Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One Review

 “For the sake of our own survival, and for drama, we must set aside our petty squabbles and act as a singular unit!” - Captain Qwark

If you haven't guessed by now, I am a huge Ratchet & Clank fan. It is rare that I discover a series that is just so fun to play, and at the same time has such brilliant characters that I just can't help getting drawn into the story. The funny thing is, I had the opportunity to play a Ratchet & Clank game long before I actually did. My brother had a copy of Up Your Arsenal (known as Ratchet & Clank 3 in Europe). I watched him play it a bit, and thought it looked rather silly, although cleverly put together, and never gave it a go myself. My first real exposure to the series was several years later when I went to University. I played Ratchet: Gladiator (or Ratchet: Deadlocked in America) with a friend of mine. After finishing Gladiator I played the rest of the series, and have been a fan ever since. I brought this up because my first Ratchet & Clank game was a co-operative one. So I was really excited to hear that Insomniac were making another co-op game. All 4 One has received a lot of negative feedback, based purely on the fact that it was a co-op title. As someone who actually likes co-op games, and someone who really enjoys the Ratchet & Clank series, I will give my thoughts on this latest instalment to the franchise.

This review should be pretty much spoiler free.

Story

Two years after the events of A Crack in Time, Ratchet and Clank have retired from the hero business, Captain Qwark is Galactic President of the Polaris Galaxy, and Dr Nefarious is still at large. The game begins when Captain Qwark is awarded the 'Intergalactic Tool of Justice Award' and goes to Luminopolis, escorted by Ratchet and Clank, to accept his prize. They are soon reunited with their old enemy, Dr Nefarious, who set up the whole thing to dispose of his three arch nemeses His plan to have them killed by a Z'Grute not only backfires, but catches the attention of a giant machine known as Ephemeris: The Creature Collector. Our heroes (and villain) are captured by the machine and taken to planet Magnus. They learn that Ephemeris had been collecting monsters from all over the galaxy and bringing them to Magnus for some unknown cause. Stranded on the planet, they reluctantly team up in order to defeat Ephemeris and find a way home.

The story really takes a back-seat in this game – it's really more an 'excuse plot' to get these four into a situation where four players can take control of them. There are not as many cutscenes as you would normally expect in a Ratchet & Clank game, which is fine, except I feel like the writers weren't making the most of the situation. The scenes that were there were really great, each one had me cracking up as I watched these four characters try to work as a team. I also like how the secret behind Ephemeris is gradually revealed step by step, allowing the player to figure a lot of it out for themselves. Most of the story is just the team going to various locations to get closer to Ephemeris, but as the story reaches its' climax things get so wonderfully ridiculous that I just couldn't help enjoying it. I personally would have liked more cutscenes, but since this game was designed for people to join in at any point, I can see that they didn't want players to have to catch up on loads of story.

Gameplay

This is the first game in the series that was built as a co-op game from the ground up. Gladiator/Deadlocked was clearly built as a single player game, with a co-op mode added later. There are three ways to play All 4 One – single player, offline co-op and online co-op. I played the game in offline co-op with my younger brother and sister. I think each method gives a different experience. For me, it was the first time I had ever done co-op with my siblings. We shared a PS2 back when we were all at home, and played a lot of the same games, but never played them together. This is the sort of game where the people you play it with defines the experience. My brother is a very 'down to business' player, so griefing was basically out of the question. We really focussed on the co-operative aspects of the game, whereas some groups might be more prone to throwing each other off cliffs. I think the single player experience is very 'civil' – your AI partner follows your lead, and generally tries to be as helpful as possible. I haven't yet plucked up the courage to play online – for all my love of games, I'm not very good at them, and I'd feel guilty messing up someone's playing session.

Now I've talked about the ways to play the game, let's talk about the game itself. All 4 One, like the rest of the series, relies on platforming, weapons and gadgets to get where you want to go, only this time adds a co-operative element to everything. The game's biggest strength is huge variety of creative situations. One minute you're performing super high jumps in a low gravity area, the next you're riding jetpacks down a mineshaft, the next you're jet-skiing across the sea and then you're blasting everything in your path atop a giant robot. There's always something new around the corner, and I was really impressed with all the fun scenarios the game puts you in. I think different people will enjoy different parts; for example, I rather enjoyed the jetpack segments, but my brother and sister really didn't like them. I wasn't fond of a lot of the vehicle sections where you had to steer co-operatively – this is a lot harder than it looks, and ultimately, the easiest way to manoeuvre is for one person to take charge. These sections will be hit-and-miss for a lot of players, but I think everyone will find something they enjoy. The game is very forgiving; it only ends when all players die, it is possible to revive fallen party members, and even if you do die, the checkpoints are well placed.

