Something Old, Something New
There was a time when a year seemingly couldn't go by without a Ratchet & Clank game. Insomniac Games released a whopping thirteen Ratchet & Clank games between 2002 and 2013. Thus, even a three year absence at the start of Sony's latest console generation was notable, even if the intention was to use the latest game as part of promotional efforts for the recent animated movie. Concerns that the result would come off as a cheap movie tie-in were thus certainly justified. Fortunately, we have instead been given a reboot of the original series that brings one of Sony's most famous video game properties into the current generation in style.
As mentioned, Ratchet & Clank is a quasi-reboot/retelling of the first game as narrated by series favorite Captain Qwark. The game's events will seem familiar to long-time fans, though enough has been changed that it is not a simple rehashing of previous events. While the narrative is certainly not revolutionary, it flows well and gives the impression of taking part in an animated movie.
The game is highlighted by Insomniac’s trademark and/or infamous humor depending on your personal tastes. Insomniac have a history of producing games with a “DreamWorks/Pixar if it was direct-to-video vibe” about them. The most notable change from the older Ratchet & Clank games is there is less crude innuendo and more standard kid humor and meme-style jokes. Overall, it's a bit of a mixed effort. There are certainly some clever and hilarious moments, but there is more mundane than inspired humor here.
Over the last two generations of consoles, 3D action/platforming games were driven so far into the ground that the genre has been all but abandoned by AAA developers. Calling Ratchet & Clank “fresh” would be a misnomer, but it is somewhat more refreshing to see an update on this style of game than it would have been say at the PS4’s launch. Ratchet & Clank is heavier on the action end than the platforming end. None of the actual platforming is particularly difficult. In fact, the only difficult sections involving movement come from several of the game's trickier rail grinding sequences.
The heart of Ratchet & Clank games has always been the wild and creative weapons at Ratchet's disposal, and this game is no different. Numerous fan favorites from throughout the series make a return here. Whether you’re shooting enemies or blowing up crates, you’ll be constantly collecting bolts you can use to purchase additional weapons and Raritanium you can use to upgrade weapons of your choice. While you should have no problem acquiring every weapon in a single playthrough, you’ll only have enough resources to fully upgrade a handful of weapons. Most importantly, the majority of weapons are fun to use and the enemies you use them on are largelyfun to fight.
With that said, both mini-bosses and bosses are rather weak overall. If you want to fully explore one area of the game, there's a particular mini-boss you'll end up fighting well over a dozen of. It’s not a complex or memorable enemy design to begin with, so it’s more an exercise in tedium than fun. There are only a handful of fully-fledged boss fights in the game, and they range from solid to somewhat clunky in design. One in particular boss mostly relies on homing weaponry to try to compensate for its otherwise uncreative attacks. None of this is offensive, but it is one area where the game felt stuck in the design philosophy of a prior generation.
Meanwhile, Clank's gameplay is much less inspired than Ratchet's is. These sections feature less combat and platforming and instead focus on basic puzzle solving. Unfortunately, these puzzles range from underwhelming to downright brain-dead. Thankfully, there are only about half a dozen Clank sequences in the game, so this had minimal impact on my enjoyment of the rest of the game.
Other alternative gameplay sections fare better. There are several vehicle sections spread throughout the game. There are a handful of hoverboard racing challenges you can engage in for extra bolts and other rewards. Later in the game, you get a jetpack, which is a heck of a lot of fun to play around with. Unfortunately, it only works on a set number of levels. Each of these sequences helps to break up the more standard gameplay which might otherwise become tedious by the end of the game.
There is also plenty to explore and collect for the obsessive player. There are hidden paths, collectibles, and gold bolts sprinkled throughout each level. There are also collectible in-game cards. You pick up cards or card packs that give you random cards. Each completed set of cards nets you a small power-up of some kind. You can also purchase cards you don't have with five duplicate cards. Like the rest of the series, this game features a “Challenge Mode” where all of this carries into new game plus, thus making it easier and more entertaining to collect and upgrade everything.
Insomniac took full advantage of the power of the Playstation 4 to finally create a game that looks almost as good as the animated movies they’ve emulated. Ratchet & Clank is a bright and colorful answer to a sea of mundane looking games. If you want to see just how far the game’s graphics have come, Digital Foundry has a great video you really should check out comparing the three generations of Ratchet & Clank to one another. There is a level of detail and complexity to the geometry of level design the series has never been able to achieve prior to this game. The lighting and particle effects meanwhile a pure joy to behold.
Don't confuse the budget price of this game for a budget effort. Ratchet & Clank is every bit the AAA experience of the best entries in the series. It by no means revolutionizes the series, but it does prove there is still value to well-designed games of this type in modern gaming.
