Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One Review

Written by Craig Will (puffkix) Saturday, 05 November 2011 05:00

It's been several years since I've picked up a controller to play one half of the protagonistic duo in the gadget filled Ratchet and Clank series. After getting hands on time with it at PAX Prime this year, I felt compelled to save the galaxy. Again.

Ratchet and Clank All 4 One starts out on the right foot. A video of Captain Quark (now President) plays and is rife with humor. As are most aspects of the game. Cutscenes indulge in both slapstick humor and witty dialogue while the comments made during actual gameplay can elicit chuckles as well. Especially when you play as Doctor Nefarious. And come on, who isn't?

The visuals are also very striking. Something that fantasy platformers have over the shooter genre is the ability to implement a large pallet for the environment. Sure, Team Fortress and even Halo to some degree have more than dull browns and grays, but due to the subject matter, shooters tend to stick to those dark neutral colors. I'm reminded of that every time I load up R&C and it brings a little smile to my face.

The visuals are nice, the plot is funny, and the level designs are creative and engaging. Those aren't the real reasons you're going to be playing a Ratchet and Clank game though, are they? No, there are really only a handful of reasons you're wanting to pop this game into your PS3, and for me it was mix of the whole list:

1. You miss the zany variety of weapons Insomniac offers in this series. Even the Gears of War 3 weapons started feeling stale about halfway through that game and other games offer the predictable and boring (or realistic) weapons that every other game offers.
2. You're looking for a party game NOT on the Kinect or Move. I don't own a Kinect or Move and haven't yet felt moved to spend money on one (though I wouldn't turn down a free one) and there has been a distinct lack of decent party game material since Mario Party 3.
3. It's for the kids OR to try and entice your non-gaming significant other. While my daughter hasn't yet arrived (Feb. 4, 2012 is her due date) and my wife is actually an avid gamer, this game really appealed to our casual game co-op longings, a need that hasn't been filled since we bought LittleBigPlanet.
4. Nostalgia. I remember spending a lot of time trying to 100% the second Ratchet and Clank game and enjoying every single second of it. Years later I got my wife hooked on the same series that really stands out in my mind as the pinnacle of what the platforming genre can be.

If any or all of those reasons are influencing your decision to pick this game up then you won't be disappointed. Everything I remember loving about previous R&C games is still here with the added bonus of being a new game, having tight controls, and not suffering from the inevitable disappointment that nostalgia can so often bring. Most importantly, it's a blast to play, alone or with others.

Starting up a single player game nets you a trophy and the easy path to conquering the game.  Solo players are rewarded with having all the bolts (currency) to themselves as well as an AI co-op partner that won't backstab you. Of course that's half the fun of playing with others in these types of games: working together through half of a puzzle and then launching them over the edge just so you could collect that box of bolts or squishy critter. Unfortunately, this means that you need to choose your co-op companions carefully. While it's fun to spend 5 or 10 minutes trying to blow each other up, after the fifth time reloading from the last checkpoint because the bridge was destroyed, you'll be in much less playful mood.

Teamwork is rewarded in multiplayer games, both with bolts and with co-op bonus points (which result in more bolts) and everything from launching a teammate to the other side of a chasm to working together to Vac-U a crate apart will yield those bonuses. The most useful bonus to receive occurs when multiple players use the same weapon and target the same enemy. A circle will grow larger around them and the sound of your weapons will increase in pitch until a climactic explosion rocks their face off. And you'll be awarded bonus points.

At the end of each level players will be judged based on several criteria: bolts collected, creatures collected, enemies killed, and co-op bonus points. The top player for each category receives a bolt bonus and the overall winner receives a larger bolt bonus and bragging rights. So while teamwork is encouraged and even rewarded, this is still very much a competition.

The only real issue that I have with this game is the weapon select wheels. Pushing the right thumbstick in any direction will bring up the weapon select wheel. This got confusing as I’m so accustomed to using the right thumbstick to control the camera, which is not possible to do in this game. That alone isn’t a problem but there are multiple wheels to choose from, accessed with L/R while in the weapon select mode, and sometimes you’ll pick the wrong weapon/gadget because you were in the wrong wheel. Again, not quite enough of a frustration to be a real issue. The real issue is found when playing with more than one player. Unless all players pull up their weapon wheel the game continues running in real time (instead of pausing), and this can be frustrating if just one person decides they don’t want to strategize or they just want to be a jerk while the giant freaking boss is pulverizing everybody.

In the end, Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One is a satisfying game that brings to the table everything it promised, but like any co-op party game it’s only as fun as the stupidest player on the team. This is a great game to play with family members, especially kids and casual gamers, though it’s not meant for brand new players. Unless you want to spend hours redoing that dumb collapsing rock bridge segment because they don’t understand that they need to press triangle to use their glowy line thingy to zip over to you.

Buy Ratchet and Clank All 4 One on Amazon.