Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (PS3) review

Despite the implication that the Ratchet & Clank series ended with A Crack in Time, a new installment was announced in the Gamescom 2010 conference. Fans were skeptical of it due to its focus on four-player cooperative play and the new character designs. When the game was released, All 4 One got moderate reviews. I will be taking a look and see whether the game was worthy of the reception it got.

Story

Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark, now the Galactic President, arrive in Luminopolis for Qwark to receive an “Intergalactic Tool of Justice” Award. However, Dr. Nefarious arrives and reanimates a giant, light-eating Z’Grute monster. The plan backfires as the Z’Grute begins to attack Luminopolis and Lawrence, Nefarious’s butler, abandons him. After defeating the monsters, the four are abducted.

(From left to right) Qwark, Nefarious, Ratchet, and Clank

They wake up in a factory on Planet Magnus, but are rescued by a galactic scout named Susie. They find out that a giant machine called Ephemeris is abducting giant creatures for an unknown reason. Dr. Nefarious agrees to work with Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark to put a stop to whatever Ephemeris is planning.

The story is nothing new, as we’ve seen plots where the villain has to work with the hero/heroes (ex. Crash Twinsanity), and it has its predictable moments, but the character interactions are great and the comedy is still well-done. One of my favorite lines comes from a Tharpod (“They ran us out of our homes so they can build their stupid creature pens… and a bowling alley! A bowling alley!”) Also, for anyone who thinks the game is too kid-friendly, what kind of game has a Platinum trophy that’s named “4Play”?

Gameplay

For the first time, the series goes on a different direction with the addition of four-player, online/offline cooperative play. The player(s) can play as Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and Nefarious. Those who play alone are paired with an A.I. partner that cooperates very well. You can no longer rotate the camera at 360 degrees, for there are now fixed camera angles to fit the with co-op play. Players can collect bolts individually and are colored to represent each character: Ratchet is orange; Clank is blue; Qwark is green; and Nefarious is purple.

Each character can purchase and use weapons with bolts, the game’s main currency. In addition, each character has their own unique weapon to purchase. Ratchet has the Doppelbanger, which functions like the Decoy Glove from the first game, where it can distract enemies and even fire at them; Clank has the Zoni Ray, which slows down enemies; Qwark has the Quantum Deflector, which acts like a shield; and Nefarious has the Cloaker, which turns him invisible. There is no Nanotech leveling system this time, but you can purchase upgrades in the weapon vendors, which is a good substitute.

Characters using the Vac-U.

Players can cooperate in several different ways. First is the recurring gadget, the Vac-U. The Vac-U can be used to launch partners over gaps, open switches, and heal those who have depleted all their health. Next, attacks can be more powerful if they use the same weapon together at enemies or switches. Hidden throughout the game are Croid labs, where the players take on a challenge to guide a Critter to the end of the challenge, and completing them rewards them a piece of a secret weapon. At the end of certain sections in each level, a co-op screen appears, awarding each player points for certain achievements like not dying, healing, and the number of bolts they earned.

The Swingshot from previous titles has been replaced with the Hookshot, which has a similar function, but with new features.  The Hookshot can be used for a player to catch up with the other teammates who are far away, and it can also come in handy for when a player is about to fall to his/her death.

In addition to bolts, the game’s main currency, other collectibles include Hero Bolts and Critters Hero Bolts are giant bolts, colored individually for each character that unlocks skins the more you collect. Critters are small creatures that the players can rescue and compete against other players for the number collected. My one complaint with the Hero Bolts is the tediousness of collecting all 42 with each character (a total of 168), so unless you have a checklist ahead of time or having at least one partner with you, you’re going to be spending hours and hours going through the same levels as different characters if you’re playing alone.

The Skill Points return, and like Ratchet: Deadlocked, you are told what to do instead of being hinted on what to do. Some Skill Points require multiple players to complete, something which I am not fond of. Still to this day, I haven't completed all of the Skill Points because some of them require at least two players.

Graphics and Level Design

The level designs in the game are visually stunning. I remember playing the co-op with a friend and he commented that the game looked huge, to which I agree, and the camera angles really helped complement the immense size of the game.

Seriously, people, it's not that big of a deal.

One common complaint I often heard from fans, even when the trailer was first shown, were the character models, mainly Ratchet and Clank. Many commented that Ratchet’s head is too wide and Clank is near Ratchet’s height, no longer the size of a backpack. For those who do not know, they are modeled after their appearances in the 6-part comic book series, which took place after A Crack in Time. The only thing that kind of bothers me is that the new character models can lead to new fans questioning the continuity due to the different art style. Other than that, the character models don’t really bother me, and I think the fans are just overreacting to one small thing.

Audio

Michael Bross, the main composer.

The sound effects and the voice acting are great, as usual. Michael Bross, who composed the music for the Oddworld series, is now the lead composer. According to an article I read, Insomniac Games hired him to due to the epic nature of his music, which he applied to in this game.

The score, like A Crack in Time, took me a while to fully appreciate it. I thought the music, apart from the main theme, was just as unmemorable as the games after the first three titles. While I still kind of view it as that to this day, it started to warm up to me after I bought the soundtrack off of iTunes. Now I think it’s one of best soundtracks in the series, right up there with the first three games and A Crack in Time.

Conclusion

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One may not be the strongest title in the series, but it doesn’t deserve some of the backlash it got from fans. Quite possibly the harshest review I read from critics was from Destructoid, which called it “a game that does a disservice to the high pedigree of the Ratchet & Clank series and takes too far a departure from what made such an excellent series.”

I disagree, because would you like to see a game series that does the same thing over and over again, but with a different story? Sometimes a bit of experimentation doesn’t hurt, and while the game took a different direction, it still has some familiar elements that we’ve seen in previous games. Whether or not the game worked overall is all subjective. To me, I’m fine with a little experimenting and what resulted was an above average game. And to those who don’t like it because the character models ruined the game for you, get over it. They don't make or break this game.

While some things could have been improved on like picking an A.I. partner if you’re playing alone and the possibility of split-screen like some of the more recent Lego games (and was the Online Pass really necessary?) there are plenty of good aspects like the replay value and the 4-player co-op. I remember playing the heck out of this game with my sister and a bunch of online players. It’s not as great as the co-op in Portal 2, which came out 6 months prior, but it’s still a lot of fun. If you haven’t played it and you are skeptical of it, I say give it a try. I think Joshscorcher said it best: “If I’m having fun, isn’t that really all that matters?”