Ratchet: Deadlocked
Action platforming without the platforming.
Published: November 2, 2005
If the game can be faulted anywhere, it’s that it’s a bit too constrained. Yes, having all action is fun, and I won’t take that away from the design team, but after three games that splayed a massive, ornate universe for you, it’s a little hard to adjust to not being able to explore these worlds, to jump blindly off overhangs only to find hidden sections of the map, or just to stare in awe at all the stuff zooming around. Here, if it zooms, chances are you’re going to have to make it go boom.
Again, this part of the game is fun, the making with the boom and whatnot, it’s just tough to rewire a part of the brain so hard-wired towards exploring as much as going bang-bang from time to time. I do also miss having Clank along for the ride. He still chimes in, but the game’s new shortened moniker isn’t a misnomer, this is a game about just 50% of the familiar duo, and it’s a bit of a bummer.
For all the refocusing on combat, though, the game still looks amazing. When you first start out on a planet, you’re usually given the classic “take it all in” view, truncated as it may be in terms of scale and wow factor, and it’s a nice way to take a deep breath before you begin circle strafing and blowing stuff to itty bitty bits, your weapons burping orange and blues as they shower baddies in lava or voltage.
Most of the time, this is pulled off with typical Insomniac flair; lots of stuff happening on screen at once, and plenty of personality right down to the way enemies die, but there are some instances of some very serious slowdown, and mysteriously, they don’t happen exclusively when there’s a lot on screen.
The texture detail has always been bit on the simplistic side, but the actual geometry is what gives the worlds their life, and here’s it’s very nearly as complex, even if you can’t really interact with it as much. Cutscene animations and lip syncing still don’t quite feel as precise as Naughty Dog’s work, but it’s miles ahead of anyone else attempting it, and it’s filled with far more little nuanced movements than the last Jak game conveyed.
Not surprisingly, the voices the accompany said scenes are all wonderful. The writing is brilliant, and though towards the end you’ll have heard all the announcers’ commentary about a half-dozen times, most are still amusing. The effects work is largely carried over from previous games, which means the familiar ting of bolts flying at you and lots of deep, booming explosions. Good stuff.
David Bergeaud’s soundtrack this time around is a little less spacey, and a little more subdued. It’s far more action driven, but you won’t be hearing nearly as much plucky hopalong-style tracks here. The digital Theremin is on vacation. Still, it’s good stuff, and certainly matches up with the game’s tone, just not quite of the caliber that I’m used to hearing.
So the platforming parts are more or less gone this time around. It’s still preferred to the way Naughty Dog decided they’d go with things, and in nearly all ways, it fits with the overall direction of the series more. If there is another Ratchet game this generation, I would hope it would be something with more jumping and slingshotting and so on, but for a pure action game, this is one hell of a way to do it.