The game starts off in a peaceful enough way, introducing us to Ratchet, who seems to be a hybrid of many animals - in keeping with the sudden mammalian trend of plat forming game characters, most commonly seen in Jak and Daxter. Ratchet is a street-smart mechanic from the world of Veldin, and his attitude and general mannerisms is vital to the fun and humorous character of the game, and when teamed up with his partner Clank, they make some very humorous scenes together.
We first see Ratchet fixing his ship, and needing a robot ignition system to power up his aircraft - but by the look on his face we can tell he is missing this particular part. Surely enough, a small robot, capable of aircraft ignition, crash-lands on Veldin after escaping from a mass-producing robot factory on Clank’s planet, Quartu. After Ratchet realises his potential, then realises Clank can talk - that comes as a funny surprise to him - they are on their adventure together throughout the galaxy with Ratchet’s aircraft. At first they are fugitives from the law, but when they discover a more evil and sinister plot, they join forces convincingly to bring down this villainous force that threatens places near and far.
After this brief and cheerful introduction we are introduced to the “villain” of the game himself, Chairman Drek. With the description in the instruction booklet as “a mob boss without the bad Italian accent”, it’s not hard to see that Drek is really nothing more than a big bully, rather than a monstrous villain who wishes to take over the world - or in this case, galaxy. Then, of course, there is always the phoney superhero Captain Qwark who you meet later on in the game - you see this game featuring these types of characters, because, one of the reasons it succeeds so well is that it is both a parody of superhero and “saving the world” stories, but it also makes an honest, down-to-earth attempt at a very solid and enjoyable platforming game.
Smooth And Stylish
Graphically, everything in Ratchet and Clank is simply beautiful. Textures are well-defined, clear cut, and extremely smooth. Virtually no slowdown occurs except in very rare cases, where there is an extraordinary amount of things happening on screen at once, and as a result of this the action is never slowed down from the fast pace it is already at - certainly not a bad thing when you’re playing the game.
The environments are by far the prettiest in any plat forming game to date, and they are incredibly wide spanning - the levels Aridia and Kerwan come to mind. It is entertaining to just stand in a suitable spot in the level and admire the scenery - I know I have done that many times, because the environments have so much intricate details in them that it’s hard to believe that the game is supporting all these details, while you are actually controlling the character!
That said, the environments make a large portion of the game - they really manage to convey the diversities of the worlds that can be found in a galaxy - each manages to retain its own distinct style and charm, as there is always one planet that a player favours over others. Overall, the graphics in this game are superb, both in terms of any game in the plat forming genre and in terms of any game in the market currently.
Platform Peril
The game, in terms of how well it plays, can be easily divided into two parts: the plat forming elements, and the weapons. All the elements that make a plat forming game good are in this game. There are challenging puzzles using a strange gadget called a trespasser, underwater sections which sometimes are quite demanding, over-water sections which are fun to play through, as well as various jumping sections which, with a bit of practice, become easily achievable. The learning curve, as expected, increases steadily to perfectly end up at a very hard difficulty level by the end, which is nevertheless still achievable.
Lethal Weapon
The weapons are absolutely essential to the game, and they are what gives the game its flair and edge over other plat formers. The weapon selection is massive, unlike any other game (and obviously unlike any other plat former) and each weapon, believe it or not, serves its own absolutely unique purpose, and you will most definitely be using all of the ones you buy, if not all of them in the game. The acquisition system is cleverly set up through “Gadgetron Vendors”, which requires you to buy your weapons from bolts that you collect from killing enemies (either with your standard spanner or with any weapons that you have already bought). It is simple enough, but with the price range for weapons varying from 1,000 to over 100,000 bolts, you’ll find that you’ll be collecting bolts for quite some time to come.
Gadgets are also an interesting side note. Along with the weapons, you will acquire weapons in the game, but the difference is that you don’t buy gadgets - you will get them as part of the ongoing storyline. Each gadget serves its own peculiar purpose, from the Trespasser (mentioned above, used for puzzles) to a Gadgetron PDA, which is a portable shop used for buying ammunition, but the catch is that they cost slightly more than a normal shop. Special mention must also go to the magneboots, which allow you to stick to magnetic surfaces, and the grind boots, which provide for some extremely fun rail sequences. The idea of gadgets is a clever idea which keeps the game from being too monotonous, which is a trap that any plat forming game could easily fall into; Ratchet and Clank, however, does not.
Solid Sounds
If there ever was a “bad point” to consider in the game, sound would have to be that. I am not saying that the sound is sub-standard in any way, but it is far from perfect. In the levels you will only notice slight accompanying tunes, and there are no real musical “songs” as such that you will find in the game, just slight portions of melody or bass that occur in the levels.
The voices, however, are excellently done. Each character is voiced with a voice that perfectly suits their character, and reinforces the parodical and funny nature of the game. Thanks to the brilliant script and the voices which contribute to it, every cutscene is a very fun and entertaining one to watch - and there will be many of them which illustrate the strong storyline that Ratchet and Clank is based around.
Play This For A Few Years
The lasting appeal of this game is more surprising than what people would think. People’s main concern with Jak and Daxter (the plat forming game on PS2 released before this) was that the whole adventure was over too soon. This is not the case at all with Ratchet and Clank, as you will find yourself traversing across tens of worlds, each with their own completely unique objectives and enemies. The best part is, it never gets boring or monotonous, thanks to the clever weapon and gadget system.
In addition to the sheer multitude of worlds, there is also the incentive to save up your bolts by visiting worlds again and again to buy bigger and better weapons, which very much help for later bosses! And as if that was not enough, there is also some entertaining mini-games for you to play while on your grand adventure. Other certain things will also entice you to go back and play through the game in its entirety for a second time! In summary, this game has a horde of unlockables, and the actual adventure will keep you occupied for a very long time - easily the best of the platformers in terms of lasting appeal.
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