Postmortem Review: Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One - My View on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Introduction
   Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is the newest entry in the Ratchet & Clank franchise. Most of the over the top baddie blasting platform action is back. Best of all, 4 players can join in for co-op blasting goodness.


The Good
Ratchet & Clank + Multiplayer = Awesome
   My kids, wife, and I have enjoyed Ratchet & Clank since the first times we laid eyes on them. For us, Ratchet & Clank is to the PlayStation what Mario and Luigi are to the Nintendo. Finally, we can all enjoy the great platforming experience together. Ratchet & Clank has great potential as a multiplayer game. At the very least, it is not a kart racer.


Big Booms Sound Good on Big Speakers
   For me, the biggest excitement in R&C came from ganging up on the bigger enemies. When players focus their fire on a single enemy, they get a damage multiplier and a meter on the enemy begins to fill. When it gets to a certain point, the enemy blows up. If you have a proper sound system, the KABOOM! is fantastic. While it was the same boom every time, it never got old to me.


Visually Stunning
   The Ratchet & Clank series has always been one of the most aesthetically pleasing games on the PlayStation consoles. The environments are vibrantly colored, there are all kinds of objects to look at, the character skins and movements are great, and the explosions are absolutely wonderful. This latest entry does not disappoint in the visuals department and reminds us all why high definition and 3D were simply meant to be.


The Bad
Can we fix the interface next time around?
   Insomniac Games has come up with a very intuitive system for selecting weapons in the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance series. Unfortunately, it fell apart in Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. The player selects weapons and gadgets from a wheel that comes up when the player presses the right analog stick. There are a few different wheels to select from, which can be sorted through by pressing L1 and R1. Pretty straight-forward in theory. When you are playing though, your finger is likely on the R1 button when you bring up the weapon wheel. This can lead to you selecting a different weapon than you intended. Add the frustration of having the game pause when multiple people open the wheel at the same time and you constantly have the wrong weapon selected. I tried to use the hot-key system, but then I found that I was constantly trying to swap things in and out of my four hot-key slots. If it is too much of a pain, it should not be.


Nothing New
   As far as innovation goes, All 4 One is a step backwards in the R&C franchise. Multiplayer is great, but why does it have to be at the expense of great gameplay? The platforming has been oversimplified for this entry; perhaps to make it easier for multiple characters at one time. At the same time, the arsenal is less fun than it has been in previous games. Where is the Groovitron? Why isn't Mr. Zurkon that great of a weapon anymore? The lack of more or new makes this game seem as if it would more appropriately fit in with the oldest entries in the franchise.


I Want Six-Axis Control
   I miss six-axis control. Since the beginning of PlayStation 3, the six-axis has gotten a bad reputation. Now that The Move is out, the six-axis is long forgotten. Our controllers still have the functionality though and Ratchet & Clank was one of the few series to put the functionality to good use. With a little bit of creative thought, we could go back to having segments where the heroes are controlled with six-axis movements instead of directional buttons. Sure, it can take a little getting used to, but cleverly placed six-axis control segments adds to the level of immersion in the game.


The Ugly
Wait a second.....this isn't a Ratchet & Clank game!?
   When the first announcements for R&C: All 4 One came, I wondered to myself, "Why isn't 'Future' in the title?" When we started playing the game, the answer became immediately obvious. All 4 One is not here for the story. It does not bother to follow the Ratchet & Clank storyline at all; nor does it attempt to make excuses for it. At times, I wondered if this were truly a Ratchet & Clank game or just another top-down shooter with Ratchet & Clank character models dropped in.


PS3 Multiplayer Done Wrong
   Game publishers should look to how local multiplayer is implemented in the Little Big Planet games in order to gain a good idea on how to do it right. Most often, when I am playing a multiplayer game in my house, I am playing with my kids whom also have their own profiles on the PlayStation. All of the bonuses we earn for playing together on my profile should also be reflected in their profiles. To be fair, Little Big Planet is pretty much the only game I know of to do this. I understand that implementation of a design could get sticky; but really, we could work a system to allow character progression in the particular player's profile.