There is also a pretty good weapons selection this time around. Some are recycled from old games, but there are a few new ones too. I think my favourite weapon in the game is the Darkstar Fission Tether – a weapon that creates an energy beam between players and enemies. The Blitzer is a pretty fun melee weapon, allowing players to charge into their enemies, but ultimately isn't the most practical choice. This brings me onto my next point; using weapons together. The game encourages players to use the same weapon at the same time – a weapon becomes more effective if more than one player uses it. This is a great idea in theory, as it gives a great sense of teamwork. In practice, however, it causes a lot of problems. Part of the fun of a Ratchet & Clank game comes from experimenting with different weapons, throwing out different types of ammunition and seeing what results work well. When the game encourages everyone to use the same weapon, it restricts creativity. There is only one tactic – everyone use the Combustor (or the Warmonger if it's a boss fight). The game offers some great weapon ideas, but gives the player little opportunity to use them. It also annoyed me that the weapons didn't level up in this game. Instead, you just buy upgrades from vendors. Again, it gives little incentive to try out all the weapons; why bother giving every weapon a go when the game offers you nothing for it? So overall the weapons were good, but you'll probably just find yourself using the Combustor most of the time.

Each character also has their own unique weapon: Ratchet can throw out a decoy, Clank can slow down enemies, Quark can create a shield and Nefarious can turn invisible. In practice Ratchet's unique weapon is the only one that is of any use. There is one simple reason for this; Once a decoy is deployed Ratchet can go on to do something else. Qwark and Nefarious have to have their weapons equipped to use them, so I could run around absorbing enemy fire as Qwark, but without the ability to fire back I was hindering our team more than helping. Insomniac really should have tested these better to be sure that they were balanced. I should mention that we didn't have anyone playing as Clank in our playthrough, but I played as him in the demo and didn't find his weapon of much use either.

Then there's the gadgets. The most important gadget in your arsenal is the Vac-U – a device that allow you to throw fellow players across ledges. This is a great gadget, but one that you have to use with care – it's all to easy to miss and annoy your fellow players! It requires a lot of coordination – players will need to quickly decide who will throw who. The Vac-U has a lot of uses, and it definitely one of the most fun gadgets in the game. The classic swingshot is given a co-op twist, as players can use it to latch on to each other. Then we have the remaining gadgets; the Glob Lobber is used to weigh down surfaces, and is okay, the Quakehammer is completely useless outside the one level where it is needed, and the Reflector is pretty versatile, used to provide cover from lasers, but also to redirect them. My biggest gripe with the gadgets is that with the exception of the Vac-U and the Swingshot, they have been assigned to the quick select menu with the weapons. Why couldn't they have been assigned to the D-Pad like they were in A Crack in Time?

The Quick Select menu in this game is an absolute pain. In theory, the game should pause if all the players are in the quick select menu, but the game is very temperamental about when it actually does this. Often the game won't register that you've selected a new weapon, and the menu is so small on even a large TV screen that it's often hard to pick the right weapon. It's something that you get the hang of eventually, but it takes a lot of getting used to.

Now I think I need to talk about the biggest problem I have with this game: the camera. I completely understand that in order to offer offline co-op without using split-screen, having a single, uncontrollable camera was the only option, but it is so frustrating sometimes. Often it moves ahead of the party, causing players to be cut off screen and die as a result. Sometimes it isn't sure who it should be following, and leaves someone stuck somewhere, and it doesn't allow you to backtrack, so if you realise you've left some crates unsmashed, it is almost impossible to return to them. The camera is something that really needed a lot more work.

Overall the game has a lot of creativity, and some really great ideas, that are hindered by some problematic controls. I realise that I have listed a lot of negatives in this section. Don't get me wrong, this game is a lot of fun to play, and is extremely enjoyable despite all its flaws, but the flaws are very noticeable. I think it's at its most fun played in a group, just make sure it's a group who are willing to excuse some problems if it results in a really great co-operative experience.

