Ratchet and Clank Review

[xy_game]Ratchet and Clank are making their debut appearance on the PlayStation 4. Is this reboot worth your money or should it have been left in the past?

If you’re a Ratchet and Clank fan, you already know what to expect with this game. But if you’re not then you’re in for a treat. The game features massive vibrant worlds, a heaping amount of weaponry, and lots of unlockable and collectable items. It’s a platformer and it knows exactly pull that off.

It starts out pretty quick and doesn’t necessarily hold your hand to teach you the basics, but the narration by Captain Quark will point you in the right direction if you’re for confused for any reason. Much of the game feels familiar if you owned the original R&C game on PS2, or even the collection disc on PS3, but there’s also a whole bunch of new content that Insomniac Games added to really flesh out the game.

Familiarity is something you need to make a successful reboot, but new content helps to re-inforce its value and helps to impress all players. Players will definitely recognize some planets in this game, including Novalis and Rilgar. But others are completely redesigned and have all new gameplay elements added in, including a huge section on Gaspar that uses the jetpack from Into the Nexus.

Insomniac Games continues to impress with this reboot of Ratchet and Clank.

All the weapons you know and love are back plus a couple of new ones including the Pixelizer and if you’re pre-ordering the game, the Bouncer. Every weapon has a skill tree, but you’ll need to actually use the weapon if you want to upgrade it to the max level. The more you use the weapon, the more potential upgrades you’ll unlock. Once you beat the game, you’ll be able to purchase Omega versions of each weapon for a steep cost, and then use them more to upgrade them even further through Challenge Mode (New Game+ for those who may be unfamiliar).

Collectables include a massive amount of trading cards that you’ll need to unlock by destroying all the enemies you encounter. The more complete sets of three that you unlock, the higher the chance of receiving more cards you’ll have. Unlocking these sets also unlocks the omega versions of the weapons to purchase at the Gadgetron vendors.

Like any Ratchet and Clank title, it’s going to require at least two playthroughs for 100% completion and the platinum trophy. My first run landed me with 38% of the total trophies, many of them being hidden – likely for skill points which is how it was on the PS3. I’ve managed to nail a few more in challenge mode, but this will be a moderately challenging game to earn that platinum trophy.

Besides your standard aim-and-shoot gameplay, there are some truly jaw-dropping sections feature rail grinding, and you’ll earn back your Trespasser which allows you to get through specific doors by solving laser-based puzzles, some of which I tend to consider as being more frustrating than fun. I suppose that comes with the fact that I don’t particularly love puzzles that aren’t too straightforward. Hoverboarding takes place on two planets, and one of them requires a first place win to progress in the game, but there’s a pretty handy shortcut that makes it a relatively easy win.

The fact remains that if you’ve played Ratchet and Clank before, you know what to expect. It’s a beautiful looking game with a decent level of challenge (on hard mode) with lots of extras mixed into the core game. The framerate never dropped once in my entire playthrough, which is impressive to say the least, considering the very detailed worlds and huge draw distance in some of the cities. Combine that with the fact that you can have 5,000 bolts flying around the screen and moving enemies plus your own ammo – it’s a wonder they’ve managed to keep a stable framerate. The drawback of course – you’re not going to play at a smooth 60FPS, maybe half of that – but it’s still gorgeous.

The game took me about 12-15 hours on my first run through on hard difficulty, but that’s including time spent on trespasser puzzles, and lots of hoverboarding to get 1^st on bronze, silver, and gold races. There’s at least another 8-10 hours left to unlock and earn all the collectables – so it’s a very solid amount of content for the price. Ratchet and Clank is full of laughs, and it offers some great fun for all ages.

Ratchet and Clank was reviewed using a code provided by Sony.

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