By having the word "shitty" in the title, this does not mean that the game is shit. It means that this review won't have any pictures or links in it unfortunately. I have been having tons of problems with my computer lately so this will be a text-only review. I will try to limit walls of text to the best of my ability and try to not to cause eye sores.
The game:
Ratchet and Clank on the PS4 is a complete reimagining of the very first PS2 Ratchet and Clank title. The game offers new things for the player such as new weapons, new story elements, and introduces new characters, and also following the plot of the Ratchet and Clank movie which releases this Friday, April 29.
The Story:
The game starts out with introducing us to a guy named Shiv Helix and Captain Qwark both in prison. Captain Qwark is telling Helix the story of Ratchet and Clank's adventure, which happened before Qwark ended up in prison. As you play through the game, Qwark will sometimes narrate the situations that are happening around Ratchet and Clank and some of the stuff that Qwark says is pretty funny. For instance, if you stand around for a long time, Qwark will comment on why Ratchet is doing that and its pretty great and a nice little touch.
The Galactic Rangers who were first introduced in Up Your Arsenal return but its not those green robots you fight along with in that game this time around as we are instead introduced to new characters. The Galactic Rangers are Captain Qwark's team that fight evil doers. The team consists of Cora Verolux, Elaris, Brax, and Captain Qwark. Ratchet in this game wants to be a Ranger more than anything and from completing training courses that they have set up, they have an interest in Ratchet. You become a Galactic Ranger and start to do missions with your new team. I thought these new characters Insomniac brought us were pretty likable and cool. I just wish we saw more of Elaris and Brax as they don't really do all that much or are seen that much in this game which is disappointing. You're mostly working with Cora on the missions that you do. If they continue to do more games after this one, I hope they keep these characters in some way because I really enjoy having them around.
The villain, or villains I should say are Chairman Drek and Dr. Nefarious who are the best villains in the entire Ratchet and Clank series in my opinion. Chairman Drek's motive is just like it is in the first game as he wants to build a new planet for his species, but in order to do so he destroys other planets in the process and steals the terrain from those planets. Dr Nefarious's role is constructing armies and new weapons for Drek's forces. Seeing Nefarious come back was awesome and I'm super happy that they got the original voice actor for him too. The new voice actor for Drek I can't take seriously. The original voice actor for Drek actually sounded mean and sounded like a person with power who you didn't want to mess with. The new Drek voice I didn't feel it at all really and felt more annoying to be honest. His personality in this game is also different than the original version, as he tries really hard to be funny but most of his jokes did not even make me smirk.
Ratchet and Clank meet just like how they did in the original game. Ratchet's personality in this game is NOTHING like the original which is something I'm glad they did. If you didn't know, Ratchet was a complete dick to Clank in the PS2 game but redeemed himself in the end. Ratchet becomes best friends with Clank and never argue or anything in this version. Even when Ratchet felt he was at his worst when he sees a planet get destroyed, he was still that Lombax we all know and love and not a complete douchelord.
As for the length of this game, it is a little shorter than the original. There's a lot of levels that did not return. Levels like Eudora, Umbris(it is mentioned though), Hoven, Oltanis, Oltanis Orbit, and Orxon are not in this game. I guess Insomniac wanted to focus more on the story-driven levels instead. The iconic levels like Blackwater City, Aleero City(Metropolis from the first game), Novalis, and Aridia do return and their level designs are almost completely identical to their PS2 counterpart.
Characters and other things from all over the Ratchet and Clank series make small cameos or are referenced in this game. The Plumber returns and his interaction was my favorite and once again, he broke the fourth-wall like he always did. Seeing The Plumber made me happy and what he tells Ratchet and Clank was hilarious and he may have also confirmed another game but it could have just been a joke. The RYNO Guy in Blackwater City returns and instead of just selling you the RYNO, he needs to collect RYNO Holocards which I will explain below. Dallas and Juanita from Deadlocked are in Aleero City when Ratchet becomes a Galactic Ranger. Felton Razz, the Pokitaru host, mentions the Polaris Galaxy from the Future series. The Protopet from Going Commando and Megacorp also get referenced too. When you first meet Elaris, she is playing the online multiplayer from Up Your Arsenal. I guess this means that everything from the Ratchet and Clank games that came after the original now all exist with one another.
Gameplay:
A complaint that most people have with the original game was that the controls were not that great. Ratchet couldn't strafe and the reaction time was kind of slow. The camera was also sloppy at times and there was no way to change the controls really. I'm glad to tell you that this game plays nothing like the original and offers multiple options if you want to change the controls.
- The control options are the standard 3rd-Person mode, Lock-Strafe, and Fixed. I've been playing on Lock-Strafe mode ever since Up Your Arsenal and to me personally it is the best way to play these games as it mixes third and first person into one.
