Video Game Review: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Ratchet & Clank has always been one of my favourite franchises, since I first got my PS2 as a child. Sure, I was a fan of Mario and Sonic, but it was always the Lombax and his tiny robot backpack intrigued me more than anything else. When I finally got a PS4 back in 2018, the remake of the first game (which was also technically a movie adaptation, but that’s too complicated so let’s forget that I ever said that) was the first game I got, and the first game I ever platinumed. So to say I was excited for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart would be quite the historic understatement. I’m not sure I’ve ever had higher expectations for a game, and I’m so goddamn happy to report that they met every single expectation I had and even exceeded them.

Sure, story-wise it’s not exactly the most complicated thing in the world, but it takes a simple concept and instead of trying to make it more complicated and deep, it decides to develop the characters instead. It’s one of the simplest and easiest-to-understand multiverse-based stories I’ve ever seen, and the new characters are SO good. Rivet is an amazing analogue for Ratchet, and is developed in such a way that it becomes clear she’s not simply just female ratchet, but is her own person that has had to deal with her own trials and tribulations. The analogues for other characters are also really well done, but to say much more could be classified as a spoiler, so I’m going to steer clear of them for this review.

If you’ve played a Ratchet & Clank game before, you’ll understand what you’re getting into here. The basic gameplay loop of shoot and dodge is relatively untouched, but Insomniac innovates by adding new gadgets and technology for Ratchet and Rivet to use. The biggest of these is the ability to teleport between rifts instantly, whether for traversal or to spice up combat. It’s super fun regardless of the situation. If I had one very minor gripe, one that probably doesn’t apply to anybody else, it’s that the weapons could have better names. Ratchet & Clank usually has outlandishly named weapons, it’s perhaps what the franchise is most known for, but here they’re sometimes rather bland and simple, such as calling a shotgun “The Executor”. I don’t know, it just feels like something better could have been thought up of.

It’s a gorgeous game too, potentially the prettiest game I’ve ever seen. Insomniac truly takes the raw power of the PS5 and turns it into something wonderful. The power of the SSD allows for instantaneous loads between full fleshed out worlds, in what feels like a flex of power. It’s seriously insane that something like this is possible and is being done in the early stages of a generation. If this is what is coming out of the early stages of the PS5, what’s possible further down the line? Towards the end of the lifespan of the PS3 we saw both The Last Of Us and Grand Theft Auto V, so what on earth could possibly be coming for the PS5 that improves and innovates on the use of technology in this game?

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the definitive Ratchet & Clank game, the best game to release on new generation hardware so far, and overall one of the most perfect and flawless games I’ve ever had the chance to play. Every single moment in the game was pure joy, and every single fight made me grin from ear to ear.