Ratchet & Clank

"The best platformer I've played in a while"

I hardly was into platforming games, at least back in the day of Super Mario I didn't mind playing platformers. After my Nintendo was sold without me knowing I started losing interest in platformers such as Super Mario and such; until one day that is. I was at a Wal-Mart and they happen to have Ratchet & Clank in the PlayStation2 and that was the game that sort've brought me back into playing platformers but the 3-D platformers. I have to say that this is one great game and anyone who passes this game up don't know what they're missing since there is much that can be liked about this game. What I mean by much that can be liked about this game; I mean with the story, the humor, along with the difficulty that makes this a game that shouldn't be passed up by any means necessary. To tell the truth I never really enjoyed playing a platformer since I don't know when and ever since I had a chance to play it at Wal-Mart I was hooked on this game and just had to see about getting it.

I finally got the game and I must say that I am impressed with the game itself along with everything that Insomniac done to make this a great game that most of the people I heard say it was. There is probably a lot that I can go on and on about this game but I tend to try to keep them short to when I do these reviews for most of the games that I have done over the past [2] years since November 22, 2001. I will make sure that this review is good and hope that it may help anyone out in trying to make a decision on whether to get this game or not.

STORY: 9.8/10
Even though that the story is not close to perfect but in this case it is very well scripted and done as you play throughout the game. As the game starts off you'll play as a lombax named Ratchet who's into repairing his ship, then another ship crash lands on his planet. Ratchet investigates the crash to find a robot near the crash site and decides to take it with him; then the robot becomes functional again and nearly scared Ratchet. That's when the story of the game begins when the two are united and need to try to save the galaxy from a CEO who is trying to rebuild his planet but I won't give out the whole details after that. So you will have to play the game to find out what I decided to leave out, but other than that this game does have a great story to it, not the best; but a great story.

GAMEPLAY: 9.6/10
The gameplay of Ratchet & Clank is just great. The game itself plays smooth from the beginning of the game all the way to the end of the game and that can be a bit of a big factor in some games released now; and even then but not as so much as now. With platformers, gameplay can play an important role in making that type of platformer fun and easy to play from the time that you start the game 'til you go about beating the game.

GRAPHICS: 9.5/10
The graphics of Ratchet & Clank just simply amaze me in almost every way possible. The character modeling for the main characters Ratchet & Clank along with the others that you'll run into or see throughout the game, even the enemies are really detailed quite well. Each planet [level] are definitely nicely done and with how big they are; its quite amazing on how well Insomniac went on making the levels quite nice looking but still managing to make them quite big but not that big. All the surroundings on the planets are very remarkable for a 3-D platformer and probably the best I've seen for any platformer in a few years.

SOUND: 9.1/10
As for the sound for Ratchet & Clank I will have to say is actually quite good especially with the different sound effects that were used throughout the game as well. With the variety of weapons, and gadgets that are featured in Ratchet & Clank the sound effects that were used when either the weapons or gadgets were used sound like if there's a real life version of the that particular weapon or gadget. Since the weapons and gadgets were made up but the sure sound like if there's a real life counter-part of them. As for the voice acting for Ratchet & Clank I really, really have to say was done quite well and the people that done the voice acting really caught or fit each character quite well.

DIFFICULTY: 9.3/10
The difficulty in Ratchet & Clank is another strong point depending on you or anyone else see on this part of the game. The difficulty can be either quite challenging for the person or it can be a medicore for the type of person that may be playing Ratchet & Clank. The reason for being is that some can get through the game just by using the wrench, while there are some who don't just like using the wrench; but there are some who like to use the weapons that are in this game along with the wrench, while others may just use the weapons or just the wrench. Some of the boss fights can be a challenge to those who may be playing this game for the first time, because I know that a couple of them I had a bit of trouble with the first time but I managed to get past them. Overall the difficulty is not that bad but it sure can make the game fun throughout the game as you progress from planet to planet.

CONTROLS: 9.5/10
The controls of Ratchet & Clank are much different than those in previous platform games that I've played in the past. One of the best things about the controls is the ability to change the camera angle to where you want it and sure is a good feature for the controls which makes this game much easier to play without having really bad camera angles like in some games maybe like Resident Evil. The other controls such as controlling Ratchet as you explore each planet isn't that hard to get the hang of since it makes the game much easier to play but not only that but making the game seem much more fun. I really have to say that the control scheme is very simple to get the hang of and once you do, you can get real good at this game which can be much easier each time that you play the game.

REPLAY VALUE: 9.6/10
The replay value for Ratchet & Clank is definitely good since some people can't find everything their first time through and that seems to be quite good since it'll make you want to through the game more than once. Some people may try to get everything on their first time through but there are others who may just want to get through the game that may not get everything on the first time through such as myself. Usually that can make the replay value really good but not with this game the replay value is really great whether or not you get all the weapons/gadgets your first time through or not. So if you beat this game doesn't mean that you don't have to go about not playing it again, I'd say if you really like this game then you'll be playing this game almost endlessly or it'll be the only game that you may be playing for a while.

OVERALL: 9.7/10
Even though that I can't say that this game is perfect but one thing that I can say that it's damn close to being perfect. This game basically has anything most people were looking forward to in a platformer and this is the best platformer that I've played in I don't know how long maybe since like '95 or '97 when I had a chance to get Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo. I just wish that there were more games like Ratchet & Clank out since this game is so enjoyable and fun to play; or maybe more games that were released that were just as fun along as being enjoyable to play like Ratchet & Clank is as a game. If you're wondering if this is a game for you I suggest you try it out in any way you can either by renting this game or borrow it from someone that may have the game but if you're just wanting another game to add without having to wonder if it may be for you then this game may be for you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/01/04, Updated 02/11/04