Short but it's strong game play still makes it more than just a rental
- Adds more great weapons
- Story is pretty good thanks to great cutscenes and 'commentary'
- Strong shooting and a new aim targeting
- Great sense of humor
- Voice acting, music and sound effects are excellent
- You will have good company
Negative
- Only 8 hours, possibly less if you rush
- Clank is no playable
Also known as Ratchet: Gladiator, this follow up to one of the best platformers ever made is not exactly a platformer since it's more focused on the shooting action which makes this an excellent shooter more than an actual platformer. The new targeting is a great addition since it makes shooting more intense and exciting.
The story doesn't take much time after Up Your Arsenal and when Ratchet and Clank are traveling they get captured by Vox. This guy traps Ratchet and forces him to complete in his battle arenas to entertain his trillion fans. The story sounds better than I'm saying it. The main objectives in the game are to get as many points to advance in each planet and compete in a tournament and advance. In each tournament you fight a boss.
Throughout missions and at the station you can buy weapons. This time around Clank won't be available as a playable character and only Ratchet is. Clank just gives you instructions. By your side you will have 2 bolts, robots which can really help out. Especially to get rid of enemies, force fields etc. They die, well sort of but you can resurrect them any time. There are 8 weapons which are excellent but they can all be leveled up to 10. Ratchet will also have a wrench along with a gun. The bolts can also be upgraded and change colors and armor.
Gameplay is great, no awesome. The targeting system make shooting awesome since this time around will have to target your enemies. Bosses are great, there are much though. Each planet you have to complete a set of games and if you pass you will be allowed to do challenges. To buy weapons you need bolts which enemies drop. You need points to advance to next planets. There are more difficult settings which makes it much friendlier than before. And if you die or fall and had to restart the mission, you will be granted will with full ammo in the first difficulty. Somehow the game consists of short missions which if you ask me are great. Mostly you need to shoot enemies, variety exists in the game. The gameplay doesn't get old.
Ratchet Deadlocked has a good story though short. The presentation is really impressive as fans expected. Cutscenes are great and the commentary is funny but good. Yes about the commentary you will hear a man and a woman commenting the event. They are those guy who say the news and mostly they say things against Ratchet but they say it in a hilarious way. Even cutscenes are funny.
Graphically Ratchet: Deadlocked is marvelous. Traveling from planet to planet takes some time, very little but you will see it annoying each time. Level design is pretty good and enemy design is good. Weapons are designed good as well and you gonna need to keep shooting like crazy. Shooting in this game is mindless fun.
The music quality is superb. Voice acting from ever single character is good. Commentary is the most you will hear and it's top notch. Bolts talk too and they sound good too. Other than that Ratchet and Clank do their job great and so does everybody else. Level music is great too and it's not annoying. Sound effects and gun shooting are really powerful and excellent.
Unfortunately the game starts to feel a little repetitive after a while for those who like Clank since he is absent in this game. He just gives instructions from the station and nothing else. Clank is not a playable character, just Ratchet. But Ratchet is good on his own.
The game is way too short. I finished it in about 8 hours and not really rushed. Though those 8 hours are worth of a good story, strong shooting and almost everything else. The multiplayer is good but the camera is too zoomed out and not as fun as the single player mode.
It should not be missed. Series fans are gonna have a blast with this game. The short length might seem a bit off, but the visuals, awesome gameplay, powerful sound effects and mostly everything makes this one of the most intense and exciting shooters on the PS2. If you in the shooting business you should at least rent this, anyone else can enjoy this. I personally I'm not a shooter fan, but I really enjoyed this. A lot.
Graphics = 9
The game looks excellent graphically; environments and level design are ok. And character and enemy design superb.
Sound = 9
Voice acting is good but the sound effects are something special. Background music and also level music is great.
Presentation = 8.5
There are some minor long load times between levels but otherwise they are ok. Cutscenes are good and the humor is great. Production values are great as well.
Gameplay = 9.5
No Clank. But the shooting hundreds of enemies is mindless fun. Some people might go for hours with the same stuff. The game almost never gets repetitive. Shooting is the main highlight in the game.
Camera = 8
You need to turn the camera a lot in the game but the bolts got your back from small enemies. The targeting system makes shooting better. The mini map can be helpful but pressing the select button opens the big one so you won't get lost easily.
Story = 8.5
Short somehow, can be beaten in one go, only 8 hours possible less. The story is involving and worth a look
Overall = 8.9 / 10
It's 9.0 on Gamespot. This game is more than just a platformer with shooting. If you like any kind of shooting, you might like this. Well I'm still not a shooter fan, mostly of FPS but I really liked this one. Buying this shouldn't be regretted but it's way to short which might be worth a rental.