatures from other worlds into theirs. Ratchet and Clank pursue Nefarious until a rift appears and pushes them through the same dimension-hopping sequence shown in the announcement trailer. Check it out below:
Announcement trailer
Premiered at the PlayStation 5 showcase in June 2020, the announcement trailer takes us to a prehistoric planet (possibly Sargasso), until Ratchet and Clank suddenly break through a dimensional rift. Clank notes that the "dimensions are collapsing on one another," before a horde of robots follows who start firing on the pair.
Ratchet pilots an Anthropod to safety, only to be thrown through various different dimensions - resembling Megalopolis and Torren IV - ending at Ardolis where the Lombax takes on a group of pirates already fighting a Kraken. There's also another planet in the rift-jumping sequence where Ratchet rides a dragon at night through traffic – however, this does not seem to resemble any recognizable planets previously seen in the series.
The trailer ends as Clank is separated from Ratchet during an explosion on the pirate ship, resulting in the little robot falling through a rift, only to be welcomed by a female Lombax on a planet ruled by Dr. Nefarious. Check it out below:
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart news and rumors
We've gathered up the latest news and rumors surround Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, below.
State of Play reveals new gameplay and confirms photo mode
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was the primary focus for a Sony State of Play in April 2021, giving us some brand new gameplay footage (you can check it out in the trailer section above).
The gameplay footage was a feast for the eyes; Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart looks set to be a pretty gorgeous PS5 game and technically impressive too—Insomniac Games is harnessing the PS5’s SSD speed to load entire levels every time a dimensional rift is opened, it’s not just a simple arena swap.
In the footage we got to see some of Ratchet’s new moves, such as his dash and wall-running capabilities, as well as gameplay of the newly-introduced Rivet, a female Lombax who players will also get to control. The two of them share an incredible arsenal of weapons and gadgets, with both new gear and returning staples of the franchise.
You’ll be able to appreciate the range of the weapons with more than your eyes, too. All of the guns and tools in the game have been designed to feel unique using DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
And, of course, as you'd expect in a game this beautiful there is going to be a photo mode. It looks like it gives plenty of options to get the perfect shot, including the ability to pose your character, change their facial expressions, apply filters, edit lighting and more.
Accessibility options
Insomniac Games also revealed a raft of accessibility options for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart during the April State of Play. Amongst the accessibility options are simplified traversal; camera features like sensitivity sliders and shake sliders that will assist with reducing screen-shake while playing; toggle-able Game Speed mode; the option to turn on ledge guards; toggles and assists for combat; control over DualSense features and more besides.
The State of Play didn't dive into any of these in-depth but it was said that they will be explored more in the future, no doubt going beyond the brief glimpse shown on screen.
Meet Rivet
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will feature a new playable character: female Lombax Rivet. Rivet is a resistance fighter from another dimension and has are own bone to pick with Dr Nefarious. This is only the second appearance of a female Lombax in the series - Angela Cross previously appeared in 2003's Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando on the PlayStation 2.
Where in the timeline does Rift Apart take place?
Interestingly, Rift Apart is not a sequel to the 2016 reboot. Instead, the game was confirmed at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020 to follow on from Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus, which launched on the PlayStation 3 back in 2013.
"Canonically this is an extension of Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus - the 2013 game - but it's a standalone adventure," Insomniac’s creative director Marcus Smith explained.
"So, it's one that even if you've never played a Ratchet and Clank game, you can get into it and you'll understand it and you'll enjoy it. For hardcore fans, we have a lot of nods... you are going to see a lot of returning characters and planets, and see them all through a whole new light of 'multiple-dimensionality'".
DualSense support
Rift Apart will utilize the DualSense Ps5 controller's innovative features. Speaking to GamesRadar, game director Mike Daly explained how the DualSense gives the team "powerful new tools to take each weapon’s unique personality even further."
"The adaptive triggers not only give us another channel for weapons to feel unique, in some cases they enable extra functionality," Daly told GR. "Partially pulling the trigger or feathering it gives us a way to add nuance to weapon functions that just weren’t possible before the trigger itself couldn’t give feedback. Our Burst Pistol, for example, can be fired accurately by pulling the trigger up to a middle threshold or you can pull through to go all out at the cost of accuracy.
"It's much more intuitive to have this secondary function directly on the trigger than have players learn different buttons for it, it’s that much easier for you to get into the flow of combat and execute advanced strategies without having to think of the controls."
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