Posted by Shawn M. on Mar 28th, 2007
Hello again good people of the internet! For this installment, I’ll be talking about one of Sony’s most popular series, starring a spunky little robot and his sass-mouth Lombax friend. Together they fly throughout the galaxy, fighting evil with their wits, their collection of handy gizmos, and of course, a large freakin’ arsenal of weaponry that would make the NRA jealous. Of course, I am talking about Ratchet & Clank, available for the Playstation 2.
The first in a series, simply titled “Ratchet & Clank”, arrived in late 2002, and was met with great critical and commercial success. And why not? Using developer Naughty Dog’s “Jak & Daxter” engine, Insomniac Games crafted a 3-D platformer that had everything going for it — great characters, insanely gorgeous graphics, and a level of play that is flat-out fun.
Our hero is Ratchet, a Lombax (a weird cat-like creature) who is particularly adept at fixing machinery, especially spaceships. One day while working on his ship, he notices another ship crashing not too far from his pad. Investigating, he finds Clank, a small robot endowed with self-awareness and a sense of good. Clank informs Ratchet that he is searching for legendary superhero Captain Qwark, the only person the plucky young robot believes that can defeat the villianous Chairman Drek. Ratchet agrees to help him, and they’re off together in search of the Captain.
The story is quite good and funnier than you’d expect. Of course, though, the real star of this game is your impressive array of guns and gadgets. You begin with your trusty throwable wrench and a bomb-tossing glove, and as you progress through the game and earn bolts (the game’s currency), you can buy better, more exotic weaponry. Weapons range from your standard blaster and missile launcher to guns that will morph your enemies into chickens. You’ll also receive some nifty gadgets, such as a Bionic Commando-like swingshot grappling hook, metallic boots that will let you grind on rails, and a holographic disguise kit that will let you walk amongst your enemies.
For a game that is nearly five years old, the graphics are still some of the best on the PS2. The various planets you visit are big and colorful, exploding with detail and movement. The enemies you encounter are expressive and wildly imaginative. Honestly, I can’t describe how good this game looks. It’s a marvel.
There are a few downsides, of course. In order to get enough currency to buy weapons, especially the super-gun RYNO and the Gold versions of your guns, you’ll have to play through the various worlds over and over and over and… well, you get the idea. Once you clear a world of its enemies, they do not respawn, either, so you’ll be hopping back and forth between worlds. The difficulty of this game is low, with unlimited lives and simplistic goals. And for a run’n'gun game, the inability to strafe hurts (thankfully fixed in the sequels).
Fortunately, the good –and great — far outweighs the bad. So, if you’ve never played this game, don’t be a cheap S.O.B. and drop a sawbuck (or less, you can find it cheap used) on it and find out why Ratchet and Clank is one of the Playstation’s finest titles.
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