Review ~ Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time

This Ratchet and Clank game has been a long time coming – and with the rumors that it’s the last game (though I’ve heard that before…) this game has a lot of hype to live up to. Does it? Well…

First – graphics. Well, it’s a PS3 game, so of course it looks pretty. The in game movies are especially attractive. The environments in the Ratchet and Clank series have always been lush, and this game is no exception.

Story has also been a huge component in this series. This game picks up where Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty left off. Clank and Ratchet are still separated, and Ratchet (with the assistance of the bumbling and always amusing Captain Quark), is looking for him. Along the way, both learn more about their pasts and battle that devious droid Dr. Nefarious. While the story in the game is solid (and often very funny and heartfelt), I didn’t feel it was as strong as some past titles – mostly because it still leaves many questions unanswered. It also seems much shorter than past games, and there are far less planets to explore, but I’ll get into that more later.

As far as sound goes, voice acting has always been a prominent feature, and once again there’s wonderful voice acting here. The game is fully voice acted, but of course you have the option of turning on subtitles if you wish. The music is fine, but not particularly memorable. But you’re not playing this for the music.

Now for the main event – the gameplay. As there are many aspects to the gameplay in these titles, I’m going to break this down into categories:

WEAPONS: Weapons have always been a HUGE part of Ratchet and Clank games. Over the years we’ve seen all sorts of wacky weapons, and in more recent titles we’ve been able to upgrade them. After such a rich weapons history, I was somewhat disappointed with the weapons in this game. Of course, you have your basic weapons, but many of the funkier options – like the gun that turns enemies into monkeys – are just variations of weapons we’ve seen already. (Remember when you could turn enemies into chickens?) This isn’t such a big deal, really – how many different effective weapons can you dream up before you start repeating yourself? But what disappointed me the most was the amount of weapons I found to be kind of useless. Too many spots on my quick select were taken up with weapons that merely incapacitated enemies. A gun that temporarily freezes enemies comes to mind.

I’d say that about half of the weapons in the game I either used very rarely or not at all.

You get most of your weapons by purchasing them from vendors – a few others are won. The vendor this time is called GrummelNet, and whenever you purchase a new weapon from them you’re treated to a cute video about it featuring a cartoon Ratchet.

As in some past titles, your weapons level up. 5 is the max level, and it’s really not hard to level your weapons up to the maximum. In some of the past games you were able to upgrade your weapons further by giving them customized features. Well, in this game you can find upgrade packs on various planets and moons which add enhancements to certain weapons. These upgrades are free, and you can switch between them as often as you like. There are several upgrades that affect shots, range, power etc. These enhancements are pretty good, but not nearly as powerful as past games. Also, these upgrades are only available on 4 of the weapons, which I found disappointing. While all the weapons transform into a new weapon at level 5, this doesn’t really make up for the lack of customization.

Gadgets also used to be a big part of the game, but not any more. Aside from the grind boots, which come standard on Ratchet’s shoes nowadays, there are only four gadgets in this game. FOUR. And considering you start the game with swingshot again, and another gadget never requires Ratchet to use it, there’s really only two. While it’s easy to access these gadgets on the fly (just press up, right, down or left on the D-pad – each corresponds to one) only having a small amount of gadgets was a huge disappointment. I fondly remember the old days where you had to use several gadgets just to get through an area – not so much the case any more. And with the tiny gadget selection comes the absence of minigames where you unlock doors or solve other puzzles (Those aspects aren’t totally missing, but I’ll get there.)

Ratchet levels up in this game, too. And as his level rises his nanotech does too. You can also buy armor upgrades, but there are no wrench upgrades here.

There are crates a plenty – and once again bolts are not in short supply. I had no trouble affording anything ever.

There have always been sections in past games where you play as Clank, but it’s never been as much as it is in this game. Clank has long sections to himself, and while he does fight, a little, mostly he solves puzzles involving copying himself and using these copies to push buttons and open doors so he can progress further. Clank also has a minigame that I thought would play a bigger part (and is kind of a spoiler to explain) but you are only required to play it about 3 or 4 times. Neither of these aspects were tons of fun, but they weren’t horrible. Despite that, whenever the game switched to Clank, I couldn’t wait to get back to Ratchet.

Space battles have been a large part of the last few games, although this time there are far less missions and I found the battles easier in general. Your ship is upgraded as you find various Zoni scattered across the galaxy. This gives you better armor and weapons. I liked that system, but I didn’t really care for the new navigation system. Instead of going directly to the planet, on your first visit you must first go to the solar system and fly to the planet yourself. (On subsequent visits you can go directly to the planet.) Each solar system has 1, 2 or 3 major planets/ships to visit – these locations are where the story happens. Each solar system also has various moons where you can find Zoni/gold bolts/upgrade packs. These moons take the place of the multiple paths you used to find on the planets. Each planet pretty much has only one direction to go in now, and in all honesty I missed having multiple objectives on each planet. Most of the moons involve either killing a certain amount of enemies, or platforming elements that lead to your prize. There is no environment to these moons, and they’re pretty uninspired graphics wise. You also cannot warp directly to the moons – you must fly to each one yourself every time.

There are additional missions you can do in space to gain extra bolts. Most of them are very easy and take only minutes to complete. For many of them I felt like I was being paid more bolts than I deserved for the work I was doing. …Not that I’m complaining.

