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Ratchet & Clank Review - PS2

Enter Ratchet: interspace mechanic, and would be space adventurer. Ratchet is just taking it easy on Planet of Veldin, tinkering with his ship, as of course space mechanics do, when he sees an escape rocket crash nearby. Ever the curious creature, Ratchet has to investigate. Ratchet finds at the scene a robot who explains he is a reject from Drek's army who has crash-landed on Clank's Planet Veldin. Of course, what story is complete with a true bad nut? Clank explains that Mr Bad, Chairman Drek just happens to have a plan to manufacture an army of large robots and take over the Univese (of course). So, what better time to put a spanner in the works of Drek's evil plan of robot domination? Ratchet and Clank seem to hit it off, and after that Clank becomes your traveling companion in your quest to stop Drek.

Ratchet & Clank is very much storyline driven, as opposed to many platformers these days which tend to the think the storyline is totally irrelevant to the gameplay. So rather than just stepping endlessly through a number of levels with little connection, the game is tied together with a rather simple plot (it is a G rating after all) which unfolds over a number of different worlds and with a number of interesting characters as you try to put an end to Drek's insidious plan. While nothing too different to any other platformer really, I found the style used throughout really set a polished feel of something that had been thought about, not something just slapped together to make a few more dollars. There are some quite funny moments in the game that make you realise that some true effort has been put in.

Once your spaceship is repaired, Ratchet & Clank have to visit a number of different planets to complete the game. Each world has it's own set feel which makes each world fairly unique. From forest worlds, to dark and neolythic planets, each level is quite varying, with it's own share of local nasties and creatures that will get in your way. Each world has a list of goals for you to complete and generally the storyline advances after each world has been completed with further story sequences.

Ratchet has a rather large number of moves rather than just the standard run and jump seen in many platformers, including side flipping, combination moves and others which mean there are many ways to get past some obstacles. He can also obtain the heli-pack and later the jet pack that allows him to float across great distances which means that you're not always just running around either. There are also more fast paced scenes, like where Ratchet has to compete in a hover-board race so the game doesn't suffer too much from the lack of variety problem that befalls many platform games.

Along the way, dead bad guys spit up bolts, which Ratchet has to collect. Once ... (continued next page)