Ratchet & Clank have been around for twenty years, and there have been a number of games about them. Of course, the Playstation 5 needed an installment.
The plot
Ratchet and Clank are the heroes of the galaxy. They’ve defeated their arch nemesis Dr. Nefarious, and all is well. One day they go to a big parade, where Clank reveals that he has repaired the Dimensionator from the previous game. The Dimensionator is a device used to travel between dimensions. Clank repaired it, so Ratchet could try to find his kin, since Ratchet is the only Lombax in the galaxy and the rest are… elsewhere.
Of course, things go wrong. Dr. Nefarious gets a hold of the Dimensionator. It breaks, and rifts start opening all over the place. Ratchet and Clank end up in a different dimension and get separated.
And that’s when the game really begins.
Gameplay
The main Ratchet & Clank games hold the middle ground between platformer and third-person shooter, with a whiff of Metroidvania. What you’d call an action-adventure-shooter, I guess.
You control Ratchet, Clank, and in the case of Rift Apart, the game adds sections with Rivet and Kit (I’m not going to spoil who those two are). As you progress through the game, you can buy an arsenal of weapons. You can upgrade those weapons as you go, making them stronger, or reload faster, or any number of other things.
You also gain more gadgets and special powers as you work through the story. These powers can be used to find the unlockables in other parts of the game — the wiff of Metroidvania.
So, quite a lot of mechanics. However, the game eases you into them. It doesn’t overwhelm. Instead, you naturally progress from weapon to weapon, and can pick favorites. While doing so you get to explore worlds, chase bad guys, and do all kinds of whacky things.
And you have a gun that turns enemies into plants!
All in all, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is fun.
Verdict
Ratchet & Clank is, as stated, a fun game. It’s not too long, it’s not a brilliant story, but it is pretty good. And that combination is great.
How many games just let you have fun without pestering you with microtransactions? How many demand you spend a hundred hours before you finish them?
Ratchet & Clank is not a game that will reshape your life, it’s not a game to play for months on end.
It is a very good game, though. If you like slightly absurd scifi adventures, and/or enjoy shooters with a fun story, this is the game for you.
