A solid PS3 debut shows Ratchet and his robotic pal still have plenty to offer gamers in another humorous installment.
Since the series' debut, Ratchet's been a tad depressed from being the final Lombax in the universe, and now Ratchet is summoned by Captain Quark to assist (read: rescue) him, and before he knows it, the answers to what happened to his kind may be in sight. Across the typical array of planets and asteroids, Ratchet chases the evil Emperor Tachyon, a fellow final-of-his-species survivor, but of a race the Lombax destroyed long ago. As usual, the more popular weapons and gadgets return, accompanied by new items like an energy net shooter and health-transference bombs to steal opponents' life force. The levels feel and look very familiar, though they're now bigger than ever, taking advantage of the PS3's oomph. It all leads to Ratchet and company's final confrontation to stop Emperor Tachyon and try to learn exactly what happened to the Lombax all those years ago.
The graphics for the cartoon-style game are lush, and are like playing a Pixar movie. They're more than most would've imagined the jump to HD would accomplish, with everything shinier, sharper, and brighter (and a bit of self-aware humor, to boot). While the unfolding of the story is merely so-so, the trademark humor of the series is still right on target, with cutscenes filled with laugh-out loud moments and pop culture allusions. The updates to gaming mechanics generally work well, such as extended periods of Ratchet sliding up grindrails, and having him start with all the thruster packs he's received in earlier outings was a smart choice. Using the SIXAXIS to fly or manipulate a circuit board minigame (this iteration's version of the hacking minigames) feels senisible and intuitive, and never overdone.
The game is almost too easy, especially if you're a series veteran, and you're not flying off to your death in desperate searches for Golden Bolts. This is augmented (or caused) by one or two weapons being a bit overpowered, and even with their limited ammo-holding capacity, the game's tendency to have ammo crates only give you what you need undoes this attempt to manufacture game balance. There are the occasional camera issues that leave you pulling your hair out for a better view, and even the briefest of slow-downs in one or two spots. As usual, there are some Clank missions, and as usual most are far less fun than the standard missions with Ratchet.
The controls are well enough, though with a total of 24 quick select slots and only about 27 total weapons, devices, and gadgets, why they couldn't give you another screen of quick select menu to hold them all is a mystery. The graphics really couldn't be any nicer for the cartoon style that they're done in. The sound is loud and orchestral, though pretty much just like in previous installments, but the sound off bolts hurtling at you from all corners of your surround sound system is undeniably impressive. Barreling through the story only with your eyes only on getting to the end, you might be able to do this in about 10 hours, but if you're a completist for Golden Bolts and Skill Points, you'll get far more bang for your buck. If the series ended here it would be a fairly decent ending, story-wise and in terms of going out on the strength of a good game, but this game proves there's plenty left to do in Ratchet's universe.