Review Roundup For Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Sony's next big PlayStation 5 exclusive, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, releases this Friday, June 11. Ahead of that, reviews for the game have begun to appear online, and it looks like Sony has another hit on its hands.

GameSpot's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart review scored the game a 9/10. Reviewer Steve Watts said the game is "flashy and technically impressive without feeling self-important."

His review added: "It's just as silly, sweet, and earnest as the Ratchet & Clank series tends to be, while the new generation of hardware makes this entry look and play better than ever."

Other reviews beamed about Rift Apart as well, and you can see a sampling of excerpts from reviews below. For more on the critical reception to Rift Apart, head to GameSpot sister site Metacritic. You can also check out GameSpot's Rift Apart preorder guide.

• Game: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Platforms: PS5
• Developer: Insomniac Games
• Release Date: June 11
• Price: $70/£70/$125 AUD

GameSpot -- 9/10

"Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is flashy and technically impressive without feeling self-important. It's just as silly, sweet, and earnest as the Ratchet & Clank series tends to be, while the new generation of hardware makes this entry look and play better than ever. Like the heroes and villains and their dimensional counterparts, this one may appear different or carry itself with a new accent, but there's an underlying truth to the person underneath. At its core, it's still your trusty old pals on another grand space adventure. That's what's important." -- Steve Watts [Full review]

ScreenHub -- 4 Stars

"We will see a lot of this over the next couple of years. Experienced studios equipped with powerful new tools to help better realise existing design ideas and push them to satisfying extremes. They'll wash us over with waves of audiovisual and tactile splendour, convincing us that the future is here. It'll be nice. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apartis very nice. But I can't wait for someone to lead me out further, into those deeper, unknown waters." -- Edmond Tran [Full review]

VentureBeat -- 5/5

"Developer Insomniac Games' new action-platformer is the PS5's Halo or Super Mario 64: an early standout release that justifies the console's existence. But like those games, it is also an instant classic by which we will judge the entire upcoming generation." -- Jeff Grubb [Full review]

IGN -- 9/10

"Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is a stunner. It not only gives the latest generation of consoles a game that looks as beautiful as the improved tech promised, but it's also a fantastic experience to play. Insomniac has been around the Ratchet and Clank block plenty of times before, but Rivet and other new characters add so much charm, wit, and heart to a franchise I've loved for most of my life. That's coupled with series-best action-platforming gameplay and incredible art and sound design across the board. Rift Apart may not be the biggest adventure around, but its big heart, wild weapons, and incredible detail easily make it one of the most memorable of the year so far." -- Jonathon Dornbush [Full review]

NME - 4/5

"Rift Apart is entirely what you expect from a new Ratchet and Clank adventure. It's a joyous, stunning, playable Saturday morning cartoon, providing a generous helping of family-friendly blasting. And that's both its biggest strength and its greatest weakness. Despite its incredibly slick exterior, there's little new gameplay wise to really push the envelope or surprise players. Where the constant reinvention of a Mario title keeps the gameplay feeling fresh by bombarding the player with new mechanics, Rift Apart instead relies on visual splendour for its variation, wowing you with a string of setpieces between repeated sections of familiar-feeling gameplay. Those that came away from its initial reveal wowed at its Rift-based premise will leave bitterly disappointed. Still, that's not to say that there isn't fun to be had here--and when everything looks this good, it's easy to forgive a bit of repetition." -- Tom Regan [Full review]

The Guardian -- 4/5

"Humour has always been a defining feature of Ratchet & Clank, right back to its origins on the PlayStation 2, but it doesn't try too hard. It's funny in a laid-back, undemanding way, and the story is similarly easy to digest. Rift Apart did not exactly challenge me, but it entertained me immensely. It's just such a lot of fun, and so gorgeous I still can't quite believe it. If this is an indication of how the new generation of consoles can infuse familiar-feeling games with new wonder, we're in for a great few years." -- Keza MacDonald [Full review]

Game Informer -- 9/10

"I had a smile on my face most of the way through Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It's a great continuation of the series that is just a joy to play. It steals your eye with its stunning vistas, makes you care about the characters, and is loaded to the hilt with fan service (especially in the alternate dimension and a weapon you have to assemble). Insomniac clearly had a blast working on this game and leaves us with a tease for an even bigger adventure right before the credits roll." -- Andrew Reiner [Full review]