What really makes
the Ratchet and Clank series so fun are the selection of weapons. This game only
features no more than nine weapons. Compared to the other games, nine is nothing. Most all
of the weapons in this game are clones of other weapons from previous entries. It really
feels like Insomniac rushed this game. Not only do weapons make this game a success, but
it’s also Ratchet’s sidekick, Clank. I don’t understand why, but Clank is
sitting this game out. He’ll help you during your missions, but you’ll never get
to use him during gameplay. That means you can’t jump higher and you can’t jump
farther… however, the charge boots does help with running through the game. Aside
from a shortage of weapons and Clank, the game’s levels are smaller and less
in-depth. There isn’t much secret areas like there was in previous games.One of the things Ratchet: Deadlocked does do right is deliver the same type of humor as the last games. You can still expect many puns and announcer voices during the gameplay. The voices are all fitting and the cutscenes are well done. Of course, some jokes and puns are dry, but they are still well fitting to the type of characters Ratchet and his new allies are.
Ratchet has new friends this time around. His new partners are bots that follow you everywhere and help you with tasks such as hacking a computer or defeating a wave of enemies. Each one has great humor and they interact with each other every now and then. I thought it was very cool to be able to customize the bots by their color, weapons, and appearance. You can change the look of the bots in a few ways, though it’s not necessary to do to get through the game.
The storyline is,
well, different. Ratchet, Clank, and the nerdy scientist from the past games games named
Al, are captured by a man named Gleeman Vox. Gleeman Vox (Vox in reality is a Fox news
parody) owns a reality show called “Dreadzone.” This “Dreadzone,” is a
Gladiator type show where contestants must fight their way through challenges. Ratchet has
been chosen for this show against his own will. He must now do certain challenges (all are
the same, but with one different aspect) for the entertainment of viewers.This is where you notice the attitude of Ratchet changes. Clank isn’t with Ratchet anymore, and it starts to feel like there isn’t any platforming for this game. It’s just all shooting. Ratchet has gone all Jak on us and became a total killing machine. If you think about it, he has no reason to kill in this game. He WAS a hero. He enjoys killing other enemies in this game, and he flaunts it so.
Gameplay’s like this: Shoot, run, strife, drive. Nothing more to it. Each planet you go to has the same type of challenges but different kinds of enemies and vehicles. The vehicles are pretty fun to play with in this game, but they’re repeated so many times, it gets extremely repetitive and ends up being boring after an hour of gameplay. Insomniac’s wombat looking creature is now a killing machine.
Audio, like the
previous games, are fine in all departments. The voiceovers, the music, the explosions are
all perfect. I had no problems here.Although this is kind of a sequel to the previous games, you don’t need to play them to understand them. You might not understand a few inside jokes, but this is a good game to get into, regardless.
If you’re a fan of Ratchet and Clank, I’m sure you’ll have a kick out of this… for a little while. I suggest renting this game. The graphics and audio are great, but because of it’s flawed and disappointing gameplay, it’s not exactly a great experience. This one was a let down, but it’s still worth a peek.
