Ratchet & Clank (PS2)

R&C delivers on so many fronts - the gameplay is first rate, the graphics are fantastic, the depth and breadth of the game just astound.

Now, I haven't completed the game (yet) but I'm a reasonable way through and I love it. The gadgets and weapons (count 'em - 35 of the blighters!!!) are fantastic. Examples - on the Blarg spacestation you can buy a "taunter" which distracts enemies by making stupid noises in their general direction, The Glove of Doom creates 5 little blighters which run off, find the nearest enemy and then self-destruct, The Suck Cannon sucks in small enemies and then blasts them back at whatever is in the way.

The lead characters are generally endearing with Clank stealing the show as a droll but 'politically correct' little Robot.

The cut scenes are great to look at and contain some great comedy moments. R&S is one of those games where they really add to the plot development and aren't just there to look pretty.

OK. Downsides. There are but a few. The constant 'clinking' noise as you pick up bolts can get irritating and as with many other games such as this, the camera can end up where you don't want it (although, to be fair, this is quite rare and very easy to put right).

Summary: It's a platformer. It's great. If you've got Jak and Daxter, this surpasses it by miles. It looks good, sounds good, feels good and has little moments in it that will have you grinning from ear to ear. Worth adding to your collection as the ultimate PSX2 platformer.

The story, roughly, is that Clank, a small robot, has just been made in a robot factory when a spies an infobot (small robotic television screen which displays a short film). The video in the infobot tells him the the Ultimate Supreme Chairman Drek is planning on taking chunks out of every planet in the galaxy in order to create a wonderful paradise planet for his race of blargs, who have unfortunately over-exploited their planet's resources and polluted its atmosphere so that no organic life-form can live there anymore. So Clank escapes from the factory in a spaceship, but is shot down as he nears the planet Veldin.

Meanwhile, Ratchet is putting the finishing touches onto his spaceship, which he made using his trusty Omniwrench 8000, a brilliantly versatile tool which doubles up as a weapon during the game. He hears an odd noise, and looks up to see a smoking, low-flying aircraft zoom down to crash nearby on the Kyzil Plateau of Veldin. He goes to investigate, and Clank tells him all that he has seen, showing him the infobot. Thus begins a crazy adventure stuffed full of varied and original weapons and gadgets.

Key to the game is the collection of nuts and bolts (the currency in Ratchet and Clank's galaxy). These can be used to buy weapons/gadgets/infobots, and sometimes to pay certain people to do what you want (eg. bribing a bouncer to let you into somewhere). Gold bolts can also be collected. There are about 3 per level, and 4 of them, plus a large sum of regular bolts, can be exchanged for improved 'gold weapons', which have enhanced power/capacity/multi-kill potential etc. Skill points can also be rewarded for certain displays of talent. Some are easy, like shooting down a few slow-moving planes overhead, and some are virtually impossible without some kind of special technique, like achieving a time of 1:36 or less in a certain hoverboard race.

I hear you cry, 'HOVERBOARD RACE, did you say?' Yep - if you complete a particular mission objective, you get a hoverboard. This allows you to compete in races around the galaxy. There are plenty of bolts up for grabs in a hoverboard race - you get 1,000 for setting new time records. You can even do tricks on the course to power up your boosters, and then go racing ahead of everybody else. the only fault to mantion on this subject is that there ought to be more than 2 hoverboard races.

The best thing about this game is the variety of weapons and gadgets on offer. Here are four of the best:

Suck Cannon- called by many 'Gaming's finest weapon', this huge hoovering device is capable of sucking up samll enemies into its barrel, then firing them out at the larger, tougher foes as powerful projectiles. Very original, and a joy to use.

RYNO- Obliterates everything in sight, plus more. It costs a massive 150,000 bolts, but is well worth it. It fires an array of 6 simultaneous missiles, each of which is as powerful as one missile from the regular 'devastator' rocket launcher. This is the only weapon capable of taking out a tank in one shot, and making the last boss fight of the game against Drek crazily easy.

