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Between 1996-2000, Playstation saw the rise of two incredible franchises: Crash Bandicoot headed by studio Naughty Dog, and Spyro the Dragon headed by studio Insomniac Games.  As each game progressed, they continuously got better, adding new elements that improved on the previous title (and which I've reviewed their original/remade forms here and here).

Both companies shared a special relationship with each other in that the Spyro games would feature demos for upcoming Crash games, and vice versa (in which would be capitalized in similar gameplay changes, vast, reboot-style alterations, A complete crossover set between the two, and complete remakes of the original properties by different companies).

But when the Playstation 2 arrived, both Insomniac and Naughty Dogs stepped away from their properties, seeking to work on different projects.  Naughty Dog went on to create the Jak and Daxter trilogy (which received much praise, but less praise with each title). They also worked on Jax X: Combat Racing.  Amusingly, however, this racing game would be yet again their last title before dropping the franchise entirely (their last title with Crash Bandicoot was Crash Team Racing).  Jak and Daxter would basically die off at this point with Lost Frontier being the final game in the series, with only a PS3 and then PS4 trilogy remaster keeping its memory alive.  Naughty Dogs at this point would then step away to work on other titles that would gain them much acclaim: Uncharted and The Last of Us (and are currently long at work on the sequel for tLoU).

But whereas Naughty Dog would consistently change gears, Insomniac seemed to find their footing with a new franchise on the PS2: Ratchet and Clank.  Unlike Naughty Dog's attempt with Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank seemed to only get better in both gameplay as well as reception with each attempt, with the 3rd title being considered the best of the PS2 titles (if not the best overall).  When the PS3 was launched, once again Insomniac seemed to hit it home with their Ratchet and Clank Future series (which was more like 2 main titles, 2 smaller side/bridge titles), with Crack in Time being considered by many to be the climax of the series that brought everything to a close (only for Into the Nexus to try to continue afterward).  They also made the choice to remaster the original trilogy, allowing players to fully experience the journey of Ratchet and his robot pal Clank up to, after Into the Nexus, was considered the end of their adventure since news of a sequel was nonexistent.

However, in 2014, it was announced that Ratchet and Clank was getting a remake of sorts, though more of a re-imagining.  It was also announced that Ratchet and Clank was getting a cinematic film, in which the game would tie into.  Many were skeptical about this mixture, though Sony anticipated its success to the extent that they were already in talks about adapting another highly acclaimed game into a feature film: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.  Despite the overall higher scores by critics on the game, however, Ratchet and Clank's feature film turned out to be a flop, with players of the game criticizing it rather than praising it, and overall the reception was not that great.  Ratchet and Clank would for all purposes be shelved at this point as Insomniac walked away from it, developing their next title that would get them high acclaim as the best in its franchise of past games: Spiderman.  As of now, there are talks of them working on a sequel, but there has been no news of Ratchet and Clank's future.
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Now that you're up to speed with the franchise's history a bit, we can get into the details.  Why was Ratchet and Clank such a success?   Why did the reboot effectively kill the franchise?  These questions and more will be answered, and in another review, I'll cover the PS3 main titles and 2 smaller titles: Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, A Crack in Time, and the final game...Into the Nexus.  There are other forgettable side games (Secret Agent Clank, Size Matters) that weren't made by Insomniac, and two multiplayer flops (All 4 One, Full Frontal Assault) as well as a baffling side-entry in the series (Deadlocked) that were developed by Insomniac, but I'll be skipping talking about those.  So for now, let's get started!



As I mentioned earlier, this was Insomniac's newest attempt at a franchise for the PS2's launch, after leaving their purple dragon behind to die a slow and painful death at the hands of Universal/Vivendi Studios.  Much like Spyro, however, Ratchet and Clank proved to be the start of something beautiful, so let's dive into why.

