Fresh off of releasing Spider-man: Miles Morales, Sony first party studio Insomniac Games is now only a couple of months away from its newest PlayStation 5 title, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Revealed last year during the PS5 reveal event, the latest game in this long running franchise takes the dynamic duo on a new, stand-alone journey. The big feature for this adventure is the ability to jump through different worlds across multiple realities.
Fans first saw the ability to traverse different worlds in the debut gameplay footage from last summer, and what left many fans impressed was the seamless transitions needing no load times. Part of the reason why this mechanic works so well with the PS5 is due to the SSD, which lets players jump through to completely new areas instantaneously. The mechanic also teased new additions including a female Lombax who Insomniac is purposely choosing to withhold her name.
With Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart steadily approaching its June launch for the PlayStation 5, promotional materials will likely start increasing to bring further awareness to Insomniac's latest. For now, here is every trailer Sony and Insomniac have released to date.
Announcement Trailer
The very first trailer arrived on June 11, basically a year prior to the game's current planned release date. During the PlayStation 5 reveal digital event, Insomniac officially announced Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart where the duo were dropped into a mysterious world filled with dinosaur-like creatures roaming around. Something clearly isn't right, which is soon confirmed by the little robot Clank who reveals that the dimensions are collapsing, causing rifts to randomly appear.
The cutscene soon gives away to actual gameplay as Ratchet attempts to steer an animal of some sort but then gets thrown into a rift where grind rails appear in a new gameplay segment. Before long, the duo are sent through a few more rifts, one resulting sliding down a glass roof, riding on top of a flying creature through a canyon, and then another that seemingly takes place from the Star Wars planet of Coruscant. The next rift gives players a look at combat, which may likely be familiar for longtime fans of the series. The final rift pulls Clank into another future dimension, where he stumbles across the new and mysterious female Lombax with the robotic arm.
Insomniac Insights
A week later, the Insomniac Insights trailer gave fans another look at the announcement trailer. Similar to a commentary bonus feature in a movie, Creative Director Marcus Smith was on hand to reveal secrets about the first trailer that fans may have overlooked the first time through.
As it turns out, the breaking down of space and time is a result of an arch-nemesis of Ratchet and Clank who aims to exploit the dimensional collapse to exterminate all organic life. Smith goes on to confirm that the SSD of the PS5 is the big factor that allowed the team to work around these dimensional rifts and allow players to instantly traverse through different ones in an instant. Levels and worlds are loaded up in the background, so players are never aware of what's going on or have to look at a loading screen while the next world is prepared.
In terms of the DualSense, Smith reveals that controller's feedback helps weapons feel more powerful than in previous games. When paired with the adaptive triggers on the DualSense controller, each weapon will feel more unique from one another. In the example Smith gave, the Enforcer shotgun can fire one barrel or both just by how hard the player pulls the controller trigger. 3D Spatial Audio is also a major component to the overall experience, adding elements that help immerse the player into each of the various worlds they'll be exploring.
Extended Gameplay Demo
After two shorter trailers, Insomniac's Gamescom 2020 video finally gives players a detailed look at actual gameplay with UI and menus. Clocking in at over 7 minutes in length, fans get a glimpse at the duo battling familiar looking enemies in Megalopolis while finally getting confirmation that Dr. Nefarious is seemingly behind the dimensional rift issues. Using the Dimensionator, Nefarious is able to travel to other dimensions in an effort to take over the world. Unfortunately, things don't go according to plan and soon the multiverse is at risk as worlds begin to collide.
While not so great for the heroes, the visual effects on display as dimensional rifts open and close dumping creatures and objects into the world definitely shows off what the PlayStation 5 hardware can do. It also gives fans a look at the new rift gameplay mechanic, which can be used to change reality like fixing a broken bridge, helping out during combat, and advancing the story.
This series is also known for it's arsenal of powerful and sometimes wacky weaponry and Rift Apart looks to continue that tradition. Players get to see four weapons in particular during the gameplay demo including the Shatterbomb projectile, Enforcer shotgun, Burst pistol, and the outrageous Topiary Sprinkler. This weapon is thrown at a specific point on the ground and hits any enemies within range, growing plants and flowers before bursting.
Pre-Order Trailer
The final trailer released so far for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is also the shortest. At only 30 seconds, this trailer is less about gameplay as it shows off previous content and is intended to finally reveal the launch date for the game. At the end of the trailer, Insomniac confirms that the PlayStation 5 exclusive is now set for launch on June 11, 2021.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart releases on June 11 for PS5.