Image via Insomniac Games
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apartis a brilliant experience. To wit: I played the single-player campaign to 100 percent completion in a matter of days. After the credits rolled, I immediately dove back in for a second playthrough, because the game lets you keep all of your weapons and collectibles from the prior playthrough, and it gives you additional weapons and weapon upgrades on top of that. It also increases the challenge; everything hurts more, but at least now, you have the firepower to fight it. And now that you know what to expect out of this game, you can take a moment to appreciate how beautiful and composed it is.
One of the meta discussions around a new console is whether its early games constitute a true “next-generation” experience. In the case of Nintendo—which has a new playstyle, controller, and gimmick with every new console—this is a relatively easy distinction to make. But in the case of Sony—which has marketed its new consoles for the past 25 years as “just like the last one, but better”—it’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when players can say, definitively, “We’re in next-gen territory.”
It’ll take several more years to hit the proverbial ceiling; the console-defining games tend to drop at the end of a generation. But when we talk about the PlayStation 5 years from now, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart might be considered the console’s first “great” exclusive—a game that flexes and shows what the PS5 is capable of. The opening sequence, which also serves as a tutorial, depicts Ratchet and Clank at a celebration, honoring them for saving the universe several times over.
The visuals in this section are, in a word, stunning. The developers use a wide color palette (here, and throughout the rest of the game) to bring the environments and characters to life. Cannons rain confetti from the sky, massive crowds cheer from the stands. Gigantic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons abound. This game is excellent at establishing mood and atmosphere. The festive parts look really festive. The dystopian parts look really dystopian. A space station, where you can dock your ship and head into a space bar, is whimsical in a Jetsons sort of way. Put another way, the visual quality is comparable to that of a high-budget CGI film, courtesy of Pixar or Dreamworks.
The game’s detail is not limited to the visuals alone. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is compatible with 3D sound. With the right headphones, you can hear the feedback from both yourself and your enemies, coming from all directions. The diegetic sound has an uncanny doppler effect; draw closer to a source of sound and it’ll get louder. Walk away from it, and you’ll hear it fading behind you.
The game’s storyline embraces the ongoing, resurgent sci-fi trend of multiverses and alternate realities. Ratchet and Clank get thrown into another dimension, where Dr. Nefarious has successfully become emperor. It’s in this dimension where they team up with a female lombax named Rivet to defeat Nefarious and save the dimensions from collapsing onto themselves.
Visually, the two lombaxes are different. Ratchet uses a wrench as a melee weapon, whereas Rivet uses a hammer. But they play and control in the exact same manner. The game alternates between them; you might do a mission as Ratchet, and once it’s completed, he’ll wonder aloud, “I wonder what Rivet’s up to.” The game will then switch over to her perspective until that mission is complete. And so forth. Weapon purchases, weapon upgrades, and new gear are equipped on both lombaxes—you’ll never have to buy the same item twice.
Platform puzzles dominate the lombax sequences. There is some limited use of portals to quickly traverse from one platform to the next, but it’s actually the least interesting of your options. Instead, you complete a combination of jumps, double jumps, mid-air dashes, wall runs, and rope swings to get from Point A to Point B. Several of the levels are expansive open-world environments, and both Rivet and Ratchet are equipped with jet boots, which allow them to traverse a flat area with speed and ease. You accelerate the jet boots by tapping L2, and Ratchet or Rivet will go into a hunched, speed skating stance to gain momentum.
Interspersed between these puzzles are combat scenarios, where you face off against massive laser robots, crocodile pirates, robodogs, fat exploding bugs, and more. You can buy multiple upgradeable weapons from the local merchant to deal with the bad guys. These weapons are both varied and creative. The Ricochet gun hits an opponent multiple times via timed button presses. The Drill Hound burrows underground and tracks an opponent. The developers did a great job of making most of the weapons niche and specific. If you rely on a single weapon, you’re going to have a rough time dealing with a roomful of enemies.
Instead, the weapons are best used in combination with one another to do the most damage. You use the Topiary Sprinkler to turn the enemies into foliage sculptures and then use the Shatterbomb to do massive area of effect damage. Or you use a Mr. Fungi to distract your opponent, and then blow him away with the Enforcer, a glorified double-barreled shotgun.
The controller’s haptic feedback, which I also praised in my review of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, has additional functionality. The game gives the L2 and R2 buttons a ‘hitch’ when you press down on them, which makes each of them dual-functional. Here’s an example: When you use the Enforcer, you press the R2 button halfway down to fire one barrel; you press it all the way down to fire both barrels. When you use the Headhunter, the game’s version of a sniper rifle, you press L2 halfway down to zoom in on an opponent. You press L2 all the way down to temporarily slow down time.
Beyond that, however, the haptic feedback simply feels great. Every weapon has different feedback that vibrates the controller differently. It’s unique enough that you would be able to tell the weapons apart if you were closing your eyes and covering your ears. And just as there’s something pleasurable about discharging a massive, digital rocket launcher at an enemy, there’s something pleasurable about feeling it, too.
Occasionally, the Lombax sequences are interspersed with puzzles, which involve repairing broken consoles or hacking through security protocols. These sequences star Clank and a new ally—a tiny spider drone with electric and missile-based weapons. You need to solve some abstract physics puzzles or find multiple, hidden locations in an inverted environment to progress. I enjoyed these, but your mileage may vary. Thankfully, the game gives you the option of skipping them entirely and getting back into the action.
And here’s something praiseworthy, but less quantifiable: this game is inherently, addictively playable. The developer, Insomniac Games, also created Marvel’s Spider-Man, the blockbuster hit from 2018. Do you remember how compulsively engaging that game was? How you wasted hours collecting backpacks or taking photos of NY landmarks? How it might have been one of the first platinum trophies you ever earned? Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart inspires the same sort of single-minded obsession for finding collectibles and reaching 100 percent completion. Once you start the game, you won’t want to stop until it’s finished.
There is nothing about Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart that breaks the mold entirely. We’ve seen most of these tricks and gameplay mechanics before. But it would be difficult to imagine another game doing them better. We’ve rarely seen these different components working together so fluidly or polished to this bright of a sheen. We’ve certainly never seen them look so pretty. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is a family game. And as such, I’d recommend it to anyone.