Characters

Character wise, the main focus of the game is the relationship between the four playable characters. Of course Ratchet and Clank get along fine, but the real entertainment comes from Qwark and Nefarious. Our heroes might have a history with these two, but Qwark and Nefarious go way back. Qwark's naivety at thinking Nefarious is capable of turning over a new leaf, with Nefarious' constant assassination attempts, theoretical or otherwise make for some really entertaining interactions.

Looking at them individually, Ratchet appears to have grown a bit since the last game. He's still the reckless idiot we know and love, but he's just that bit more cautious. Clank, always the optimist, is pretty much the straight man of the group; polite, helpful, and trying to make the best of the situation. Qwark never fails to entertain; he has a wonderfully deluded vision of the world and is just hilariously self-absorbed. I think Nefarious is the character who develops the most in this game. Watching him struggle with the concept of helping his arch nemeses is just brilliant to watch. Every time he does something that could possibly be considered a good deed you can see how much he hates it, and I loved watching him try to decide between the lesser of two evils (or goods).

The only other returning characters this time around are our favourite senile warbots; Cronk and Zephyr, a welcome return as the group's mission control. Given the events of the story, Nefarious' butler Lawrence doesn't make much of an appearance. As for the new characters, Galactic Scout Susie is basically just a cute little girl, but she her interactions with Ratchet are really sweet. Dr Croid, a scientist with connections to Ephemeris, has an interesting backstory, and the scene where the main characters meet with him is one of the funniest in the game.

As for the villains, none of them were particularly memorable. Like Going Commando, this game had a definite threat, but not a clear enemy. I think All 4 One pulled this off better than Going Commando, but I still prefer it when there is a properly established villain As for side villains, the computer at N.E.S.T was pretty entertaining, but I got a bit of a Glados vibe from her (maybe Insomniac really do want to be Valve). If ever there was a forgettable side villain, it is Commander Spog. I really don't remember anything about him other than the fact that he had a cool voice and was a bloody difficult boss.

There weren't so many memorable characters this time around, but there was still a lot to enjoy, and both during gameplay and during cutscenes it was a lot of fun watching the four protagonists interact.

Graphics

The graphics look drastically different from the other games – the characters are animated in a completely different style, and some of them have very different proportions. Insomniac have justified this decision; all four playable characters will be on screen during gameplay, so they need to stand out. In order to do this changes had to be made, such as making Clank bigger and exaggerating Ratchet's features a little. Visuals-wise, the levels all look brilliant. The fixed camera means you have less freedom to look around at the scenery, but it all still looks amazing.

Soundtrack

With A Crack in Time's composer Boris Salchow working on the score for Resistance 3, Insomniac brought in another new composer; Michael Bross. Bross' soundtrack has a good balance of orchestral music and more synthesised tracks, which feels right for the Ratchet & Clank series. There were some great tracks, and nothing grated on my nerves, which is always good. Something I will say is that I think Insomniac need to keep a consistent composer for the series. I don't mind if it's Salchow or Bross but I think down the line it will feel jarring if the composers keep changing.

Overall Thoughts

Pros

Great co-operative moments

Lots of creative scenarios

Decent weapons selection

Entertaining story

Great character interaction

Cons

Frustrating camera

Controls can be irritating sometimes

Not all co-operative elements work in practice

Little incentive to make use of all weapons

Some wasted story potential

I definitely enjoyed playing this game, and would recommend it if you're looking for a very fun co-op title. Even if you're not as fan of co-op, there is still some great stuff in this game if you're willing to excuse a few problems. If you're a long-time fan of the series, don't go into this game expecting it to be like A Crack in Time. It's not, and was never intended to be. Even if I do prefer Crack, I'm really glad that Insomniac made this game. In my last R&C review I expressed my concerns that the series was losing its way, so it's comforting to know that Insomniac don't feel they need a dramatic story to make a great game. I think All 4 One was a bit of an experiment. It was an opportunity for Insomniac to try out some new things – something I think they really needed to do. Hopefully it will pave the way for some brilliant new games in the future, but until then, it's a very fun co-op title.

