by Roger ‘bypr0duct’ Burgess
Ratchet & Clank All 4 One is the latest game out in the Ratchet & Clank series. It tries to do something different, by offering the player the opportunity to do either same screen or online co-op gaming with three people. The game was clearly designed to be played with friends (thanks for stating the obvious) but alas, this reviewer had nobody to test out that feature of the game with. Thus, this review will focus on the game, solely from a single player perspective.
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: SCEA
For fans of: Platformers, co-op gaming
Reviewed on: PS3
Also available on: N/A
If we had to give it a numerical score: 6.5/10
What I liked:
- The co op element
- The slapstick humour in the story
- The variety of weapons
What I disliked:
- The game is not very challenging
- The inability to save within a level. You either have to complete the level, or restart from the beginning.
In short:
This is most certainly a game that only needs picking up if you are going to play through it co operatively with a friend. If not, give it a skip. You won’t be missing anything special.
The game:
The game kicks off with you having a battle against your arch-enemy. Once completed, you and your arch enemy are captured by a new enemy. This kicks off the “everybody-needs-to-band-together-to-overcome-this-new-enemy” scenario, and sets the tone for the adventure.
Each level tasks with you the normal R&C approach of collecting bolts and killing baddies. However, to progress in each level, you will have to work with your new team mates to solve puzzles, defeat hordes of enemies and cross huge chasms.
As you progress through levels, you start to unravel the mystery regarding this new enemy, and why the duo of Ratchet & Co (see what I did there?) need to save the world.
Luckily the game makes use of a checkpoint system. So should everybody die, it’s back to the last checkpoint. The game is not shy with checkpoints, so should you perish, you will never be sent too far back. This is not Dark Souls after all. My greatest irk was that you cannot save at a specific point in a level, quit out, and re load back there. You either have to finish the level, or restart it completely. This system felt a bit archaic to me.
At various spots during levels, you will be able to purchase new weapons, and upgrade existing ones. There is a wide variety of weapons, and with the introduction of each new one you are greeted with a comedic ‘cinematic’ detailing the weapon and its abilities. Each weapon has a set amount of ammo, but again, the game is not shy with ammo reloading stations. So there is never any need to conserve ammo.
The voice acting is not the best, but the cut scenes are decent. They inject additional humour into the game, and I enjoyed them.
The level and puzzle design is also designed with co-op in mind. Thus playing the game on my ace, I felt ‘alone.’ With three other players, I can imagine the game will be a lot more fun, as co-op gaming always is. This game, I would think, is aimed at the younger gamer or family-with-4-controllers. It’s not challenging, and I found myself breezing through levels with ease. Bosses also do not pose too great a threat.
Final thoughts:
It’s a fun, no brain required platformer indeed. However, as stated at the beginning, only pick up if you are going to play through this with friends. It’s not something that will hold your attention on a solo run.
Zombiegamer rating:
