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I think we would all like another installment in the single player Ratchet and Clank franchise; However I am not going to bash insomniac games for trying something new. This product is as advertised, a 4-player co-op plat-former. Anyone who has taken the time to read or watch an advertisement for this game should have known that it wouldn't be like the rest of the RaC games. Overall it isn't a bad game, but still I have some nitpicking to do.
First off, because it is a 4-player game you do not have control over the camera. This gives the feeling that the game isn't as detailed as its single player predecessors. Still there are some beautiful levels that give the ratchet and clank feeling. Another thing that bugs me are the circles that float bellow the characters. It makes me feel like I am playing Marvel Ultimate Allience or something.
Now, I can't speak for everyone but RaC is sort of a guilty pleasure type of game because I am an adult. That is one of the things I like about the series is that, it is an 'e' rated game that can actually be enjoyed by EVERYONE. Still in this game the characters tend to say cheesy one-liners such as, "that was good teamwork buddy!" This makes you stop and realize that you are playing a children's game. The multi-player mode itself seems like a gimmick for little kids. I don't see myself telling my friends "man, drop that Madden 2012 bulls!@t so we can throw down on some ratchet and clank!" But if you do have children than this would be a major plus, as the multi-player mode is actually pretty fun.
Overall the game is pretty fun. I think the nostalgia for the series will be both the saving grace and downfall for this game. People who are big fans of the series will enjoy a change of pace from the conventional RaC titles, but those who want more of the same will despise this game. Its definitely worth playing as long as you are open minded to something new.
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I love the Ratchet and Clank series. I jumped from PS2 to PS3, knowing some changes would occur. Some changes were better than others, but I still enjoyed the first two games for PS3. Then along came All 4 One. I am about 3/4 through the game at the moment and I can honestly say;
I HATE THIS GAME.
I'm going to finish it out of some vain hope that it will somehow redeem itself and restore my faith in a brand I've been loyal to up until this point. But let's face itI've got 25% of the game to gothey botched this one big time.
I suppose my first hint should have been lack of camera controls (it's all wide-screen... and down-hill... Seriously, I spent half my time falling off some random edge because everything's so damn tiny) and that enjoying the game's graphics seems only truly achievable if you own an 80" flat-screen (I have an old 24" screen sorry I'm not rich Insomniac). Then there was the lack of strafe and the way the basic firing controls had been altered... (aaaand we're swiching to bullet points here)
-Then there's the A.I. (which you HAVE to play alongside if in single player mode)infuriatingly lacking in the "I" part of that abbreviation as well as glitchy as hell... all in ways that will very likely get you killed or force you to take actions you are not ready/wanting to yet because it "knows what to do next" and drags you along for the merry bloody ride.
-Half the weapons are useless and glitchy (don't bother with short-ranged weapons9 out of 10 times they are ineffective will get you killed. But longer range will randomly switch targets or suddenly become out of range of the target... also effectively getting you killed.)
-Battles seem to be mapped out less on challenge and skill and more on how much ammo they can force you to waste. In fact they're generally a giant blur of light where I can't tell where I am or what I'm doing.
-And if you get hit... well game over, because you'll get stunned, and then get hit again while you're trying to get up. I mean seriously WHAT is the bloody point of that?!?
-The characters in play keep repeating the same 5 or 6 lines over and over endlessly (I actually had to stop playing as Clank because if I heard him say "Don't worry little creature, we will not harm you," one more time I was going to punch the screen.)
-The oddball comedy is all but gone.
-Arenas: gone.
-Space battles: gone.
-Bosses... they all started to look the same after a while. Not very creative.
-The ability to upgrade weapons on multiple tiersgone. Instead replaced by a "buy upgrades" feature of which there are 3 per weapon... and not very impressive I must say.
-The "treasure hunt" portion (bolts, schematics, etc) of the game is nonexistentagain replaced by some lame "pet collector" thing which LEADS NOWHERE. Yay, I sucked a giant hamster into my vacuum... and I get bolts for it... whup di-do...
-And Puzzles? Ha! I'm going back to the Sunday crossword... more challenging, more interesting and vastly less insipid.
Near as I can tell the designers tried to change too much and lost a lot (ok, most) of what made the games great (to me at least.) Hope the next one is better or I'm seriously going to have to find a new franchise.
