Chickaroo Reviews: Ratchet & Clank (PS2 / PS3)

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chickaroo1
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Chickaroo Reviews: Ratchet & Clank (PS2 / PS3)

Post by chickaroo1 »

After Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, Insomniac left the series to Universal Interactive studios, opening a door to make a new game series...
Let’s go back to the beginning, and relive the first game in the exciting PlayStation series known as Ratchet & Clank...




Game: Ratchet & Clank
Systems: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 (Re-release)
Release date: November 4th, 2002 (PS2), August 28th, 2012 (PS3 HD Re-release)




The Journey Begins...
Story: Our story here is about Ratchet, a lombax mechanic on the planet Veldin. One day while working on his ship, he notices something falling out of the sky! So he rushes over to see what it is. It turns out to be a tiny robot. Ratchet takes the robot back to his shop and leaves it there. He goes back to work on his ship but the robot walks up to Ratchet and speaks to him, making Ratchet yelp.
The robot shows him a video about our main villain of the game, Chairman Drek. His plan is to destroy all of the planets in the Soleana galaxy to make a planet for himself. Ratchet decides to call the robot Clank, as Clank suggests that they go look for Captain Qwark, the “greatest” hero in the galaxy and hopefully he’ll help our heroes save the galaxy!




Playing as a Lombax and a Robot!
Gameplay: The game is a platformer with some shooting in it. You mostly play as Ratchet with Clank on you back, acting like a backpack or a jetpack.
When you start the game, you start off with two weapons, your melee weapon, the Omniwrench and a starter weapon called the Bomb Glove. Along the way, you can purchase more weapons that are stronger and unique.
When jumping off of platforms, if you hold down the X button, you can use Clank as a hoverpack and hover to a lower platform or to another one.
This game has some very unique weapons. There’s a weapon called the Taunter which makes annoying sounds to lure your enemies towards you. Or there’s the Decoy Glove which distracts your enemies with a dummy version of yourself.
You can even play as Clank in some sections if there’s an area that’s too small for Ratchet. Clank plays like Ratchet, just without any weapons, just karate chops. But he does offer something different. Throughout the level, you will notice some mini robots in a glass case. These robots can help Clank with puzzles and enemies in the section. You can break the case and can control them with four moves, Follow, Enter, Attack and Wait. Follow is used to let the robots follow you. Enter is used to let the robots enter a little doghouse you might see to open a door. Attack is used to let the robots attack bigger enemies that Clank can’t beat. And Wait is well...let the robots sit still.








Let’s Go Shooting!...Kinda.
Controls: Since the game is a 3D platformer, the controls are pretty simple. The Left Analog stick is to move around (a no-brainer in the gaming world.) To jump, press the X button. Your melee weapon is the Square button. O (Circle) button is your weapon (depends on what you have selected.) To select a weapon, hold down the Triangle button and use the Left Analog stick to select a weapon. Here’s the problem with that...
The menu for selecting your weapon doesn’t pause the game, which means that you can still get hit when getting something to strike your enemies, which is a bit repetitive at times and can get frustrating.
Other than that, the games controls are pretty good. Nothing too bad about it.




Soundtrack to the Galaxy
Music: This game’s soundtrack is fantastic! Some tracks sound techno while others have a pop-ish beat to it. And there are some that can give you the chills. From Planet Endora’s beat to Gemlik Base’s spine-chilling sounds, this soundtrack is pretty good. Endora reminds me of Spyro while the Nebula G34 level reminds me of The Incredibles.




Kinda Cartoony, Eh?
Graphics: For a PlayStation 2 game, the graphics are good and cartoony. Ratchet and Clank’s facial expression and body movements never go stiff and feel like a well animated cartoon. Heck, every character has that. No one is stiff and feels very cartoony which is a good thing for this kind of game. It’s very good.




Opinion of the Galaxy
Overall: Ratchet & Clank is a classic to the PlayStation 2 library. If you own a PlayStation 2 or a PlayStation 3 and haven’t played this game, then you’re totally missing out!
Sure Ratchet didn’t like Clank as much but in later games, their friendship grows stronger. All the characters are funny and creative. The controls are great, the music is great. Heck, there’s nothing I hate about this game (except for the switching weapons part, but that’s a small thing).
Like I said, please try this game out. You won’t regret it!




Score: ⅘
See my past reviews here! The Chickaroo Reviews Archive List is here!

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Tanicius
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Post by Tanicius »

Excellent review!

A wonderful game, and truly one that kicked off a new pair of heroes. It's easy to see why Ratchet continues to have regular releases to these days, whereas many of the new games he was born with weren't quite so lucky. Some of my most nostalgic moments are the game's music, and it's also the first game on record where I've had to confront my childhood fears (sharks in water) in order to progress. I definitely recommend the Ratchet and Clank HD collection.
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chickaroo1
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Post by chickaroo1 »

Tanicius wrote:Excellent review!

A wonderful game, and truly one that kicked off a new pair of heroes. It's easy to see why Ratchet continues to have regular releases to these days, whereas many of the new games he was born with weren't quite so lucky. Some of my most nostalgic moments are the game's music, and it's also the first game on record where I've had to confront my childhood fears (sharks in water) in order to progress. I definitely recommend the Ratchet and Clank HD collection.
Yeah I have the HD collection too and the original on the PS2. The Gemlik Base always gives me the chills. The atmosphere and the music puts me in a state of fear. I kinda have a fear of space travel (if I was going near the sun, I'd be scared out of my mind ;~; )
See my past reviews here! The Chickaroo Reviews Archive List is here!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-hi ... sp=sharing
kadosho
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Post by kadosho »

Well written review! I remember playing R&C on a kiosk at a Sears store during Xmas time. Loved the story, character designs and music. Oddly enough so did the people that worked there. They go so tired of hearing the muzak over the loudspeaker, bgm from a game soothed the store staff. ^^;
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