CollectCompleteCompile

Collecting video games, completing them, and compiling information regarding them. Reviews, opinion pieces, and rants as well.

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If you ever wished Bomberman was set in a horror-parody world, Basement Crawl, a PS4 exclusive downloadable title, is just for you.

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darkcloud3plz

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Last Thursday, my girlfriend and I attended the Insomniac Community Day at the Durham Armory here in NC. I was already ecstatic that I'd be meeting some of the crew responsible for one of my favorite video game franchises, but the event turned out to be even cooler than I'd imagined. There was traditional southern food catered by a local barbecue restaurant on the right side of the room (not pictured), there were around 15 set-ups on the left allowing fans to get a taste of Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus before release, and the center provided seating for dining and for watching the presentation. The largest video game related events I've attended are anime conventions and competitive tournaments, so walking into a room full of PlayStation 3 Test Units (built exclusively for demoing, debugging, and developing), fellow fans, and some of my video game developer heroes was definitely a mind blowing experience. Ratchet even joined the party eventually for some photo-ops. The children there were thrilled, and one boy got a great picture where Ratchet let him hold the Omniwrench. I couldn't resist either.

After thoroughly destroying the banana pudding, we made our way over to the demo stations. My girlfriend has never touched a Ratchet & Clank game, and she took a moment to learn the controls, as well as get used to walking up seemingly vertical surfaces with Ratchet's gravity boots. After that, it was smooth sailing. Insomniac has gained another fan. While I haven't beaten every title in the series, I've logged far more hours in Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal than anyone should spend sheepinating galactic criminals. When I sat down and gripped the controller, it was like getting back on a bike for the first time in a few years: wobbly for a moment, but then back to mastery. Using the new "Winterizer", I'd made snowmen out of every enemy I'd encountered, playing holiday music from my gun all the while.

The game is amazing, and feels like a slightly darker installment in the original PS2 Ratchet & Clank series. Don't think for an instant that "darker" means that it's lost the trademark sense of humor. One cutscene had new main villain Neftin Prog instructing a Thug4Hire to launch missiles at Ratchet, only to have the bumbling Thug theatrically hit the radio button, causing a Wang Chung song to blast from the ship's speakers. The Insomniacs mentioned they were surprised that Sony got them the rights to use the song, and use it as much as possible because of it. Since the end of the PlayStation 3's life cycle is near (at least as far as strong first party support is considered) the game is priced at $29.99 and even comes with a copy of R&C: Quest for Booty when you preorder. If you're a fan of the series, I'm sure you'll love Into the Nexus.

We had a wonderful time at the Community Day, and it was awesome to meet some of the Insomniac staff and be gifted with both their knowledge and autographs. I had my copy of Ratchet and Clank Collection signed by the entire crew, two posters (one of myself, and another for a friend who's a R&C fan), and Brian Allgeier even signed my copy of Spyro: Year of the Dragon. My girlfriend got a poster signed as well. I can only hope they didn't mind my greed and don't assume I was in it for eBay material. These items will be proudly displayed items in my collection. Not only are they wonderful games with signatures by their extremely talented creators, but they're mementos of a wonderful night I had with my lady, great food, fellow gamers, and the Insomniac crew. The panel was great, and provided so many stories that it'll be a separate post of its own. There was a lot of information about how the first Ratchet and Clank came about, and how Ratchet developed into who he is as a character. A lot of great office stories were shared as well, including broken fingers, dog poop, and Sports Illustrated calenders. It's great stuff. Expect me to detail it all soon.