Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

"Some Good, Some Bad, Some Weird..."

As a Ratchet & Clank fan, I naturally want to play every Ratchet & Clank game I can get my hands on. When I originally heard that they would be making a game for the PlayStation Portable, I was upset, since I have no PSP. “They're making a Ratchet & Clank game that I can't play!” I thought to myself, but I eventually recovered and moved on. I knew it was made by High Impact Games, who did NOT develop the original games (Insomniac Games developed them, and is still developing them), but I still wanted to try it. Then, a year later, I learned that High Impact Games was releasing a port of this game for the PlayStation 2. I was extremely happy, because I could finally play that game I was missing out on! Now that I've bought and played the entire thing, I'm glad I had the chance to play, but I also feel that there was a mixed quality of production. There's some good stuff, some bad stuff, and some weird stuff…

Graphics and Camera:
The graphics? Nothing to write home about. I know this is a port of a PSP game, but you'd think they'd try to polish the graphics up a little bit! While the graphics are very good for a PSP game, on the PS2, they are simply mediocre and blown-up. The color schemes of each planet are somewhat drab, and occasionally make it hard to see. Everything also feels a little gloomy and static; in Insomniac's games, every planet feels vibrant and alive.

The character models are mostly alright; the new character models are good, and Captain Qwark looks particularly decent considering the graphics. Looking at Ratchet, however, was very strange. I could often see the pixels on his nose, which I found very jarring. Also, when his mouth is open (especially when he is not speaking), his mouth moves in a very odd, unnatural way, as if it was simply made to ‘pop' open. I have no idea why Ratchet was the only one with these issues.

The camera is decent. It seems to move a bit fast and sharply for my taste, and it might get you killed once or twice, but it does its job. There isn't really much more to say on that topic, so let's move on.

Controls and Gameplay:
Well, when it comes to the controls, this is the Ratchet & Clank you know and love. (If you don't know and love them, I suggest you stop reading and go play another R&C game. I'll wait right here.) The controls have shifted from the PSP to the PS2 very well, especially considering that the control scheme went from PS2 to PSP and then back to PS2. Normal character movement is still very sharp; your characters move how you direct. The only major problem I found is that the high jump, which is normally very smooth, is surprisingly jerky in this game.

Those wonderfully bizarre weapons that the Ratchet & Clank franchise is famous for return in Size Matters, but they're not quite as bizarre as they are in the main games. A glove that shoots beehives, The Agents of Doom (a recurring favorite – cuddly robots of destruction), and your typical large and small guns make up most of your arsenal. However, there is also a cool weapon which shoots a large, continuous laser, although you cannot move while using it – that adds a nice sense of suspense. In any case, this game is about platforming and blowing stuff up, so any weapons serve this purpose well.

Another staple of the R&C series is gadgets. This game includes the Swingshot (a retractable grappling hook shooter) and a Shrink Ray, which partially provides the game title. While there is a decent number of different gadgets in Size Matters, they also do not live up to the standards set by the main Ratchet & Clank games.

At two points in the game, you have to win a hoverboard race to progress. These races were probably among the worse things I have encountered in a video game. The steering swings wildly when you so much as touch the analog stick, the track and boost areas are poorly designated, and the entire racing experience feels extremely floaty.

However, there are several things that redeem the game. Actually, one thing: Clank. In a normal Clank section, as in the main games, Clank runs around and gives orders to small robots called Gadgebots. There is only one section like this in Size Matters, but there are also two new kinds of Clank gameplay in this game: Clank arena combat, and Clank space combat. All this Clank gameplay was extremely fun and likely helped boost my review score.

In Ratchet & Clank games, Ratchet is usually the one who can enter an arena and fight for prizes. Now it's Clank's turn! There are actually three different arena challenges. You can lead around Gadgebots in a 2D Lemmings-like fashion, play a basketball-type game, or hop in a vehicle and fight other robots (It's like a cross between a demolition derby and Robot Wars). The graphics were still bad, but I thoroughly enjoyed all these challenges; I may as well have said ‘Ratchet who?'

In the space combat, Clank turns into a giant, rocket propelled version of himself and flies into space. Once there, you have to destroy wave after wave of small ships, until you reach the large ‘boss' ship at the end. Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed this, even though defeating the ‘boss' ships mostly entails flying in a circle while smashing the fire button. Also, during these missions, there are quite a lot of ships flying around, along with space debris, asteroids, and explosions. I bet this would have been quite impressive graphically on the PSP, but as I said earlier, the PS2 graphics are nothing special.

Story and Writing:
The story is okay. Not great, just okay. Ratchet and Clank are trying to relax on the beach when a little girl named Luna comes. She gets kidnapped shortly afterward, so Ratchet and Clank, being the heroes that they are, have to go rescue her, inadvertently taking Captain Qwark along for the ride. There are one or two nice plot twists, but it's nothing compared to Insomniac's games. Also, where Insomniac uses interesting and uncommon sci-fi plot elements, Size Matters has sci-fi things we've all seen before; shrinking, and several others than I can't list without spoiling some of the plot. I will say that you'll know what I mean when you play the game.

Another important element of a Ratchet & Clank game is the humor; these games are usually extremely funny and clever. There were several times I laughed while playing Size Matters, but unlike Insomniac's games, I was tired of them by the second or third playthrough (I was playing again to earn everything to get 100%).

Sound:
With all the mediocrity of production here, the sound is a relief. The extremely talented voice actors return from the previous Ratchet & Clank games, helping to elevate both mediocre story and jokes. I didn't really notice the background music (except for the calypso theme, which isn't bad), but that's fine; music that you inadvertently ignore is better than music that is bad, nonexistent, or in your face.

Conclusion:
So, ultimately, I'm supposed to help you decide whether you want to buy this game or not. It really does depend. If you've never played a Ratchet & Clank game before, don't buy this yet. Instead, go play some of the main games (the ones made by Insomniac). Then, after you've determined that you like Ratchet & Clank and you've exhausted all your other options, try this game. If you've played the other Ratchet & Clank games already, go ahead and try this. In either case, you'll be disappointed by the graphics and lack of genuine wit, but this is very close to the genuine Ratchet & Clank experience, and as you'll know by then, any Ratchet & Clank experience is a good one.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/15/09

Game Release: Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (US, 03/11/08)