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| Massive areas! |
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| Bam! Bam! |
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| Flamethrower! |
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| Gadgets! |
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| | Ratchet and Clank |
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| Number Of Players: | 1 |
| I-link/Internet: | No |
| Publisher: | Sony |
| Developer: | Insomniac Games |
| Genre: | Platform |
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| | Full Review: |
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The number of decent platform games on Playstation 2 can be counted using only a single hand's worth of fingers. The pick of this small bunch had been Jak and Daxter, but even that great game was limited by its slightly repetitive gameplay. What PS2 really needed was for new life to be added to the genre, and thankfully, Ratchet and Clank has arrived to do just that. Insomniac games, the group responsible for previous platform hits such as Spyro knew exactly what needed to be done to make the perfect platform game, and now they have delivered.
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| | Gameplay |
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Clank, a robot built with many anomolies, rebels against his creators and escapes. Leaving behind the droid factories, he encounters Ratchet, a Lombax from the planet Veldin. The pair team up to take on the evil genius, Chairman Drek, a powerful leader attempting to build a perfect planet using the pieces of other innocent worlds. Drek's will to cause destruction, and the union of these two unlikely heros may seem a little predictable, but the stereotype ends there. Ratchet and Clank are armed with up to 30 weapons and gadgets, as well as a variety of moves to attack and manoeuvre around opponents.
Run, run, jump, bounce, roll, run, run, repeat. Not at all. With Ratchet and Clank, its not just about running and jumping, bouncing on the heads of a few enemies. Using weapons ranging from the "Glove of Doom", a sort of homing destroyer robot, to the "suck cannon", a weapon capable of swallowing small enemies and using them as projectiles, and even helicopter gadgets, Ratchet and Clank are a two man army, ready to take on anything. The weapons aren't gimmicks either. Every single gadget and item in the game will be useful on numerous occasions, not just at specified points. As a result, an element of puzzle solving is added to the game.
On your quest to face Chairman Drek, you travel across 18 different worlds, each varying greatly in appearence, and hospitality. Industrial planets, farming cultures, water worlds, canyon land, and many other different terrain are encountered, each providing their own unique challenges and sub-quests. On each planet there are a series of objectives to complete, such as exploring certain areas, retrieving items, or infiltrating hidden bases. By completing these, you uncover new information for your mission, and the coordinates to new planets you can visit.
Ratchet spends most of the time as the playable character, with Clank helping out with his extra gadgets whenever posssible, but there are certain sections where you take over as Clank for a while, for example when areas become unreachable by such a large fuzzball. No matter which character you are using however, the controls are quite impressive. To have such a large array of equipment at your finger tips makes the game a pleasure to play, and in fact only one small point brings it down. The movement does feel a little loose, especially compared to Jak and Daxter's fine tuned controls. Its nothing major, and depends on your personal preference, but it can give you a nasty scare when you're too near a cliff!
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| | Graphics |
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Jak and Daxter was a lovely game to look at, and extremely hard to beat, however, Insomniac games have managed to create their own unique, but equally impressive visual formula. Everything is so bright and lovely in the game, and being based on different planets gives the developers a chance to experiment around with colours you wouldn't normally expect to find. They take full advantage of this, so as you visit new worlds, you'll be treated to gorgeous purples, violent reds, incandescent light displays setting the sky on fire, and many more beautiful effects. An efficient camera system, which allows the user to operate the camera manually using the right analog stick if necessary (which it rarely is), does on the other hand allow you to look around and admire the paradise that has been created.
Another improvement is the great selection of animations. Both Ratchet and Clank, as well as all the enemies, have their own personalities thanks to clever facial expression. These aren't blank-eyed enemies that all attack the same way with the same thoughts and feeling, but instead a group of very different opponents, each with their own reasons for being there, and their own way of taking you on. The main characters are the best though, with superb animations to express boredom, excitement and other emotions when exploring the vast worlds. Even the evil Drek comes across as a multi-faceted creature, not solely intent on destroying everything, after all, he does always remember to ring his mother!
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| | Sound |
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The music might not be up to Grand Theft Auto standards, but compared to most platformers, its really quite good. Chaning according to the situation, and location, the music adds a great deal of atmosphere to the experience. On top of that, the sound effects, such as footsteps, enemy grunts, and in particular each of the weapon noises, are all superb, and often intentionally humerous.
The other plus point about the sound is that the voices are all good quality. So many games are spoiled by hopeless voice-overs, so its nice to see a game survive the procedure, and even benefit from it. This means it doesn't do anything wrong, but then it also doesn't do anything above what is necessary. Its a great sound package, but not one that will rock the boat, the price of being spoiled by so many great games on PS2.
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| | Overall |
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Perhaps the best platform game on Playstation 2, Ratchet and Clank has all the tools it needs to succeed, both in terms of the game as a whole, and the gadgets that Ratchet and Clank use. Providing much more variety and freedom has really paid off, making this one of the best games of 2002.
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| Score |
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| | Gameplay
Great weapons and enjoyable objectives, decent controls.
| 9.3 | |
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Graphics
Well animated characters and enemies, all in massive environments.
| 9.6 |
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Lastability
A large game with many subquests and secrets.
| 9.5 |
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Sound
Nice pleasant tunes, decent sound effects, and good voices.
| 9.2 |
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Overall
Far more variety than any other platformer, it rules.
| 9.4 |
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| | Alternatively: |
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You could also check out Jak and Daxter, for more platform action. Jak and Daxter is a more linear affair with far less moves and weapons, but its controls are tighter and more finely tuned, making it a decent rival for the platform crown.
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