The Lombax Rises Again…
Ratchet and Clank is a reboot of the series that ties into the recently released film, both of which follow the plot of the original game from 2002. I played the original back in the HD Trilogy that came out in 2014, so it felt very familiar to me…but is there more to this reboot than meets the eye?
First of all, the game looks incredible. From what I hear, the cutscenes are just as good as the ones in the actual film…while the game in its design may feel like the original, there are new areas and the story is told as a flashback from Captain Qwark who is the series’ equivalent of Zapp Brannigan from Futurama. The story follows a Lombax creature called Ratchet who wants to join the Galactic Rangers and defeat the invading Blarg forces, but is rejected by Qwark after passing the try-outs and bumps into a robot called Clank who has just escaped from the Blarg forces.
The game handles like your standard platformer/third-person shooter as Ratchet gets a huge arsenal of weapons at his disposal including grenades, a rifle that pixilates your foes and a disco ball that makes everyone dance. Each weapon can be upgraded greatly, but to upgrade it to the maximum level you will need to replay the game in Challenge Mode. There are also Gold Bolts and Holocards to collect that can unlock cheats and upgrades for weapons or abilities like gathering extra standard bolts.
You will travel to a number of different worlds, each with their own threat from Chairman Drek’s Blarg forces. These can include working with other rangers to disable turrets or rescuing people who have classified information and everything in between. There’s a large variety of enemies to face, as well as a number of boss battles…so you won’t feel that much repetition. There’s also a number of laser puzzles that are optional, but all need doing without using Autohack for a trophy.
The trophy list itself is actually pretty reasonable, I’m close to the Platinum right now…all I have left to do is mop up some of the weapon grinding ones…which does take a bit of time. The good news is that with the exception of having to complete the game in Challenge Mode, there are no other difficulty related trophies.
Like I said, the game looks amazing. Even outside of the cutscenes, the game looks like it could be a Pixar film. Voice-acting is superb as ever, while the music is also impressive. The presentation is outstanding on this one, no doubt about it. Insomniac Games have worked hard to relaunch the series and let’s hope they don’t stop with just the first game…remake the entire bunch for a new generation!
The Verdict
Ratchet and Clank is one of the best reboots I’ve seen in a long time. It has everything that made the original amazing, yet still making it the experience seem fresh. Hats off to Insomniac for working their socks off on this great reboot and let’s hope it’s the first of many other entries.