Buy Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One Now
Gone are the engaging and visually complex worlds, each with their many layers of game play and hidden gems all waiting for you to explore as you desire. Gone are the vast arrays of creative weapons and the ability to play your character as you see fit. Gone are the mini games space fights, races, flights, arena battles, etc. Gone are the controls we've all come accustomed to. Gone pretty much sums it up. Instead, the game looks and feels cheap, hollow, gutted of its original depth and intent, akin to one you might download all this stripping seeming to make room for trendy 3D visuals and internet multiplayer game play. If hooking up with 3 other friends to control the tiniest of characters along a shallow linear path, spending most of your time mindlessly breaking boxes, sucking up animals, and briefly shooting at easy-to-kill enemies is your desire, then here ya go. But if you were hoping to settle in to a long weekend with the latest immersive R&C, I guess we'll just have to keep waiting. I personally haven't been this disappointed with a R&C release since Deadlocked, and that includes all the PSP releases as well.
Read Best Reviews of Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One Here
Ratchet & Clank: you know them, you love them. They've been around for ten games now and the formula has not changed much over the years. All 4 One is Insomniac's response to fans asking for something new and exciting for our Lombastic hero and his shiny compadre, and let me tell you...it works like a charm.
All 4 One is an absolute blast whether you play it offline by yourself, on the couch with some friends, or online with others. You can select Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark or Dr. Nefarious even when playing single player. Every character plays pretty much the same but they all have a different special weapon. Ratchet has The Dopplebanger, Clank has the Zoni Blaster which slows enemies, Qwark has a shield called the Quantum Deflector and Nefarious has a cloaking device called...the Cloaker. When playing single player, Clank is your partner unless you select Clank as your character. When you select Clank, Qwark is your partner character...and he somehow jams himself onto Clank's back. It's quite amusing.
As always you have a multitude of whacky weapons at your disposal. GrummelNet once again serves as the vendor but they are now represented by some metallic friends from Tools of Destruction. That's right, Cronk and Zephyr make their triumphant return to the series. I won't spoil any of the story for you but I can assure you that the dialogue is as humorous as ever and the cutscenes are very well done. Speaking of cutscenes, they are not skippable. This would not be a problem if it only happened the first time but you have incentive to replay pretty much every level. Having to sit through the cutscenes every time will no doubt be irritating for some. I'm sure that Insomniac will address this at a later date. Graphically speaking, this is one beautiful game. So many modern games are dark: full of greys, browns and reds. It's refreshing when something as colorful as Ratchet & Clank comes along; some of the landscapes are truly breathtaking.
Ratchet & Clank All 4 One features a more linear level structure than the other games in the series, but don't worry, veterans will still feel right at home. The fixed camera and straight-forward progression makes sense for a game where co-op is a focus, it works. While the camera is fixed, there are still plenty of hidden areas to find and alternate routes to take. Gold bolts have been replaced with Hero bolts, these are used to unlock alternate character skins and they also give you more incentive to explore and replay levels. This brings me to an interesting bit: Each character's progression is tracked separately. Your bolts, weapons, Hero bolts and records are separate for each of the four characters. When playing with a friend you get bonuses for things like collecting the most bolts or getting the most kills; this adds a bit of competitive flair to the co-op and I think it's great. One of the more prominent mechanics of the game is that you can tether yourself to your partner, which is essential for crossing gaps or saving yourself from a fall. It's basically a cooperative Swingshot. If you die and your partner is still around you can be revived by them. If they don't save you it's ok, you will respawn after a few seconds. If everyone goes down, back to the last checkpoint you go.
One of the biggest concerns out there for this game is whether it is still fun as a single player experience. Worry not, Constant Gamer, playing this game by your onesies is just as magnificent as it is playing with three friends. The difficulty scales based on how many characters you are playing with, which makes cooperation all the more important. I find it more manageable to play on your own. I played online with 4 players for two levels and it was chaotic but fun; if you are playing with people you know that are using headsets I am sure it's just fine. On the subject of playing online, All 4 One does feature an online pass so you will need to buy this new if you want to play online. As with many PS3 games there is a mandatory install, there was also a tiny day-one patch, everything added up to 2,484 MB and it took about 8 minutes.
There you have it, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is another great entry in the series, albeit different. I really don't have any legitimate complaints. There are still plenty of things to collect and skill points to acquire. Grab your wrenches and get to it!
Edited to add: I completely forgot to mention that this game has a reversible cover. It still features the PS3 logo but it's positively hilarious. Buy it to find out...or just look it up online.
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Sadly, it's over. It's all over. The beloved Ratchet and Clank series is in its death throes. What was once a charming and inventive platformer has now become a mind-numbing and creativity-crippled generic corridor shooter. It was bound to happen though, right? Gamers are drowning in a sea of console shooters these days, from Call of Duty and Killzone to Gears of War and Halo, so is it really so surprising that even games that started out as platformers are becoming more like current shooters?
