Review – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

While the PlayStation 5 has so far released two excellent and good-looking exclusives, the brutal difficulty of both Demon Souls and Returnal may be too much for some gamers who want an easier but still action packed, enjoyable and stunning title to play. Enter Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.  This continuation of the beloved series is a love letter to the faithful fans and a perfect spot for newcomers to begin.

Sadly, the gap between the Ratchet & Clank games have been getting larger, with it being five years since the reimagining of ‘Ratchet and Clank’ that ran alongside the disappointing movie of the same name. It has also been 8 years and a full generation cycle since Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, which is the game that Rift Apart is actually the sequel too.

The story begins with our dynamic duo being presented with a parade in their honour. It is here that Clank reveals to Ratchet that he has the Dimensionator, a mechanical device capable of opening rifts to other dimensions, to help Ratchet locate his missing family and the Lomax, his long-lost race. However, mad scientist and long-time villain Dr. Nefarious attacks the parade to steal the Dimensionator. Throughout this marvellous tutorial level, the Dimensionator is somewhat destroyed in the process, causing dimensional rifts to open at random and literally collide worlds. In all the chaos, Ratchet & Clank become separated and are transported to an alternate dimension where they find Dr. Nefarious who has made it out alive and is the so-called Emperor.

Being in a parallel dimension, each of our heroes, familiar friendly cast of characters and even our villain has an alternate counterpart. Enter Rivet, a Lomax voiced by the talented Jennifer Hale, who is much more than a Ratchet clone. While having some similar motives, she is also the only Lombax in her world and also shares the same move set as Ratchet. However, Rivet is a totally different personality who helps drive the narrative and add to the game’s charm. Insomniac have hit the nail on the head with Rivet, as it is never easy for a developer to be able to bring in a new protagonist while making the player feel comfortable, welcoming and wanting to know more of them, while not overshadowing the title characters, such as Ratchet and Clank.

Once meeting Rivet, Ratchet & Clank must reunite, and with the help of Rivet and other familiar characters, join forces to reconnect the dimensions and take down Dr. Nefarious and his new empire. All this is done in traditional Ratchet & Clank fashion with tight gunplay, platforming, collection of bolts for buying and upgrading the arsenal and the many brilliant scripted sections. While Ratchet moves very similar to the 2016 game, he now has a dash that can be performed in any direction to dodge incoming enemy attacks. While a dodge does not sound like a huge leap forward, the increased number of enemies on screen make this move a necessity, especially if players wish to take on the harder challenge mode once completing the campaign.

Ratchet also now uses the Rift Tether, a glove that grabs onto yellow and purple rifts and pulls our hero swiftly forward through space. This can be used when platforming, particularly when searching for secrets, during combat to flank enemies and to move around arenas quickly, especially when needing ammunition or health.

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Ratchet & Clank games are known for their diverse arsenal and gadgets. Back is the trusty Omniwrench for close melee attacks including a ground pound. There are 18 other weapons, four of those new, with the rest returning from various past titles. The new weapons include the basic burst pistol, the double-barrelled Enforcer plasma cannon, the explosive Shatterbomb hand grenade and my favourite, the Topiary Sprinkler, that turns enemies into garden statues. All weapons can be upgraded and seriously beefed up by finding Raritanium ore. Players can also equip armour to their character. Armour worn gives the player extra stats, such as extra bolts on collection or reduced damage. Each set maintains of three parts, helmet, body plate and boots, and having all three of the same set gives additional boosts. A nice touch is that the player can wear the armour but choose it not to physically show on Ratchet or Rivet. Ratchet and Rivet also use a number of traversal tools, including the hover boots and Omniglove which can be used throughout the game’s missions.

Missions require our heroes to fly from planet to planet, many familiar to the series but with their own new spin, especially when the dimensions swap. Each planet has their main goals, with most having a side mission or two available. Side missions include smaller collective tasks that has our heroes being sent to explore certain areas that grants our heroes with bolts, Raritanium ore or armour. While most levels are linear or have a sort of hub connection section with linear paths, there are a couple of levels that the map opens up, allowing the player more freedom on what objectives to tackle or secrets to search for.

 

While gameplay is mixed up with constant changes between action and platforming, and the constant inclusion of new weapons and tools, it also changes when using other characters. Using our tiny tin hero Clank offers up some physic-based puzzles that while not head scratching, welcomely slows down the frantic action. Another little mode I quite enjoyed is when Ratchet requires the help of a nano spider like robot Glitch. Glitch enters a corrupt computer system’s mainframe and is tasked with destroying Virus Nests and will have to do this by traversing upside down and around vertical walls while shooting and dodging.

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While the gameplay is fantastic, the star of the show is the visuals and Insomniac have significantly raised the bar for all AAA games to follow. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the best-looking game on any console to date. Transition through dimensional rifts is a nifty effect but it is the sheer detail of the worlds that is jaw dropping. In the Fidelity mode, the enhanced lighting, scene density and ray tracing is eye popping. While I thought the ray tracing in Control on the PlayStation 5 was amazing, it was the first boss battle with Dr. Nefarious in the opening level that had me declaring that the next generation in graphics is truly here. Even at 30fps when using Fidelity mode, the animation of characters is still very smooth. There are two other modes:

• Performance, which runs at 60fps but has to make adjustments to raytracing, density, and lighting to make it happen, and
• Performance RT, which meets the other two modes in the middle, with 60fps but sacrificing resolution in favour of ray tracing.

Unless the player is super keen on a high fps or playing the faster challenge mode, Fidelity mode is the way to go to show off your PlayStation 5.

The cutscenes are the quality of any Hollywood Animation studio.  Each time the action is stopped, and story scenes started, I was reaching for the popcorn and wishing Insomniac could make the movie the series deserves. The worlds and characters all scream look at me!

Everything about the sound design, voice acting, and musical score are close to the standard of the visuals. While some of the voice acting can be classified as “over-the-top,” it just fits the humour the series brings. The music by Mark Mothersbaugh and Wataru Hokoyama is beautiful, full of great tracks and I loved how the main theme would continuously be used to literally pull our characters in at important story moments. It is such a treat.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a single player only title. While the story does touch on some themes such as self-doubt and even PTSD, I personally believe it to be totally fine for children of primary school ages and up to play or watch. During the review, it was that popular that if I tried to play this without my son sitting next to me, it was a household drama and now after I’ve completed the story, I’m fighting just to get on our PlayStation 5.

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Pottsy for One More Game

10 – Masterpiece – This game is a must play for anyone who plays games. A day one purchase is worth every cent.

Astro’s Playroom was reviewed and only available  on the PlayStation 5.

The thoughts of this title are ours and ours alone.

Review code was provided by PlayStation Australia and their PR company. Images and assets are those of Sony PlayStation and Insomniac.