The game begins with a Lombax named Ratchet tinkering away on a broken spaceship, dreaming of getting off of his planet and exploring the outside.  Cut to a robotics factory that builds warbots, as Clank -a defect- is tossed off the line.  Clank comes across an Infobot that shows the little robot a video message sent out by an evil Blarg alien known as Chairman Alonzo Drek, informing the people of a nearby planet that he would be removing the choicest parts of various planets so that he can build the perfect planet for his race (their planet being polluted largely because of him intentionally doing so), thereby destroying each planet and anyone living on them.  He's able to escape, though being chased by warbots as he leaves the planet, crash landing on Ratchet's Planet.  Ratchet saves Clank as they team up, heading on an adventure bigger than they could have imagined.

This is partly where the game does well in, its story...and honestly this isn't something new for Insomniac.  Part of Spyro's original success was in how well the story was written throughout the original trilogy, and a good part of Spiderman's success is because of its engaging story and characters within it.  In short, Insomniac just knows how to tell a good story in their games, and this game proves to be an example of that.  It's something that, while cliche in parts, knows it and even parodies it at points.  Chairman Drek is very much a stereotypical sleazy businessman and even has the hairstyle to fit the stereotype.  Captain Qwark, Ratchet's hero, is an absolute parody of the idea that you should never meet your heroes.  Ratchet and Clank work exceptionally well off each other as characters in both their good and bad moments.  Even the throwaway characters that you think you'll never see again may pop up in later games and, again, Insomniac does this on purpose.  Overall, the story throughout all 3 games is nicely written, and this was an excellent starting point to get players an idea of what they were getting into.

But whereas the story does well, what makes the games the most memorable is the gameplay.  This game takes on the genre of a 3D platformer, very akin to Spyro or more appropriately...Jak and Daxter.  Ratchet has two different types of weapons: a wrench to smack enemies with (as well as tighten large bolts that will accomplish different things on each planet), as well as many different unique types of gloves, guns, and other devices that use ammo (your starting one being a basic bomb glove).  Like previously mentioned platformers above, you run up to enemies, smack them in one or multiple hits with your weapon of choice, and gather what they drop...which in this series' case is bolts, the game's form of currency.  Your health is 4 Nanotech bubbles, and each hit will make you lose 1 bubble.  But if you smash a Nanotech box, you'll gain a bubble back.

Which, is another oddly fun thing to do in this game: smash boxes as well as many other breakable things.  Smashing boxes will give you either various types of ammo for your weapons, bolts, or as mentioned, nanotech.  There are 3 types of boxes so that you know what you're getting when you smash it, naturally.  There are also ways to upgrade your health later on so that you can have up to 8 hit points.

Along with just running and smashing things, you can also swim when the situation calls for it (it's not recommended in most areas because of giant fish that will eat you), and Clank can get upgrades to make him glide across distances, help you leap a bit higher, and make the swimming aspect go quite a bit faster.  There are also hoverboard racing segments, scenarios where you'll shoot ships with a giant turret, a couple of ship battles, and segments where you'll control just Clank, and you'll control smaller robots known as "Gadgebots" that will respond to various commands to help you out.  Some of your gadgets, such as one that's basically a lockpicker, will access various mini-games that you have to successfully complete.  Overall, there's just a lot of various types of gameplay involved.

On top of that, you have a total of 36 weapons and gadgets in the game.  Weapons outside of the mentioned Wrench and bomb glove include: a glove that spits out a set of small robots that charge at and explode at the first enemy they see, a missile launcher that you guide where the missile goes, a cannon that sucks in any nearby boxes or enemies and can then shoot them at enemies (called the Suck Cannon), a Morph-O-Ray that transforms enemies into chickens, another missile launcher equivalent to Doom's BFG in terms of sheer power (this one shoots continuous missiles at enemies) called the R.Y.N.O (Rip You-a New One), and so on.  Basically, the game gives you a lot of options on how you want to kill things, and it's great.

On top of THAT, there's also many giant bolts known as Gold Bolts scattered throughout the game.  Gather all of them, and...well, I'll get into that later.

The game is accompanied by both a pretty decent graphics style, as well as a nice little soundtrack to listen to.  I'll be honest, for the PS2 there were a pretty good number of games (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy X, Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, Okami) that actually took advantage of the PS2's hardware and just looked really good.  This is very much evident in the fact that with their remasters, they actually still look pretty good (though some like Okami and KH looking a bit better).  But this game had a mix of colorful and muted areas, and was just overall the right balance for the type of theme it was going for: nothing was too bright, nor too dark, colors were never too muted or too vibrant, and overall it just looked pretty nice when it was launched.






