R&C:FToD (PS3) Review
Well, I got the game, expecting mind melting graphics, and world class visuals mixed in with phenomenal game play that reaches beyond ages and brings a fun and enjoyable game with a compelling story.
UNFORTUNATELY THIS GAME IS THE OPPOSITE!
Let me start off with the first level in the game, a rehashed edition of the demo. This level is nothing like the rest of the game at all. It is the only time you are in this town and the only point to the whole scenario is that you now need a ship. There is no explanation for how you got there and better yet, when you are playing they don’t tell you a damn thing control wise. I got to the 2nd level, and then the tutorial mode started up. Controls were fully explained instead of brief instances as in the previous level.
To set up the game, you travel through 3 galaxies and you have to go to a planet, solve some task, and then you get told which planet to go to. This happens for around 15 planets.
The environments are incredibly diverse, but again, what you are doing isn’t that fun. You run around breaking boxes like in crash bandicoot just to get the bolts, you use those to level up weapons and buy s**t. There are more than 30 weapons and items to use, but there is only 3 armor builds that you can use in the first play through of the game (don’t know if there is more in the challenge mode).
So you get through the story, and basically there is a standoff between you, and the enemy of the game. You go through 3 or so planets and it is a freaking glitch fest. I had issues selecting weapons that I didn’t have earlier in the game. This could and probably is just my issue, but it did happen so I am mentioning it. Also, I would select one weapon, and end up with one on a different selection circle (there are 3 total). Also, there is a lot of running around more so in these final levels than in the rest of the game, and this brings forth the camera issues. The whole fighting the camera to be able to look at your enemy occurs (because the sensitivity on moving the camera is extremely slower than most other games).
The most annoying and frustrating issue I had in these final stages was the difficulty. There isn’t a way to select medium or hard or anything, but at these final levels you have enemies that dissolve and move whenever you shoot them. You end up having to use weapons that will wait and kill the enemies or just mowing them down with the mg type weapons or a flamethrower to end up killing them. There is a weapon that throws out a lightening cage basically and it freezes them and kills them. I would wait for the enemies to appear, get my gun ready to shoot, jump and then shoot them. When I didn’t have aiming issues caused by the FANTASTIC (yes I’m being sarcastic here) aiming system, the enemies would dissolve by the time the bullet had traveled 20 ft and it kept happening over and over. Meanwhile they have 2 hands that shoot machine guns at you taking 1/5 of your health with each bullet.
It’s extremely frustrating to try and beat the level, but you keep playing because you want to basically save the galaxy.
so you get to the boss level, beat him, and another cut scene occurs where you teleport back to the world and then magically the weapon you were using to teleport breaks while it is in use and teleporting you, but you still make it to the right dimension. ANYWAYS, the game ends with a completely different ending then what you were expecting, and it is so damn annoying because everyone who plays the game wants ratchet to bring back his society, but magically the helmet is broken. Anyways, the game ends with clank being taken away for no reason but then just for the hell of it, and the Oni or whatever they are called do something completely out of character.
Now that I have discussed the game, let me comment on the things I didn’t mention:
THE GOD DAMN LOADING SCENES ARE HORRIBLE: sure it is to cover up lag, but do I really need to see the same 3 second into scene, another 3 second scene repeated anywhere from 2 to 4 times, and then the ending scene that is another 3 seconds. and to top it all off, when I get to the 3rd galaxy they decide to change it up and add 2 new scenes instead of repeating the same ones 4 times. Now they repeat the 2 new ones twice.
I briefly mentioned it, but the aiming on this game is about as broken as the cover mechanic in uncharted. You basically don’t use it. The way you “aim” is tweak the position so that ratchet is facing the enemy and then shoot. You basically “spray and pray” throughout the whole game not being able to truly aim at all.
The 30+ weapons includes 15+ devices that are retarded and should have been guns that you can level up (the groovitron was in the demo, but not in the game).
Also, in the last levels with the teleporting enemies, camera issues, etc. I also have trouble with guns actually shooting. I would be doing the grapple hook and it wouldn’t shoot out, or I would have a gun that wouldn’t shoot (sort of like I didn’t have ammo, but I actually did).
Now, the graphics and such in the game are not what they appear to be or what you have been told. Instead of Pixar quality graphics I have Pixar quality cut scenes and aliases, and simplified objects in the levels. Granted the most impressive thing in the game is the texture work, and how the metallic objects appear to have chrome on them and what not. As for the major issue of the graphics it is the lighting. If you enjoy super extreme bloom lighting then this is the game you could only dream of, but, if you have sensitive eyes or want realistic lighting you will pretty much want to puke when you see this game in motion.
To sum it all up, this is at heart a kid’s game that as gamers who love the franchise has grown up; they have taken it to a new audience and experience those who have missed out on it to a new type of game. Basically what I’m getting at here is if you like the game you probably played it in some other form, but in my case this is my first ratchet and clank game, and it was basically something that a child should be playing
NOTE: the demo for this game as I said is completely different than the actual initial level in the game, and it is nothing like the rest of the game.