Gone is the feeling of exploration that dominated the previous R&C games. You no longer have planets and moons to discover and pilfer as you see fit, as the game progression is startlingly linear. There's no exploration allowed within each level either, as you're funneled from one corridor or floating rock to the next and to the next and to the next. You won't be searching high and low for gold bolts, as they're pretty much sitting out in the open right in front of you. Skill points tell you exactly what to do to unlock them so you don't have to worry about taxing your brain.
The weapons just don't have the same level of ingenuity or excitement as in previous R&C games. A lot of the weapons are similar or identical to weapons from previous games, and those that aren't just don't seem to belong. In any case, the utility of many of the weapons doesn't really exist. You can run through the entire game using the standard cannon, the rocket launcher, Mr. Zurkon, and maybe one more weapon without resorting to using any of the others. (Sidenote: This game gets 2 stars instead of 1 solely on account of Mr. Zurkon, who is still incredibly awesome). Still, the gunplay (once a staple of R&C) is not addictive or exciting in this outing.
Controls are also odd. Since the game is meant to be played with multiple people, no one has control over the camera angle except the computer. If you're keenly used to using the right analog stick to control the camera as in previous R&C games, then you'll find yourself irritatingly changing weapons by accident, which is now managed by moving the R stick. It's something that people can get used to, I guess, but I never did, and it was like a sharp pebble in my boxers throughout the entire game.
The gameplay basically revolves around running from one battle to the next, shooting up waves after waves of enemies, running through the reload ammo checkpoint, and doing it all over again. By the time you hit the halfway point of the game, you will notice that each battle has become eerily reminiscent of one you already fought. It'll start out with about 8 rotating laser drones, then 2-3 standing/bomb drones show up, then like 8 boxing drones, then a flying gravity drone, etc. The enemy variety just isn't there, and it becomes painfully obvious early on and throughout the game. The last two levels in particular are a tedious exercise in the limits of human patience as you're literally fighting the same five waves over and over again as you move toward the final endpoint. Wait until you fight the final boss. It. just. never. seems. to. end.
If you're not planning on playing this game with human teammates, then just go ahead and take this advice: Don't play this game. Playing by yourself pairs you up with a near-retarded AI teammate who brings to the combat table the uncanny ability to read your mind and do exactly what you hope he doesn't do. Clank, I need you to activate that switch once I open this panel. Well, Clank was planning on opening the panel instead of activating the switch and now he's all confused and is stuck moving back and forth like a moving paper target. Clank, I need you to shoot this boss with me so we can create a more damaging attack. Too bad, Clank is inexplicably bolting to the edge of the floating platform and leaping to his death over and over again. Time to reload the checkpoint. Again *sigh*. These problems are obviously avoided by playing with a human friend (unless your friend is near-retarded too), but if a game is not adjusted appropriately by a development studio to be played as a single player game, then the option shouldn't be available. It just makes the project look messy.
When playing the game in coop form, hopefully with humans, the main draw (and purpose) of this game is to make everyone work together to beat levels. This always sounds great on paper as with most coop games, but the vast majority of developers cannot for the life of them figure out how to implement co-op tactics well (and Insomniac is no exception). Well, here's the dirty secret: levels should be designed so that they are essentially unbeatable unless the coop-ers work together and each fill a separate and mandatory responsibility, ideally one that is not glaringly obvious or limited to one sole strategy. This rarely happens in practice, unfortunately. What usually suffices for the co-op experience is one of the following watered-down events:
1. You cannot exit a level unless both players press X at the door, and a cutscene follows of one player holding the door open for the other player to walk through. Thanks, bro.
2. Both players are funneled toward a deadend that requires each player to hit x so that one gives the other a helpful boost to the ledge. That player then hits X so he can help the other player up. Thanks, bro.
3. One player activates and holds a switch so the other player can walk through the newly opened door and activate and hold an identical switch on the other side, allowing the first player to walk through or activate another, previously blocked switch. Thanks, bro.
4. You and a friend basically empty round after round of your ammunition into seemingly endless hordes of enemies until they're all dead, with no real focus or strategy. Keep shooting, bro.
#3 and #4 make up 95% of R&C All4One.
Hooray for co-op!!!
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Ok, I'm done. This game sucks in general and sucks even more for dragging an otherwise great series into the dark, fecaline depths of generic gaming. We don't need another mindless corridor shooter and certainly don't need a once-non-mindless-corridor shooter turning into one.
Let's all hope Insomniac returns to form with the next game.
