Review
Played on: PlayStation 4
Released: 2016
Released: 2016
For those unaware, this is what the developers are calling a re-imagined game, about a movie about a game. Typical marketing buzz word of nonsense? Kind of, but try ignoring the movie part and focus on the actual game. It's pretty much a remake of the classic action platformer on the PlayStation 2 from 2002. Insomniac Games have gone back and remade, added stuff and generally made the original into a 2016 title. It's a game that goes along with it's cinema counterpart and serves pretty much as a game for the movie of the same title.
Launched at a fairly reasonable price, Sony seem to be pushing the R&C franchise this generation too. I've lost count of how many they've released through the years on PS2, PS3 and PSP. To be fair, I only played R&C 1 and 2, and halfway through the third game on the PS2, before I was tired of the formula. I absolutely loved the first one, which is why this release intrigued me. How on earth they continued to make almost six games on the PS3 alone, with this space duo, baffles me to say the least. They must have been extremely popular with kids as shooters their parents allowed them to play.
The trailers showcasing the remade areas from the original instantly caught my eye and I went all in to play this at launch. I was once again blown away by pretty visuals, however, when the nostalgia overload had calmed down, I was left with something of an empty shell.
Launched at a fairly reasonable price, Sony seem to be pushing the R&C franchise this generation too. I've lost count of how many they've released through the years on PS2, PS3 and PSP. To be fair, I only played R&C 1 and 2, and halfway through the third game on the PS2, before I was tired of the formula. I absolutely loved the first one, which is why this release intrigued me. How on earth they continued to make almost six games on the PS3 alone, with this space duo, baffles me to say the least. They must have been extremely popular with kids as shooters their parents allowed them to play.
The trailers showcasing the remade areas from the original instantly caught my eye and I went all in to play this at launch. I was once again blown away by pretty visuals, however, when the nostalgia overload had calmed down, I was left with something of an empty shell.
Let me explain.
After a rather underwhelming intro, you're introduced to Ratchet's home planet, Veldin, where he works as a spaceship mechanic. Immediately, the beautiful visuals pull you in. There's a lovely, almost Pixar level, quality over everything. Looking like a computer animated movie for children running in realtime, with a cartoon vibe to it's colour scheme and design.
There's lush, green vegetation and futuristic, shiny and metallic building structures on huge, alien planet surfaces to explore. Each time you travel to a new planet you're waiting in suspense as to how pretty and different it will looks.
However, when your eyes have grown accustomed to the visuals, the cracks begin to show. Although visually crowded at times, especially when when you consider the vast amount of enemies the game can throw at you. There's a kind of un-interactive and sterile feeling to the environments. They aren't as large as they first appear, the actual play area often feels restricted and when they're not crowded with detail they feel kind of empty and boring.
However, when your eyes have grown accustomed to the visuals, the cracks begin to show. Although visually crowded at times, especially when when you consider the vast amount of enemies the game can throw at you. There's a kind of un-interactive and sterile feeling to the environments. They aren't as large as they first appear, the actual play area often feels restricted and when they're not crowded with detail they feel kind of empty and boring.
It's like you're playing the old 2002 version with it's empty PS2 detail level, only with a fresh coat of paint over. Everything just serves as walls with a few destructible items thrown in, and endless crates and enemies.
The pre-determined path through each level too, makes it feel restricted, when all I want to do is climb around and explore everything. Sure, there's some small free roaming areas, but the game never focuses on letting you explore them with platforming. It's about following a route through hoards and hoards of enemy waves, until finding the next person of interest to talk to. Fundamentally, there's little difference from the original PS2 game going on here.
I could be wrong, remembering this listed as a platformer, or that the original had more actual jumping on platforms. but literally the most difficult platforming I did in my 8-10 hour playthrough was: Jumping from one moving platform to another. Literally. From one that moved left, to one that moved right.
This is a kids shooter, not a platformer. I'm guessing this is why my interest declined rapidly, much quicker than expected. My trigger finger can be itched in far superior shooters elsewhere. I'm not here to play a mediocre shooter with huge toy guns. I guess my younger self in 2002 was happy to blow stuff up to no end. Then again I recall at as being more of a platformer back then.
The story is so obviously cut from the feature length movie, which has received terrible reviews by the way, in such a way we only get these almost cryptic teasers of the whole plot. It's dull at best, but mostly just confusing and doesn't aid the already simple, unfunny and boring story in any way. Ratchet simply has no personality, Captain Quark, while somewhat funny, just drones on and it's really only Clank that seems to have some soul in him.
In fact, some of the Clank parts, which are puzzles to solve, help break up the monotonous shooting and are more memorable than the rest. Although I didn't really care for placing robots in a certain order to get places, it just wasn't fun.
Hang on though, I may be complaining a lot. But I don't really hate the game. It's beautiful to look at and some of the few exploring parts make for some great moments along the way. The huge and open brain collecting level, and all the secret passages, spring to mind as the more memorable adventure moments. The shooting controls solid enough and is actually fun in smaller dozes. The sheer visual variety of each planet keeps you're attention up as you visit each one.
It's not a long game to complete once, and it's retailing at a fairly low price, so with that in mind it's great value for so high production levels. It also entices you to replay it with all your upgrades in tact, a sort of new game plus.
I've probably grown away from R&C since 2002, maybe I've realised since that it wasn't really a good platformer even then. More of a kid friendly shooter with some small platforming segments thrown in for good measure. After all, the first Jak and Daxter was the superior platformer the two back on the PS2. Perhaps the endless popularity of first person shooters since has made me appreciate the shooting segments less.
Overall, it does feel like a remake. As such, it's a great opportunity for people that have never experienced the R&C titles, especially the first one. Just don't expect the platforming part to be anything majorly challenging.