Thoughts for the Future

At this point in time, the only title that Insomniac have confirmed is their new game Overstrike, another 4 player co-op title. It will also be their first game that isn't a Sony exclusive. No new Ratchet & Clank or Resistance titles have been announced, so I honestly have no idea what will come next. Since Insomniac have two studios now, I am assuming that they currently have at least one other title in the works. I suppose we have to wait until later this year to find out. As far as Ratchet & Clank goes, I'm pretty confident that we will see more games. It is Insomniac's longest running series, so I think if they were going to end it they would make a point of it. There are still a lot of questions in the series that remain unanswered. Where are Angela Cross and Max Apogee? Will Ratchet ever find the rest of the Lombaxes? What did Tachyon's final words at the end of Tools of Destruction mean? I also feel that if they really put their minds to it, Insomniac could make another Up Your Arsenal. The Future Trilogy and All 4 One have brought in a lot of new ideas. If they could take the best bits of all these games, I think they could make something truly brilliant. Another thing we have to bear in mind is the fact that the PS4 will probably be announced soon. Will the series make the jump again when the times comes? Or will it end with the PS3? And if you happen to be reading this ten years after I wrote it, please feel free to laugh at my predictions.

Two weeks into the new year and I've done two blog posts. I can't promise to stick to a weekly schedule, but I might try to build up a buffer at some point, in which case I may be able to update weekly. We'll see.

p.s. In case you were wondering, I was Qwark, my sister was Ratchet and my brother was Nefarious.

Ratchet & Clank Comic Series Review

I'm always really interested in seeing how something from one medium is brought over into another medium. It's a process that can work really well, but also go horribly wrong. One transition that I think we have finally learned how to do well is the transition from a written medium into a visual medium. Film adaptations of novels and comics are these days very well done, because most writers have got the hang of how to handle the source material. Something that we still struggle with is the transition from an interactive medium to a non-interactive one, and vice versa. Video games are very difficult to adapt into other mediums, because the interactive element is what makes them so enjoyable. Not to say it can't be done well, just that it is very difficult to accomplish.

Which brings us to the topic of today's post. When I learned that there was a Ratchet & Clank comic book series I was curious to see how it was handled. I originally thought the six issue mini series had never been released outside the States, but as it turned out, the Trade Paperback is available in the UK – compiling all six issues, so I decided to pick it up. The six issues were published by DC from September 2010 to February 2011, intending to tide players over until the release of All 4 One. It was written by T.J. Fixman – who wrote the story for A Crack in Time as well as numerous other Insomniac titles, and was drawn by Adam Archer. I'm not very knowledgeable on comics, so most of my critique will be based on the story, the portrayal of the characters and how well it represents the franchise.

Story

The story takes place between A Crack in Time and All 4 One. With Dr Nefarious defeated and The Great Clock safe, Ratchet and Clank decide to leave the Polaris Galaxy and go back to Ratchet's old home on Veldin. Their retirement is interrupted by a visit from Captain Qwark – now Galactic President of Polaris. He informs our heroes that he is facing a problem: planets are disappearing across the universe and he wants their help. Ratchet initially refuses, but when Veldin is the next planet to be taken, he and Clank must escape the clutches of Artemis Zogg, recover the stolen planets and save the universe from this new villain.

Interestingly, according to Fixman, this story was originally one of the ideas they came up with for A Crack in Time. However, since they were set on doing a time-travel story for that game, this one was shelved. I'm glad they found a use for it, since it's always a shame when potential stories never see the light of day. So was it any good? I enjoyed it, and felt it was very in-keeping with the series. When previous threats have included a plan to mass market a killing machine as a pet, a mad scientist who wanted to turn everyone into robots, and a search for a giant hat with a pull-string that was once responsible for saving the universe, this story about a former politician stealing planets to create his own galaxy feels right at home. One thing I really like about this story is the fact that it doesn't feel like the sort of story that could be told in a video game – it doesn't really lend itself to interactivity. It's quite dialogue heavy in parts, but in a good way, as it helps establish a lot of the relationships between characters. Some of the story events also don't seem like they would work in a video game. There is a scene in which Ratchet and Clank are given an ultimatum and have to make a difficult decision. The discussions surrounding the decision and the plan they go through with don't feel like they could really be playable. I think this is what adaptations should be doing – using a non-interactive medium to tell a story that couldn't be told interactively.

