Ratchet and Clank was one of the large franchises to get created during the PlayStation 2 era of gaming. It was one of the many games which was on my radar, as a kid, but one which I missed out on.
I played it on a friends PS2, once, and that was pretty much how I knew about it, but I never had a chance to properly play it, bar having a few goes on his.
A Silent Protagonist
When I first started a new game, there was a cut scene of Ratchet, silently making some repairs to his vehicle, and then the intro cuts to Clank, making his escape from a robot factory, only to be shot down on Ratchets planet.
Ratchet heads out to investigate the crash, and the two of them become friends, as they realise they can help each other.
For this entire segment, Ratchet doesn't speak, and it felt like the game designers were tricking us into thinking this was going to be another silent protagonist, like many of the games of the time.
He does speak though, and he and Clank have fairly funny dialog between them, and some of the colourful characters who show up along the way, are also funny, and give some good depth to this platformer.
I'm Not Far In, Yet
Currently, I'm on the third planet, and I really like the way the story has been building up so far. I also like that each planet seems to have upgrades you can buy for Clank, to bring more options to Gameplay.
For example, I bought a helicopter upgrade, which seems to introduce gliding, and due to that, I think more areas of old levels will now be unlocked, to go back to, and get some collectibles, and bolts - which are the currency for the game.
Also, I've bought a couple of weapons, which is cool. It seems like certain weapons are needed for certain enemies, so again, each new addition should potentially unlock new areas.
The ship is a great addition. You can freely return to it at any time, and leave whatever planet you're on, to go visit a new one. Each planet on the selection screen tells you some details, and also gives you a list of missions active on each one, so you can't really get lost.
First of Many
I only have the first game at the moment, but I know there are a good few in general.
On the PS2 alone, there are 5 games, which is more than I thought, and it actually surprises me more that I new managed to pick up any of these games when I was younger.
With subtitles like, "Size Matters," or, "Up Your Arsenal." It's clear that the developers have a sense of humor, and so far I've seen plenty of comedy in the game, which is great.
I've been bogged down for the last few years, with the current games coming out. None of them have been catching me, so it spurred the idea to jump back to some of the older titles, and so far, I haven't been disappointed.