With Returnal launching on April 30, the next big PlayStation 5 exclusive game to look forward to is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, the latest installment in the critically-acclaimed 3D platforming franchise from Insomniac Games and Sony. Sony's latest State of Play presentation focused almost entirely on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, revealing all kinds of interesting details about the upcoming title.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, like previous games in the series, will once again feature a weapons vendor that players can interact with to buy new weapons, gadgets, and upgrades. Most games in the Ratchet & Clank series relegate this role to a Gadgetron box, but in Rift Apart, the role is given to Ms. Zurkon, who fans may recognize from Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. Ms. Zurkon will be accessible to both Ratchet and Rivet throughout the game's various levels.
In the Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart gameplay presentation shown during the State of Play event, fans got to Ratchet meeting Ms. Zurkon for the first time, as well as Rivet purchasing weapons from her. It's unclear exactly how far into the game the footage was, but it showed that Rivet already had five weapons from Ms. Zurkon and could purchase two more.
The weapons from Ms. Zurkon were as follows:
- Topiary Sprinkler
- Ricochet
- Burst Pistol
- The Enforcer
- Shatterbomb
- Mr. Fungi
- Negaton Collider
In the gameplay footage, new Ratchet & Clank hero Rivet purchases the Topiary Sprinkler from Ms. Zurkon, and then fans get to see the weapon in action. It sort of acts like the turrets from previous Ratchet & Clank games, except it sprays water and fertilizer at enemies instead of shooting them. However, this makes plants grow on the enemies and in turn makes it so they are rendered mostly immobile, leaving them open to shots from other weapons in Rivet's arsenal.
Fans didn't get to see Ms. Zurkon's upgrade screen, but so it's unclear what exactly that is for. Based on the Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart gameplay footage seen so far, it appears as though weapons will still upgrade based on how much they're used, which is how it worked in previous games. Perhaps the upgrades are to purchase special modifications for the weapons, or maybe they're to improve the stats of Ratchet and Rivet. All fans can do is speculate for now, unfortunately.
With the Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart release date less than two months away at this point, though, fans should get concrete answers sooner rather than later.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart launches June 11, exclusively for the PlayStation 5.