Likewise, as I said the music was pretty good, though admittedly it was nothing amazing or memorable like some soundtracks.  But for what it was, it was good background music that never got too grating (the same goes for the voice acting, which was pretty excellent).

The game also has a decent replayability factor to it.  Once you beat the final boss, you have two options: starting over, or time-warping to before you fought the final boss.  The latter really doesn't do much outside of what it says, giving the player a chance to obtain anything they missed (like the R.Y.N.O, or unobtained Gold Bolts).  Starting over, however, will let you play the game on Challenge Mode.  In this mode, continuous successful enemy hits (and not getting hit) will build up your Bolt Multiplier: the more it builds up, the more bolts you'll obtain which will make it much easier for you to get all of the weapons including the expensive R.Y.N.O (which is 150,000...quite a lot and difficult to get in the original playthrough). All of your weapons (but not gadgets) as well as gold bolts carry over...and in fact you can use those gold bolts to buy gold versions of your weapons (making them more powerful, for example enemies transformed by the Gold Morph-O-Ray will act as decoys, and will explode when enemies touch them).

So yeah, it had a lot going for it.  It's still one of Insomniac's most unique titles they've developed, which has only gotten better over time, and it's a series launch title that I highly recommend playing.  But let's talk about the baffling decision that ended up basically killing the franchise.



Now, on paper many were greatly excited about this game: it was a re-tread of the original title, meaning we were going to see worlds from the original game remade in a more in-depth graphical style.  Insomniac promised that there would be NEW worlds, which made it even better! I mean, getting to explore all of the fun areas of the original game and getting to explore new areas? I mean, it was almost like it was Christmas!

Yeah, well, the game and movie arrived, and it really felt more like one of those company Christmases rather than actual Christmas.  You know, those parties you see in shows that may have been really well meaning...but they're incredibly awkward and you see the characters just really wanting it to be over.

Yeah, the game had many moments like that.  On the other hand, I actually did quite enjoy the movie, despite it not being the financial success they hoped (though that was more because of their piss-poor advertising/marketing of it).

You know the story of the original game, so you know the story of this one.  Well, actually not exactly.  Unlike a re-imagined title like Tomb Raider Anniversary versus the original title (which kept the story pretty intact and added elements), Insomniac actually did something really odd and altered the story quite a bit in this game, at times making it pretty confusing.

So the game starts off with an alien named Shiv Helix being escorted to a prison cell inhabited by the original series' antagonist-turned-"hero/good guy", Captain Qwark.

An already interesting way to start a game called Ratchet and Clank, as you can tell.  Basically, the entire game is a retelling of events by Captain Qwark...so you can apparently blame all of the game's troubles on his lousy retelling...?  Unfortunately yes, the developers are almost literally saying "the entire story is a work of fiction by Captain Qwark, all of the inconsistencies with the plot versus the original game, all of the cleaner, retold jokes, and all of the changes are because Captain Qwark tells a bad story."

No, I'm not joking:

The story is Captain Qwark's opinion on the events based on the holo-film based on his life, and on Novalis, a joke is included about a "brain eating zombie T-Rex" attacking Ratchet, Clank and the Plumber while repairing the ship to remind the player that Qwark is an unreliable narrator and many of the events that take place in the game are events that Qwark made up.

Chad Dezern of Insomniac later clarified that the story is Qwark's version of events as he adds commentary to the film's story, and is not set out to rework the canon, calling it "just a cleaner retelling of sorts".

So....yay? Basically just discard everything bad that happens in the game because the narrator can't tell a decent story.  The villain sucks? Blame it on the lousy narration.  There's a distinct lack of levels compared to the original? Blame it on the lousy narration.  The jokes are a lot cleaner and there's no language...as if they were gearing this towards younger kids because of it possibly tying to a film?  No, just blame it on the lousy narration, because clearly it was its own thing:

Brian Allgier and TJ Fixman had the idea to tell the story of the game from Captain Qwark's point of view, freeing up the ability to tell the story without being bound to the film.

