Playtime: 12 Hours
Score: 9/10
One of the fondest memories of my childhood was waking up on my 6th birthday and opening up a present from my parents to reveal this game! While many will say Mario or Sonic was their platforming game of their childhood, this was mine!
This game was truly ahead of its time with its tongue and cheek story, filled with social commentary about consumerism and unchecked captialism. Obviously this all flew over my head as a 6 year old but I have to come to appreciate the humor more as an adult. Its rare for games these days to have commentary like this and this game does it flawlessly without seeming like it has an agenda. The story of Ratchet being a self centered mechanic with a heart of gold underneath is timeless as Clank teaches him how to be a hero. These two may be an iconic bromance duo in the sequel games, but in this one they fight and butt heads a lot and its beautiful to see their friendship blossom by the end.
The music is another flawless aspect of this game. While many will reference game series like Elder Scrolls and Persona for their fantastic music, which they rightfully should, the R&C games composed by David Beauregard, should be part of the conversation and is a masterclass in funky music. The techo inspired OST is so catchy and makes the levels such a blast to explore. Kerwan is always my favorite but there are so many great tracks that accompany the fantastic atmosphere!
The platforming mechanics, while clunky in comparison to the later games, are still solid in design as you use Clank to help you glide across ledges and traverse dangerous enviorments. Also the weapons are very cool as they have this rough, bolted together feel, but are still super fun to use which the series would only get better at as time went on.
My only complaint in going back and playing this is the really unforgiving checkpoint system. When you die, your sent so far back and it can get frustrating at times. This became a big issue on the final boss fight with Drek, which I got pretty angry with, but otherwise its a great first entry in this long running series!
All Games I have Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/
Score: 9/10
One of the fondest memories of my childhood was waking up on my 6th birthday and opening up a present from my parents to reveal this game! While many will say Mario or Sonic was their platforming game of their childhood, this was mine!
This game was truly ahead of its time with its tongue and cheek story, filled with social commentary about consumerism and unchecked captialism. Obviously this all flew over my head as a 6 year old but I have to come to appreciate the humor more as an adult. Its rare for games these days to have commentary like this and this game does it flawlessly without seeming like it has an agenda. The story of Ratchet being a self centered mechanic with a heart of gold underneath is timeless as Clank teaches him how to be a hero. These two may be an iconic bromance duo in the sequel games, but in this one they fight and butt heads a lot and its beautiful to see their friendship blossom by the end.
The music is another flawless aspect of this game. While many will reference game series like Elder Scrolls and Persona for their fantastic music, which they rightfully should, the R&C games composed by David Beauregard, should be part of the conversation and is a masterclass in funky music. The techo inspired OST is so catchy and makes the levels such a blast to explore. Kerwan is always my favorite but there are so many great tracks that accompany the fantastic atmosphere!
The platforming mechanics, while clunky in comparison to the later games, are still solid in design as you use Clank to help you glide across ledges and traverse dangerous enviorments. Also the weapons are very cool as they have this rough, bolted together feel, but are still super fun to use which the series would only get better at as time went on.
My only complaint in going back and playing this is the really unforgiving checkpoint system. When you die, your sent so far back and it can get frustrating at times. This became a big issue on the final boss fight with Drek, which I got pretty angry with, but otherwise its a great first entry in this long running series!
All Games I have Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/