Everybody take notes from Insomniac because this is how you reboot a franchise! The PS4 keeps delivering with it's exclusives and this game is no exception. Ratchet & Clank here is a remake/re-imagining/re-do of the first
Ratchet & Clank from back on the PS2. The original game turned some heads with it's cartooney visuals, charming story, fun platforming, and of course it's insane gadgets. This new game essentially recaptures all of those elements but re-imagines them in a more.... Next gen sense. Insomniac is revisiting this world now with the mountain of experience they've gained perfecting the Ratchet & Clank formula, and playing this game I realise why this was such a smart move on their part!
First off the most noticeable upgrades are with the visuals, man does this thing pop. The lighting is great, the worlds are bursting with colours, and the animations (particularly in cutscenes) would have the likes of Pixar nodding their heads. Ratchet's new look in particular is adorable, and the designers bring out character's facial expressions wonderfully. The narrative of this game is based off of that from the first game but it does implement some key plot changes and differences. How Ratchet & Clank meet is effectively the same, as is the Galactic Rangers plot points and the hilarious captain Qwark revelations. Chairman Drek is still the established villain and he's still trying to destroy planets; only this time the menacing Dr. Nefarious plays an important role and there's a new and unexpected plot twist near the end that I won't spoil. Obviously the dialog is completely overhauled here, but the writing is just as humour driven as ever and the roles are performed with lots of passion and soul.
The level designs are where things get interesting. Roughly the first half of this game has you revisiting the same planets and locations from the first game, with virtually the exact same environmental layouts and objectives as before (just with up res'd visuals). They threw in some entertaining airship battles, and changed up the Clank sections to make way for some new cognitively challenging puzzles. The planet Gaspar in particular has been expanded upon greatly and you can now explore it fully with an awesome Jetpack upgrade! There are some new locations thrown in during the latter half of the game like the Warbot factory in Quartu and the giant Deplanetizer space station. There are many planets missing from the original game, where there were 18 or so locations in the first game there's only about 13 in this one. So yeah the game is quite a bit shorter in length, but it's certainly a more concise game than the original.
This game takes some pretty big game-play strides over the original game. First off, you can strafe now!!! And the addictive upgrade system from previous R&C game's has been carried over into this one. This game also refines the weapon roster and adds some fantastic new ones like the Pixilator (which turns enemies into 8-bit sprites) and the Groovitron (that makes enemies spontaneously break out into uncontrollable dance!!!). Plus classics return like the Glove of Doom (a glove that spawns evil minions!) and the Morph-O-Tr..... Erm, I mean, Sheepanator (a gun that turns foes into sheep... although it was chickens in the first game...). And who could possibly forget the massive and terrifying RYNO!!! :O The grind boot sections are back and are as fun as ever! Plus, the hoverboard racing mini-game has returned and there are two different courses to race in! This game is just constantly throwing new ideas at you and having you do different kinds of tasks!
The newly revamped Ratchet & Clank doesn't try to be anything but fun. It may be short in length, and it may stick a bit too closely to the original, but it's a very concise game from front to back. It's got a fun story with charming characters, and loads of imagination with it's combat, there's no going wrong here! I can't wait for the sequels! :3
There’s some light platforming on some levels but they’re mostly straight up action games.