Except, of course, of how very bound it was to the film.  Like, you wouldn't entirely comprehend everything fully without watching the film.  There's just a point when you have to expect your audience to be a bit smarter than you want to think, and that having a character that "just can't tell a good and reliable story" really is a poor excuse for an overall bad game...especially when that story is trying to rehash an existing one in a new way...and doing it badly.

In ways, the game does follow-ish the original story, except now there's the existence of the Galactic Rangers (which wasn't introduced until game 3 in the series), Ratchet is an even bigger fanboy of Captain Qwark (and even lies to Clank about being good friends with the Rangers, which he's never really lied to Clank at all in the series), and his home planet is hosting a competition to find the next Galactic Rangers (in which despite winning the course, is denied the position because reasons).  Oh, and for some odd reason, the planet Kerwan's city, Metropolis, was changed to Aleero City. Qwark, who basically proved to be a villain throughout the first game and even in the 2nd was immediately reformed quickly in this one.

Overall, it's very strange what they did.  Basically, Ratchet and Clank mixed together the stories of the original 3 games into one: While Chairman Drek is still around and considered a villain, he's very much a more flamboyant side-villain this time around...because for some reason Doctor Nefarious from the 3rd game was brought in, and (to no surprise to those who played the original games) is the actual main antagonist.  This was actually pretty disappointing because Chairman Drek was a lot of fun in the first game because he was such an outright sleazy jerk and obvious parody of a stereotype, but he was still very much a threat.  In this game, he's a parody of himself and it was sad to see him basically be benched for the "fan favorite" villain.

I get that part of it was probably Hollywood execs changing things left and right (which is what was claimed), but good lord.  If they're going to screw things up that much, why even continue letting them handle your franchise at that point?  Why even continue with the movie, let alone attempting to tie in a game if that's how they're going to treat your material?  Was Insomniac just looking at everything with giant dollar signs? Or were they so done with Ratchet and Clank at this point that they were just like "yeah, whatever, we're working on Spiderman anyways, so let's just get this over with." ?

So along with the story being a mix of the 3 games all in one, gameplay took a similar route.  Right off the bat, pre-ordering the game got the player the Bouncer (a popular weapon from the 3rd game) and the Groovitron Glove (a popular weapon from the Future series).  A staple since the 2nd game (though refined much better in the 3rd), weapons leveled up after a certain amount of usage.  Much like the Future series introduced, you could buy upgrades/skills for each weapon with enough Raritanium (which in this game is surprisingly not rare) to do more damage, have more ammo, and so on.  Hoverboards, swimming, and the usual mechanics are apparent in this one.

For some reason, the developers decided to introduce the Swingshot (basically a grapple hook/Slingshot used to swing) right at the start...whereas it was something you won by completing a "training" course in the original title (which in this game now earns you a Gold Bolt).

The most notable change, however, is the worlds.

Well, I guess I should elaborate: the most notable change is how the worlds were handled.

Remember when I mentioned how Insomniac was really excited in talking about how there were all these new worlds alongside familiar ones to explore?

Yeah...well, they left out some pretty key details.

First off, 6 worlds from the original game were removed from the reimagined title.  6.  Two of the worlds that managed to survive were merged with two of the worlds that were absent.  I use the term "merged" very loosely because, well...let me put it this way:

*One of the worlds that survived (Batalia) was normally a dreary and rainy planet that was besieged by warships and under constant attack by the Blarg (the main enemies of the game).  One that was removed was a frozen, snowy planet (Hoven) that made the Blargian weapons, including the prototype of a colossal weapon that could destroy an entire planet (and that you destroy before you leave the planet).

In the reimagining, Batalia's rain is replaced by snow.  No, that's all...no more to add to that.