I do think the adaptation suffers in some places. One being in its length. As a comic book, the pacing is good, but as a Ratchet & Clank story it feels a little short. This comes from the loss of interactivity. Even the shorter Ratchet & Clank games generally last at least 10 hours. I finished this in an evening, and that was on top of doing other things (even if I were to complete Quest for Booty in a day, it would still take a large chunk out of that day). I don't think there is anything that could have been done to help this matter. The things that are fun to do in a game aren't as fun read on panels, so it was inevitably going to be a different experience. Part of me would have liked a longer story, but the one they told was done pretty well.

Characters

T. J. Fixman has been working for Insomniac since Tools of Destruction, and I would say for the most part the characters in this comic are written pretty well. I really like the way that Ratchet and Clank act almost like an old married couple at times – making references to plans to redecorate, and Ratchet's comment that they really need to start labelling important pieces of machinery so he doesn't try to use them to make pancakes. At times, however, I feel like they behave a little out of character. Ratchet seems to act uncharacteristically angsty at times, which is a jarring contrast to the happy-go-lucky hero I'm used to seeing. Yes, he had reasons to be angsty, but it just didn't feel right to me.

Other supporting characters come across well. It was nice to see Talwyn make a return, as she has been rather neglected in the recent games. Cronk and Zephyr are great, and Captain Qwark entertains as usual. I would say the main problem with the supporting cast is that it is very obvious that Fixman did not work on Up Your Arsenal. I was looking forward to seeing Sasha's reappearance and her interactions with Talwyn, but her role in the story was minimal at best. I get the feeling that Fixman didn't really know how to write her, so just had her stand around and look important. It's a shame really, because there was a lot of comedic potential. The comics really make a point that Ratchet and Talwyn are very close, but seem to completely ignore his relationship with Sasha. I'm not denying that Ratchet is probably a lot closer to Talwyn, but Sasha still has a history with him, and she blatantly had a crush on him when they first met, so it's a shame this didn't shine through. I feel that if the characters from the older games weren't going to be used to their full potential, they should have just focussed on the cast of the Future Trilogy.

As far as the villain of this story goes, Zogg is an interesting character who proves that he is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. The stakes were high, and the threat he posed forced our heroes to face some tough challenges and make some difficult decisions. I will say, however, that I'm not sure how believable his backstory is – to have changed so much from the man he once was, he can't have been right in the head. I think this is a problem that the series faces sometimes – when the writers have tried to give the villain a tragic backstory I never really buy it, because they act just as menacing as the unambiguous ones. A true tragic villain should genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing, and it should be that much more difficult to put a stop to them. Zogg is a good villain, but is nowhere near one of the best.

Artwork

Adam Archer's artwork looks really nice. His style is quite different to the games, so it takes a bit to get used to, but once you do it looks great. Again, I'm not an expert on comics but I can say that I found the panels easy to follow, the action scenes worked well and the characters were expressive. I have a few criticisms – in the earlier chapters Ratchet's proportions look really weird in some panels. He looks ridiculously short sometimes. The only other problem I had I think was more of an editorial mistake. There are a few panels where they get Cronk and Zephyr's names mixed up. It just really breaks the flow of the story when a blatant mistake like that is made. True, it was a long time before I remembered which was which, but if you're actually working on a story for the series you need to know these things.

Overall Thoughts

This comic book series was an enjoyable read. The story was compelling, the characters were entertaining and the artwork was great. I wouldn't say it's a must-read, but if you're a fan of the series and you want to see another Ratchet & Clank story I would say it's worth checking out. Just don't go into it expecting to be blown away. I think Fixman and Archer did a very good job adapting the series into comic book form, and if they were to release any more comics I think I would pick them up. I'm glad this comic was written – I think they tried some interesting things that couldn't be explored in a game. I would say, however, that I think Ratchet & Clank works best as a video game series, and that seeing them in another medium is a very different experience.

I was originally planning to read the comics before playing All 4 One, but it turned out that Forbidden Planet took forever to dispatch them to me, so I didn't read them until after I had already completed the game. I wanted to get this review out first, so I can talk about them chronologically, so expect my All 4 One review next.