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Ratchet & Clank has everything going for it, making it one of the best games out there this season & the closet thing PS2 owners have to Mario Sunshine. But what’s with our heroes?
Well, first of R&C is an amazing platforming game. The overall presentation is high & it is very inventive. You go through 18 humungous worlds as Ratchet & Clank, trying to complete your objectives in somewhat of an RPG fashion. To help yourself get through these, Insomniac created over 30 well invented gadgets & weapons for you, some required for you to have & others just sit there for your enjoyment. The story is your typical “save the universe from an evil corporation” one, but it is so well woven into the ploy of why you’re going to each planet, it just seems so much more natural. This all fits in very well, but I have one problem, Ratchet & Clank themselves. Yes, probably why this games sale isn’t huge is a lot to do with these characters, they’re… lame & uninventive. Ratchet sits there & tries to sound cool while his comments fall flat on their face & Clank shows little of an interesting character. If either one of them had the loyalty of Mario, or the attitude of Sonic, then things might’ve been better, but right now, Ratchet & Clank just never really connect with you.
And as with all platform games, what would Ratchet & Clank be without those magnificently crisp graphics. Honestly, these are some of the best in its genre. Colors just radiate from the well crafted backgrounds, never undeserving of your attention. The special effects for each weapon are also vibrant, from each explosion, from each fire, to each chicken*cough*. The character models & animations are good to say the least to, even with the stances & reactions from over 30 gadgets & weapons; they manage to pull themselves off slowly. If I had only one nitpick, it’d be that the water probably could’ve looked a little better since everything else is so eye catching. The controls in Ratchet & Clank are pretty good. Though at times I could never seem to find the weapon or gadget that I was looking for, I didn’t expect something with such a numerous selection to be easy to search through anyways. The character controls steer pretty well, like your typical platform game. They’re most of the time responsive, but since Insomniac put that weighted feel on them (similar to Spyro), at hasty times, you’ll find yourself confounded on how your character just couldn’t out maneuver something, but that may be part of the game since you have a robot strapped to your back. You pretty much have full control of the camera, able to pan & aim it where you’d like, this goes for good & bad, the bad mostly being in at action packed times of the game & you forgot to adjust the camera, a little auto assistance would’ve been nice.
The sound is great with exception of one thing. As I said before, the character dialogue is nothing to right home about. Ratchet’s comments never really connect, leaving him sound just lame. Clank is never really interesting, hes always being a robot & starting off with things “Sir, I do not think thats a wise idea”. None of it just never connects in the manner other platform mascots would. It’s a shame because I believe that’s the only true thing from holding this game back. Everything else is fine, each weapon has it’s own distinct sound, the music adapts to the world you’re playing in & all the other characters sound like they should.
Overall, if this game had some more interesting characters, I'd rate this right up there with Mario. But dont let bad characters get you down, this game more than makes up for it with everything else, go out & get this if your a platforming fan. Go go!
-- Anonym. Contributor, PGNx Media
---- Dec 31, 2002
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