*One of the worlds that survived was a desolate rocky planet (Quartu) with a large warbot-production factory.  You had to go through using something called a Hologuise that gave the warbots the illusion that Ratchet was one of them.  You went through the Factory, and eventually met Clank's mother (a computer) who was proud of Clank.  You could also explore another part of Quartu that involved becoming Giant Clank, where you would step on and smash enemies, fighting another giant mech toward the end of that side mission.  One of the worlds that was removed was a large, hideous and polluted planet (Orxon) with an assortment of wildlife that still existed (and tried to kill you) that was once home to the Blarg before it became polluted.  You had to traverse the planet and really get a feel for how bad it was as Clank, and had to avoid the pollution with a newly obtained oxygen mask as Ratchet.

In the reimagining, Quartu is basically just a giant factory with no planet to explore, and is considered the Blarg's homeworld.  You don't meet Clank's "mom," and the factory is basically a chase sequence, running up conveyor belts, and a battle against a giant version of a robot that wasn't introduced (again) until the Future series.  No no, that's it.  What? You were expecting more, like an upgraded Giant Clank, or exploring the outside of the factory? Sorry, none of that hit this version.

The worlds that were left unscathed were still a joy to explore, I will say that, and some were even expanded a bit for further exploration, which was even better.  But that's 6 planets that were removed and (in reality) really weren't replaced outside of the above "merges."

But those new worlds? Yeah, no.  There was one new location, and it wasn't as much new as it was altering an old area (a fleet of battleships) with something else (the giant Deplanetizer machine which is now an actual ship).

Granted, there were some decent mechanics tossed in.  With weapons being able to upgrade via vendors and usage, Gold Bolts were given a new purpose.  Now, skill points and gold bolts can unlock random costumes and video filters (such as HD style, Black and White, Sepia, etc...), as well as alterations to bolts (why pick up bolts when you can pick up non-copyright-infringing Rupee-like rocks, or non-copyright-infringing totally-not-Sonic-the-Hedgehog Rings?) All of them utterly pointless, but still nice nonetheless.

Graphics in this game are lovely, though the emergence of more vibrant colors throughout was a constant reminder that, along with the cleaner less-adult jokes and lack of amusing commentary, this was made for a younger audience.  Rather than the balance that the previous game had in the colors department, the reboot was definitely hitting the more vibrant side as opposed to using any assortment of muted colors or darker areas.  I think it's mainly because for some reason, games are relying on a heavier contrast, which in this game just seems like a bit too much.






Music was also forgettable once more, nothing really that stood out or was really annoying to the ears, it was just okay background music.

Voice acting was still pretty good, but that's unsurprising since the main characters were the OG voice actors, and the new ones actually fit pretty okay with their roles (although I found it annoying that, despite trying to "break away from the film," their CG cutscenes were direct rips from the film...and nowhere was this more apparent than when you hear the villain voiced by Paul Giamatti in the film, realizing that when he talks in the game, it's very obviously not the same voice actor).

I'd say there's a replay factor to the game since, as is traditional to Ratchet and Clank, there is the option for Challenge Mode when you beat the game (and there is the option for a harder difficulty).  But let's be honest, aside from the pretty visuals and the factor of nostalgia of revisiting prettier versions of familiar worlds of the original game (followed by annoyance in the amount that was cut), there's really not a whole lot beckoning someone to play it again.  Even hard mode is easy to get through, because it's not built to be a difficult game.  Granted, the original games are the same way since they're meant to be enjoyed by everyone...but they had reasons to make you want to play it again.  Getting all of the gold bolts and saving up for the R.Y.N.O, for example (which does reappear in this game, but like everything else, is obtained differently).  Bolts in Challenge Mode will get you a better version of your already upgraded weapon, but there's really no reason to waste the time with it.

Overall, it was a clumsily executed game that follows a clumsily executed (but at least still enjoyable) movie.  And it doesn't help that the game's clumsiness in its nature is entirely blamed on it being the PoV of a character that "just isn't a reliable storyteller."

Don't let the critic reviews fool you, because this game just leaves you wanting to play the original for a better experience.  On that note, if you have seen the movie and have been interested in the games themselves, or just know about them but have never played them, I highly recommend sitting out this title and picking up the Ratchet and Clank collection for the PS3 instead.  And if you like those games, I also highly recommend picking up the Future series as well to see the adventure to its end before Insomniac basically killed it themselves.