A wonder: Blockbuster tips last generation on head

The title of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart can be read two ways. The obvious is that it’s a straight-up description of the game as the titular heroes pop in and out of rifts to travel to strange, exotic new worlds.

The second, and more interesting read, it that as this is a PlayStation 5 exclusive and the console’s first mass-appeal blockbuster, it is a rift apart from the last generation. The first wave of PS5 games was hamstrung by a mandate to also appear on the PS4, showing a reluctance by Sony to wave goodbye to its huge install base. But with this game the tatty last-gen bandage has been ripped off.

With the Pixar-esque quality of its graphics, flashy effects-laden action and near instantaneous loading times — even when jumping from one visually distinct world into another — the game is a wonder. And simply not at all possible on that old tech.

Designed from the ground-up for the PS5, this is a system showcase. There’s so much going on, whether you’re skimming over swamps on the back of a rapid snail-like alien, wooshing down rollercoaster-like rails through a futuristic, neondrenched city or preventing an alien attack during a celebratory parade, the graphics, effects, and sound design is wildly impressive.

Fortunately the gameplay backs all this up. Amongst all the frantic firefights with the series’ trademark bizarro weapons, the game is filled with wildly inventive levels, fun little mini-games and plenty of explosionfilled action that requires fast reflexes and an itchy trigger finger to progress

through it’s smartly written, often humorous, story.

This game is a blockbuster in every sense of the word.

It’s big, bright, bold, fun and the first real example of what the next generation of gaming is all about.