After Size Matters, it was time to see Ratchet’s next big adventure. This is the start of the PS3 era for Ratchet and Clank, so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes. This is also the start of the future games for Ratchet. This means that we can have a continuing plot like the first few games for PS2. There are definitely fun times ahead of us!

Ratchet and Clank are having some good ole times in the extremely futuristic city when Captain Qwark is in danger. They head off to save him, but then a lot of things happen at once and now Ratchet and Clank are involved in a situation where the galaxy may be doomed. See, there is a plot twist about Ratchet’s father and Ratchet has a pretty dangerous destiny. The Lombax race created an object of immense power and if Ratchet doesn’t recover it before the villain…well, this adventure could be his last one! There is a fellow hero named Talwyn who is here to help and may give the heroes the edge that they need!

The plot isn’t really the important thing in this game since you’ll be focused on the gameplay. As far as Ratchet and Clank plots go, this was definitely one of the least engaging. That being said, it’s their first adventure on the PS3, so you should be too overwhelmed to worry about that. The graphics are definitely intense on the PS3. One thing that I’m not a big fan of is Ratchet’s new appearance. I’m sure that it’ll grow on me in time, but I miss his hardcore look from Size Matters and the older games. He’s more streamlined now, but less threatening. Aside from that, the graphics work quite well and everything is a lot brighter and more intense!

The gameplay is what you would expect from the series. Gathering bolts has never been easier as you can get 100000 in no time at all! I was able to buy all of the weapons by the end of the game. (Except for the RYNO) There actually aren’t too many weapons in this game, but that may be because of the new devices. For the most part, I don’t care for the devices, but they can be useful. You’ve got a helicopter that deals a lot of damage and mini robots who help you during fights. Beyond that, I recommend sticking to the classic weaponry.

The best weapon is the Alpha Cannon since one blast will take out just about any enemy and also take a large chunk out of a boss’ health. The good ole laser blaster is always fun to use, but it doesn’t possess a lot of power anymore, which makes it a little less ideal to use. The Rocket Launcher is an ideal weapon during the later stages of the game due to its high attack power and quick launch. The flame thrower has an impressive reach and you can hit an enemy while still being pretty far away. You have Metal Discs which are like a new version of the laser blaster and those are definitely spamable! You’ve got 260 shots of ammo and they fire even quicker than the laser blaster while also bouncing off of walls and other objects. I guess they nerfed the laser blaster so that they can go all out with this one. I love the weapon so I guess it’s acceptable.

There’s a laser whip that is incredibly good against any opponent that doesn’t have long range capabilities. It can break through shields and also deal a lot of damage. Two shots is usually enough to take the enemy down for the count and it has a long range. It’ll basically hit any enemy who is around you since it covers you like a circle while striking. The Shard Reaper is a good weapon to use since the damage is reasonable and it covers a nice area. Once you’ve upgraded it, it’ll also freeze the enemies temporarily. There’s also a lock on missile system that has the potential to be great, but the damage output is pretty low. It’s still fun to use.

Of course, there are some weapons that aren’t very good. You’ve got one that can launch Tornados, but the enemies will usually be okay and it tends to only KO one opponent at a time. You have a weapon that can fire goop and then creatures come out of it to attack, but there’s not much reason to use such an attack. We’ve got the classic grenades, but while they look impressive, their effects usually aren’t quite so good. The Mag-Net Launcher is also not that great since it traps enemies for a few seconds, but doesn’t finish the job against the tougher ones. The Razor Claws are cool though.

All right, I mentioned most of the gadgets, so that’s probably good enough in that area. This game has some Clank missions and while they are slightly better than his older ones, he’s still not very fun to play as. Slowing down time can be fun, but he’s just not as engaging. You can’t help, but miss Ratchet and his blasters when you’re in Clank mode. Still, Clank’s mode is an improvement over the older games so they are learning.

Ratchet is still a solid main character in this game. His new design may not be his best one and he may not be as intense as in Size Matters, but he’s still a good character. A good example of this is his attempt to save Clank at the end of the game. He can be a tough guy when he wants too and he put up a pretty good effort into accomplishing his mission. He’s pretty confident in his abilities and he knows when to throw in a solid line to ease the tension and make things dicey for Captain Qwark. In the end, he proves that he’s still a hero and goes to help the Captain despite all of the trouble that he puts them in.

Clank is Ratchet’s ever loyal sidekick and while he and Ratchet don’t get along for a while because of Clank’s talks with imaginary beings, they make up towards the end. The ending is pretty tragic for Clank and if not for the sequels, you would really feel bad for the guy. What a way to end the game series for him eh? As mentioned earlier, his levels aren’t the best, but he takes things in stride. It was a little disappointing that he was knocked out so easily by a computer virus, but you can’t win them all. He’s a decent character and better than Daxter, but I still prefer Bentley.

Talwyn ends up helping Ratchet and Clank throughout the game, which turns out to be pretty good for them. Her two sidekicks are pretty bad, but she’s tough enough as she manages to defeat several guards. She doesn’t really help against any of the big bosses, but she’s around. The only problem is that she didn’t really get much of a personality in this game. She was all right, but I look forward to seeing her get a bigger role in the future. She has potential to be a nice rival for Ratchet.

Captain Qwark is back and he’s as tough as ever! It’s intense how he’s always at the right place at the right time and how he always ignored Ratchet until things get too dangerous. He was pretty awesome in this game and a character to be feared. Nobody could stop him from taking the legendary device and he’s constantly mocking the heroes despite the fact that they are still winning. It takes guts to do what Captain Qwark does…and that’s why he’s so intense! He is a character that should get his own game someday. That would be pretty awesome!

Captain Slag is one of the big villains of this game, but he’s not very likable. The pirate levels were easily the worst part of the game and I don’t see the point of his character. We’ve already got enough villains as it is, and he just wasn’t entertaining. I’ll assume that he’s a one shot character who won’t be appearing again…or at least I can hope!

Tachyon is the main villain of this game and I can’t say that he was very good either. The game series seems to have a tough time cranking out cool villains to root for. This guy had a lot of plot twists and he talked a good game, but you can’t take him seriously. He just doesn’t look like the type of villain who can really fight and he has to rely on a robot. Ratchet would definitely defeat him mano a mano.

The Graphics are pretty good and the best in the series. We’re finally in the PS3 and the game makes the most of it. There aren’t any trophies, but since when has that affected graphics? I do miss them, but they’ll be ready for the next Ratchet game. The Soundtrack wasn’t quite as good as Size Matters since there weren’t any memorable tunes. That’s a little sad, but the gameplay is fun enough to negate that.

Overall, this was a pretty fun game. Ratchet and Clank took a pretty solid step into the next generation of games and it went smoothly. The game couldn’t match up to the older ones, but this is just the beginning of the Future saga. Things will likely heat up in the future games. After all, the ending was very intense and Ratchet’s going to be out for vengeance. I also hope that the plumber makes another appearance as well! It’ll be very fun to play the next game, although I hope that it’s a little longer than this one. I recommend checking the game out and you’re sure to find it fun and entertaining. The only negative that I would have is the Pirate Levels and that the story can maybe go a little slowly at times, but I wouldn’t take the latter complaint too seriously. It just dragged on for a small bit at times, but you’ll still breeze through it! It’s essentially the Sony version of Mario mixed with Star Fox.

Overall 7/10