Did it Save?
   Especially when just starting to play R&C: All 4 One, it is not obvious when exactly the saving is taking place. After a while, you learn it is after points are counted, but even so, there were times that it seemed like we played the same area over and over again because the game simply did not save. We can fix this easily, but nobody seems too concerned. The text "SAVING" with the icon would be a lifesaver for the fans, but instead we insist on having an icon that looks similar to every other icon that appears in that exact location on screen. Is it saving now? Oh, no, that was the stupid loading icon again.


Conclusion
   For a four player game, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is great fun. Anybody that has played the other R&C games will love to have a shot on the co-op. Unfortunately, fans looking for some new weapons and gadgets and some innovating platforming will have to keep waiting.

Review: Little Big Planet - The Definition of 'Next Generation Platforming'

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* Title:        Little Big Planet           *
* Platform:     PlayStation 3               *
* Release Date: October 28, 2008            *
* Developer:    Media Molecule              *
* Publisher:    Sony Computer Entertainment *
* My Rating:    10. Flawless                *
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   Little Big Planet is one of those games that will be very hard to give an all-inclusive review on. There is so much to it, that I cannot possibly hope to touch on everything I would like to mention. To start, let me say that the game is awesome from beginning to its non-existent end.
   The whole experience is only summed correctly by the tagline that has become associated with Little Big Planet: 'Play. Create. Share.' While the core gameplay in Little Big Planet is classic platformer, there is so much more going on. Much of the story mode of Little Big Planet is based on going through the game's fifty or so levels and collecting different objects for use in decorating both the game and your sack-person. The action is frantically fun, as you will navigate the 2.5D levels by running, jumping, swinging, and driving either by yourself or cooperatively with up to four total players. In addition to all of the objects you collect throughout the levels, you also are rewarded for things like finishing a level and making it through a level without dying. The collecting and decorating alone is enough to keep you coming back well past completion of the last level. Further, there are many side activities, mostly meant to be competitions, that you unlock throughout the course of the story mode. Really, the only way to sum it up is to call it amazing and watch a million trailers or play the game.
   The graphics are stunning. If Sony were to pick a game to be its poster child, I would hope they would pick Little Big Planet. LBP is the very definition of high-definition gaming. Everything is so crisp and clean. There are background objects moving around. Even the smallest objects have their own very visible characteristics.
   The audio only matches the graphics in terms of high-definition. Some of the levels will have you dancing in your seat. Everything has an appropriate bell or whistle attached to it for you listening amusement. Again, words simply cannot describe how amazing the whole experience is.
   The controls are a little awkward at first, but it becomes like second nature in no time. The levels are 2.5D, which means it is basically a side-scroller; however, there are three different planes in which the sack-people can be playing. You may have objects on one plane that you have to go around by hopping to a different plane. It goes without saying that you must look behind every object to collect all of the goodies. Many of the levels require you to grab hold of something to either swing or push or pull to get through to the next area. This is appropriately handled with the R1 button on the controller. When you get bored, you can dance around by waving the controller around; six-axis controls, and using the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons with the analog sticks to move your arms. It is absolutely fantastic.
   The story mode is really just a small part of Little Big Planet. Every person that plays Little Big Planet should really participate in the community. If the levels in the story mode are amazing, the levels in community mode are out of this world. One of my favorites so far is a roller coaster ride, which is fairly light on the gameplay, but just jaw-droppingly beautiful.
   Of course, every member of a community should make contributions. Little Big Planet has an excellent level creation tool. There are tutorials to help you get started, but after that, the only limitations are literally your imagination and the thermometer that gauges how much stuff can be in your level. You can make anything you want with the tools and set it to do practically anything. Make an object you like? You can save it for use in other levels and even share it with the community by including it as a pickup in your level. I do not have a published level yet; however, continue following my blog for an update on this. I have a couple of levels in the works and will definitely write a post about each when they are complete and released for play.
   Really, the only thing that needs to be said about Little Big Planet is I absolutely love it. If you were to purchase a PlayStation 3 but only had enough money to buy one game, you must buy Little Big Planet Game of the Year Edition. At this point, you can probably even pick it up for around twenty bucks. Hands down, this is one you absolutely cannot take a pass on.