- Weapon upgrading and Nanotech upgrading are in this game. Weapons gain 5 levels before maxing out and Ratchet gains +10 health every time you level up his Nanotech, maxing out to a total of 200. You also upgrade your weapons in this game at the vendors using Raritanium. Depending on the weapon, you can upgrade certain things like having enemies drop more Raritanium or Holocards. You can also upgrade them performance-wise giving them better a better rate of fire or more ammo for example. Omega Weapons are purchasable in Challenge Mode and weapons gain another 5 levels and offer more upgrades to buy.
- There are 3 difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Hard. I've been playing on Hard this entire time and the game can be challenging at times. For new players I recommend Normal for your first time through then Hard on your Challenge Mode playthrough. For players familiar with Ratchet and Clank, go straight to Hard.
- The weapons in this game are mostly from the Future series. Weapons like the Mr. Zurkon, Plasma Striker, Groovitron, and Warmonger are from those games. The new weapons in this game are the Pixelizer and Proton Drum. The Pixelizer is probably one of my favorite weapons in this game, as it turns every enemy you shoot into 8-bit sprites and when they die you can break their pixelilated bodies into blocks. The only weapons that returned from the original PS2 game is the Glove of Doom and Pyrocitor which made me sad. I wish they had brought back the Suck Cannon and Tesla Claw too, as they were some of my favorites.
- Bolts are way easier to collect in this game. Collecting bolts in the original game was a pain as you did not collect as much as you did in later games. In Challenge Mode, the Bolt Multiplier is back and you can collect even more bolts than before if you get it to x10 or higher.
- Every once in a while you'll get to play as Clank and take on puzzles. Clank can punch, double jump, and slam his fists into the ground. When you play as Clank, there will be Gadgebots that you will need to help you progress. There's a Power Bot, Spring Bot, and Bridge Bot. These types of Gadgebots made me think of Going Commando's bots as there were bridge bots etc. in that game.
- Sometimes you will have to fly your ship for aerial combat. The ship controls could have been done better as you steer and aim with just the left stick which is weird. The ship controls in Going Commando feel perfect compared to the controls in this game.
- The Hoverboard races in Blackwater City and Kalebo III return and are much more fast-paced than before. The Hoverboards control better than the ship controls thankfully.
Graphics
Ratchet and Clank is one of the best looking games on the PS4 if not the best. The graphics in this game are spectacular and makes the original look like it came out of the stone age. Environments are so beautifully done I stopped and took everything more than usual. My favorite levels to just look at everything was Gaspar, Aleero City, Pokitaru, and Veldin.
You can actually see Ratchet's fur stick out when you zoom in close enough and almost looks real. Even the fur on the sheep from the Sheepinator looks real when you look at it.
If any of you read my Going Commando review, I talked about how every time you arrived at a new planet, the first camera shot is a wide shot of the entire level and gives you a sense of scale. Those same wide-shots are in this game so take them for granted and enjoy the pretty environments.
Soundtrack
I don't like the new soundtrack at all in this game, not one bit. There is not a single track I liked other than maybe the Pause menu theme and Pokitaru theme. I would have loved Insomniac to remaster the original soundtrack and make it sound better for this game, like how 343 did with Halo 2 Anniversary. Even if they didn't do that, maybe an option in the Sound Options to turn on the original soundtrack would have been nice. The soundtrack for this game is extremely disappointing and its not one I would return to and listen like I do with other Ratchet and Clank OSTs.
Extra Content
- Gold Bolts return as a collectible. Instead of needing Gold Bolts to purchase Omega Weapons like in the original game, Gold Bolts unlock cheats and different hangars in the Insomniac Museum. There are 28 Gold Bolts total to find.
- Holocards are introduced in this game. A Holocard will have a character, weapon, or level from all over the R&C series. There's Holocard Sets and when you complete a set, you will gain a Bolt Bonus, Raritanium Bonus, or Holocard drop-rate Bonus. I just need 1 more RYNO Holocard to get the RYNO and I have collected damn near 100+ of cards and I haven't gotten the last RYNO card. I'm seriously starting to get mad that I haven't been able to get the RYNO yet and I have already played through the game twice.
- The Insomniac Museum returns but is extremely disappointing this time around. Its super small, WAY smaller than the one in Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal. There's nothing to do in this museum except look at props from previous R&C games which I find super creepy because they don't do anything at all. They just stand there. There are also computer screens which shows pictures of characters from the original game with a strange humming sound. Anyways, this version of the Insomniac Museum really is nothing all that special like it should be.
Final Verdict
Ratchet and Clank is refreshing new beginning to the franchise that does a lot of things really well while having a few faults here and there. There are a lot of things Insomniac could have done to improve the areas on that I already explained but other than that, this game is fantastic. This game is a great joy to veteran players and even new players will love this game as well. In my opinion this game is worth the $40 pricetag.
I'm gonna go ahead and give Ratchet and Clank an
8.5/10. I think that is a fair enough score to give it in my personal opinion. I'm looking forward as to what Insomniac is going to do next with this series. A reimagining of Going Commando would be cool but a whole new game would be even better.
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