Sony's PS5 reveal event had a lot of surprises for PlayStation fans, especially fans of Insomniac Games. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was one of the first exclusives shown off for the PS5, and it finally brings the duo back in a new adventure for the first time in seven years, 2016 remake notwithstanding.
Rift Apart really shows how far Ratchet & Clank has come over the years, but the game looks to retain everything that fans know and love while introducing wild new elements. The biggest of these elements are, of course, the dimensional rifts that play into the story and gameplay.
The PS5 event shared quite a few details about the game, and Insomniac will surely share even more as time goes on. Here's everything we know about Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Release Date
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a PS5 exclusive, but as of now it doesn't have a release date or even a window. Fans shouldn't expect Rift Apart to be available at the PS5 launch in Holiday 2020, as Insomniac also has another game on the way. Spider-Man: Miles Morales, also announced during the PS5 event, launches Holiday 2020, and the studio's efforts will most likely be on that for the near future. Because of that, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart probably won't see a release until a few months into 2021 at the earliest, to give Miles Morales some breathing room.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Story
The reveal trailer for Rift Apart doesn't detail a lot of story, but it does give a few hints as to what's happening next. The game clearly takes place the furthest in the timeline seen yet, and as Clank states in the trailer, dimensions seem to be collapsing in on one another. In the gameplay clip shown Clank can be heard talking about how Dr. Nefarious has returned after all these years to try and take over the universe again. That means that Nefarious is likely the main villain of the series once again.
Of course, the big reveal is the female Lombax that Clank runs into at the end of the trailer, which means that Ratchet isn't the sole surviving member of his race. Who this character is and what her role is remains to be seen.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Gameplay
The core gameplay of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart remains largely the same, with the focus on third-person shooting and platforming. There are a few new elements that are already on display, however. Rifts are the first major change, as the game seems to have scripted sequences that have the duo jumping through different dimensions in a matter of seconds and having to contend with the surprises along the way.
The rifts also directly tie into gameplay as Ratchet has a new tool called the Rift Tether. This allows him to grab onto rifts in the environment and use them to teleport around areas, flanking enemies, or simply moving instantaneously. The trailer also showed off four new weapons for Ratchet; the Burst, Pistol, Shatterbomb, a shotgun-like Enforcer, and Topiary Sprinkler. Apart from that, the environment seems much more populated with NPCs and enemies than anything the series has seen before.