Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus 1

Just when you thought that this year’s gigantic PlayStation 3 lineup couldn’t possibly get any bigger, Insomniac Games has announced that it’s working on a brand new title for the current generation console. Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus – which has been the subject of much teasing over the past few days – is being billed as a true sequel to 2009’s excellent Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. Excuse us while we pull out our Groovatron glove and shake some moves in celebration.

Chatting with IGN, creative director Brian Allgeier noted that “the time was right to come back to the core series”. There have been a couple of recent Ratchet & Clank releases, but neither Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One nor Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault scratched that old-school itch. Thankfully, this one will.

In addition to capturing the franchise’s classic feel, the sequel also aims to explore the “darkness of space”. The debut trailer shows the titular hero hopping around a massive anti-gravitational area, and Allgeier explains that the team thought that it would be fun to take the series in a “spookier direction”. You’ll still have access to some crazy guns, though, including the Nightmare Box, which terrifies foes, and the Repulsor, which will leave your unfortunate adversaries suspended in midair.

The developer’s also tossing some new grenades into the game: the Vortex Grenade and the Fusion Grenade. The former sucks bad guys into a black hole, while the latter is more of a traditional area-of-effect explosive. And then there’s the Winterizer, a fresh firearm that turns goons into snowmen and plays Jingle Bells when you pull the trigger. Sounds fun, huh?

Of course, this wouldn’t be Ratchet & Clank without a handful of non-offensive tools, too, and as such, you’ll have access to a new Grav Tether, which will allow you to navigate increasingly complex platforming sections. You’ll need to employ this item to cross some enormous chasms – and pick up some pesky Gold Bolts in the process.

The game’s due out later this year, and will cost you just $29.99. IGN notes that the release was originally subtitled Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nether Regions, but Insomniac Games was never going to get away with that one, was it? Check out the debut trailer embedded below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

[source uk.ign.com, via blog.us.playstation.com]