Ratchet: Deadlocked

"Insomniac just didn't get it right....."

Let me just say first off that I am one of the biggest Ratchet and Clank fans there is. I fell in love with their first R&C from the moment I played it, and contined the love with Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal. However, Deadlocked failed to deliver for me.

Graphics:9/10
As always, Insomniac is able to get this catagory right. The Ratchet and Clank series has some of the prettiest graphics on the PS2, and this game is no exception. The one problem I had with the graphics was that every level was always dark and gloomy. I know that that is supposed to set the tone for DL, but it still was a downside for a guy who love playing in the bright and vibrant worlds of the past 3 games.

Story:1/10
Insomniac has never had the greatest success at making a good story in games. The first R&C had a great story, while as GC and UYA had average plotlines. Deadlocked's plot still is boggle me. The entire story can be split into 2 sections: Ratchet's story and Gleeman Vox 's(the villian) story. Ratchet's story is predictable. I won't spoil anything, but it is the traditional "hero" story found in most action game. Vox's story seems to be vocused around the marketing of many Ace Hardlight gadgets, toys, and clothes. Ace Hardlight is basically the other villian in the game besides Vox. Neither of the stories really excited me, and made me want to know what was next. I pratically was falling asleep during the Vox and Hardlight cutscenes. My expectations were never high for the story, but I expected better. Hopefully Insomniac will be able to fix these problems in the future R&C title.

Music: 8/10
Not bad. Insomniac finally decided to dish out some new tunes to the franchise, and they aren't really that bad. Sure, the music isn't as great as the first R&C, but it still is great to see Insomniac trying harder in the catagory.

Gameplay: 3/10
The backbone of the R&C franchise was pratically snapped in half in DL, and it snapped by repetitive gameplay. Every single world in Deadlocked seemed to practically reapeat itself. Every mission felt the same to me, and it bored me out of my mind. Yes, thats right; a Ratchet and Clank game bored me. Now, the topic most frequently discussed before the game's release was the mod system that would be added on to the weapons. Even though I was doubtful, this turned out to work ok. The problem is that all of the mods were predictable. Acid, Ice, Shock, ect. There were some enique ones, but only a couple. Still, the mods were fun to use. The weapons, however, failed to impress. All of the weapons, excluding the Scorpion Flail, were basically rehashes of weapons used in past R&C games. Add of that together with a lineup of no gadgets except the swingshot, and you've got a pretty awful gameplay system.

(Ok, the camera was very good, as usual.)

Multiplayer: 5/10
I have to give Insomniac credit in multiplayer simply because it seems like they tried really hard to make it good. In the end, the expectations of the multiplayer carried over from UYA were not met. Online can only be described as "cheap". Every single game, whatever mode it may be seems to be a race. A race to get the vehicles, a race to get the powerups, a race to get the upgrades. In UYA, a game could go on for an hour, and even when a team seemed to be on the brink of defeat, there was always some hope that still remained for them to pull out a win. In DL, the game is over in a minute. Conquest is won once a team has at least one more node than another team. Powerups to nodes make it virtually impossible to penetrate. So, if you don't have the most nodes in Conquest by at least 1 minute into the game, you're screwed. King of the Hill and Juggernaught are just bad Halo ripoffs. They're ok game mods, but they're not great. Capture the Flag and Deathmatch were able to hold my interest momentarily, but it so easy to get killed in multiplayer by cheap deaths that all the fun is taken away no matter what. Of course, there is a lot of idiots, cheaters, racists, and stat lovers in the community, making the multiplayer even worse. I even found myself coming back to UYA just to relive a glimpse of good gameplay. I suggest that everybody else do the same.

Co-op mode: 10/10
Now here's something good. Co-op mode is excuted perfectly, with no problems whatsover. But, please still be aware that I'm not taking into account the awfulness of the single player. However, it is possible to have a slight amount of fun in Co-op. Slight.

Replayability: 7/10
Compared to past R&C games, there is not much to do. The infamous Challenge Mode does not make a reapearence because of the new difficulty setting. The multiplayer brings in the points for replayability though.

Forget it? Rent it? Buy it?
Rent this game if you've got the time. It's a lot better than other games like Shadow the Hedgehog. If you're new to the series, then do not start with this one. You probably won't want to expierience the greatness of the 3 games before it if you do.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/06