Swingshot- a grappling hook which will have you leaping round factories and over mud pits with the agility and dexterity of any chimpanzee.

Thruster Pack- A sort of jet pack which can be attached to Clank's bodywork as an upgrade. It allows you to leap long distances, jump to new heights, glide gracefully off a building to land right where you want, or do a powerslam manoeuvre to flick huge switches and crush enemies.

There is only one major criticism which can be made of this game. That is that it can occasionally become frustrating. There are a few moments, such as when you accidentally walk too far one way while attempting to shuffle carefully along on the underside of a ventilation shaft using a pair of magnetic boots. This is fine once, but after it has happened a few times, you can get a bit annoyed. Or if you somehow can't quite manage to jump over those three mines on the rollercoaster of rails which you can traverse using the grind boots, and you have fallen to your death below 15 times, you can sometimes feel like leaping up and putting your fist through the wall. However, the answer to such difficult areas is usually fairly simple - for precise magne-boot walking, make sure that the camera is centred behind Ratchet, and just walk straight ahead; or with the grinding, try destroying the mines with your tesla claw from a safe distance instead of jumping over them. And the frustration is kept to a minimum by the fact that you are never restarted very far from where you unfortunately stepped into a chasm. There is also no limit to you number of lives, so you can keep retrying until you do it or until you get bored. If you do get bored, go off and do a different objective. After all there are about three of them per planet. Or you can go off and search for gold bolts and skill points.

This game has endless replay value. Being very long in itself, it does not even need to be replayed to have been an adequate size. But you will want to carry on going through the game again and again, accumulating your arsenal with all the gold weapons, unlocking, the goodies (such as the 'The making of Ratchet and Clank' film, or saving up until you can finally buy the elusive RYNO.

Amidst detailed, sprawling environments, original, exciting weapons and gadgets, an interesting plot and genuinely funny cut-scenes emerges a true classic. There is such a satisfaction to finally completing that difficult level goal and unlocking the Suck Cannon, or accumulating enough bolts, gold and normal, to purchase the gold Tesla Claw. This game is thoroughly enjoyable, and provides a great way to relax by blowing up some stuff at the end of a hard day's work.

Verdict:

Graphics- 10/10 - huge, detailed, sprawling environments.

Sound- 10/10 - Great weapon SFX, increasing the satisfaction of an explosion so much more. Inoffensive, atmospheric, and appropriate music, with amusing scripting in cut-scenes.

Gameplay- 9/10 - Generally pure genius, but the odd moment of frustration loses it a mark.

Lifespan- 9.5/10 - Huge on its own, plus a massive scope for replay value.

Bugginess- 9.5/10 - Only one incident to complain about, when the game randomly crashed twice in a row, but this can not necessarily be attributed to the game.

Overall- 9.5/10 - it is evident that a gargantuan effort has been put into the production of this game. Original weapons and gadgets, beautifully detailed worlds, and very entertaining gameplay are combined in this game to produce a classic which is all but flawless. Bring on the sequel, Insomniac Games!

In fact, every element of this game has its own merits. Firstly, the graphics are very smooth and packed with detail; each new world is notably different in style to the previous one and there's always a lot going on. The sound effects are also very integral to the overall enjoyment, with a suitably cartoony sound and the music is just about spot on and actually pretty cool, with the credible voice acting helping to punctuate the many humourous cutscenes. Finally, the gameplay is where the game really shines, as there is just so much to do. I have already mentioned the varied elements and different modes, but even the level of objectives are multitiered; whereby you will have a main objective to make contact with a character, or something similar, but you will also have the option of exploring different paths to accomplish bonus objectives, some of which will require the use of an item from a different planet, therefore requiring you to return to that planet first if you so desire. Therefore this game has a fairly long lifespan, depending on your level of dedication.

So overall, this game has not only rewarded me with hours of entertainment, but it has also realligned my perception of platform games. It really is superb and all I can say now is roll on Ratchet and Clank 2...