Gold bolts are a staple in Ratchet and Clank games, so of course they’re back. But, in continuation with the trend you’re probably noticing, most of them were very easy to find. Lots of them were in plain sight. In past games the gold bolts were often tucked away in hard to reach areas. Not so much here – I found many without much effort.

Skill points are also an expected feature that has returned. Skill points unlock cheats and other additional content. They range from easy to difficult and they involve completing skills you wouldn’t normally perform during the course of the game. The difficulty range in this game is on par with past titles, but I felt there was less of them this time around. There is also trophy support. You get most of them just by progressing normally through the game. If you’re looking to get rewarded for doing tough stuff, stick to the skill points.

This review was based on playing on medium, and I found the game to be pretty easy compared to past game. I had no problem affording anything I wanted to buy, ammo is plentiful and I didn’t find myself being slaughtered by enemies (even bosses) very often. Makes me wonder how easy the easy version is. (And yeah, I really think the game is easy – I haven’t become a better player.)

Overall I’ve been pretty down on this game during this review. The story and graphics certainly held up to Ratchet and Clank standards. But the game as a whole was too short. I didn’t feel like it had the depth of previous installments. There were fewer gadgets and too many useless weapons. There wasn’t as much to do. Not as much customization. Gold bolts are not hidden as well. The degree of difficulty is also kind of low. But even after all that, it was still a very good game. The thing is, despite all that negative stuff, Ratchet and Clank games are always so excellent that even one that isn’t quite up to par is still a fun, engaging experience. I’d definitely encourage everyone to play – but fans of the series, don’t expect the best one ever. This game is flawed, yes, but it’s still way better than a lot of other games out there. Not every game can be a masterpiece, after all. 

8 out of 10

Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction ~ Review (Spoiler Free)

I’ve always been a big fan of the Ratchet and Clank series. They’ve always been solid platformers that had interesting stories, great characters, clever dialogue and fun gadgets and weapons. So needless to say I was quick to pick up the newest installment, especially after being quickly hooked by the demo.

Gameplay – Gameplay is similar to the past games. The game is still a platformer with RPG elements. Ratchet still gains nanotech from killing enemies. So in a sense he ‘levels up’. The weapons also level up with continued use. Ratchet comes with some of the old gadgets you’ve become used to in the older games. (Can’t get around without that swingshot and grindboots!) You can still buy armor and weapons from vendors. The quick select is expanded into pages, so you can basically have all your weapons and gadgets at the tip of your fingers. The controls, as always, are perfectly suited for the game mechanics.

But this game is no carbon copy of the past titles. You can also buy devices from a separate vendor. These do various things, such a leech bomb which steals your enemies’ HP for you. I haven’t really found a use for these items yet. Raritanium is featured in this game as well, only here it levels up your weapons instead of your ship. You can do this at the armor vendor. Each weapon has a grid and each space on the grid levels up a different feature of the weapon. There are spaces that increase damage, cause the enemies to drop more bolts, and increase the rate of fire, among other features. Each space costs a different amount of raritanium to upgrade. This varies greatly depending on the weapon and what you want to upgrade. The weapons you get early in the game don’t need too much raritanium to level up, but as you get farther into the game the weapons require more and more. Each weapon also has a ‘?’ space that you have to unlock by purchasing all the upgrades around it. This then turns into a special addition for the weapon that basically serves to increase damage.

Space battles are back, but this time your controls are different. You control the ship itself with one analog stick and control your aiming with the other. Sometimes you also switch to Clank at a gun turret, where all you do is aim and shoot. I’m not a particularly huge fan of the ship battles. To me the controls are kind of difficult to use, but then again I’m no fan of piloting games in general.

This game also makes use of the motion sensor in the PS3 controller. There are several instances (including one of Clank’s devices) which require you to tilt the controller in order to complete a task. I found this kind of control sort of difficult at first (and this is from someone who owns a Wii), but I’m getting the hang of it. It certainly does add a different dynamic to the game.

As usual there are also portions of the game where you control Clank. Only this time he has different powers, including levitation and the ability to slow down time. It’s certainly much more interesting than the usual fare of ordering other robots to do your bidding.

I’ve read other reviews that said this game was easy. Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I will admit that there are certain aspects that do make your journey a bit simpler. For one thing, unlike past Ratchet and Clank titles, money is not that difficult to come by. I haven’t found myself short on cash yet. Also, the raritanium to update weapons is not hard to come by. It is not in abundance, and you will have to pick and choose your upgrades wisely, but upgrading as a whole is not something that happens rarely. Also, weapons vendors seem to be everywhere. That’s not only good because it allows you to frequently purchase ammo, but also because it actually heals you!

Story – The story is interesting as always. Once again you’re up against an evil, but unintentionally humorous, villain. The dialogue is also as funny as it’s ever been.

Graphics – Well, it’s the PS3, so I wouldn’t expect anything less than great. The environments are extremely detailed and expansive. Ratchet and Clank themselves also look great. You can even see the hair on Ratchet’s face.

Sound – The voice acting is top notch as usual. All the old voices you’ve come to know and love are back. The music is enjoyable.

Overall I’ve been extremely pleased with the game. The changes keep the game fresh, but at the same time it retains the same aspects that made the past games so enjoyable. This new installment will please not only fans of the series but new fans as well. Hopefully we haven’t seen the last of Ratchet and Clank.

Total score: 8.5 (9 on Gamefaqs. They don't allow 1/2 scores)