And so comes to a close the last R&C game I own (for now). I had always heard that only the first three games were really worth playing (up until the newest one), but a friend of mine who is a fan informs me that is not the case (and I have more R&C on the way in the mail). Regardless, I can see why that may've been the talk around these games, because R&C 3 is a damn fine improvement over 2 to the point where I can see why the series started to deviate from this formula after this point. It took me around 16 hours to beat the Japanese version of the game with only light searching for collectibles.
Just as R&C 2 did, R&C 3 picks up right where the previous game left off, with Ratchet & Clank chilling in the capital of the main city from R&C 2. They suddenly see a news report on TV about their home galaxy being attacked by the evil Dr. Nefarious. Losing no time, Ratchet finishes installing the galactic warp capabilities in his ship and the duo return to defend their home galaxy! After a mission to help rescue the missing Captain Quark, the two are roped into his Q-Force to try and stop Dr. Nefarious and save the galaxy! The writing is head-and-shoulders above the past two games, easily. Characters recur throughout the story, they have conversations, they grow a report with one another. It's hardly a masterpiece of literature, but it's a far more coherent and realized story than the past two games. It also really gives elements aside from Ratchet & Clank themselves time to shine narratively, with the other members of Q-Force being entertaining and fun, as well as Dr. Nefarious being so delightfully extra and silly that he gives Captain Quark a run for his money. It's not hard for me to see why Sony likes him so much that they brought him back for later games in the series. The gameplay is still the same overall platforming and action segments as the prior two games, but tightened up and refined even past where R&C 2 brought the series to. Ratchet & Clank control better than ever, and the gunplay is more solid than ever with some of the most fun guns in the series yet (the black hole gun and lava spitting gun are both SO MUCH FUN). Also gone are all of the dreadful mini-games that plagued the even R&C 2, and in their places are a more infrequent hacking mini-game as well as ranger mission segments, where you assist the Galactic Rangers in missions that involve going around a map to attack points, defending a single point, riding around in a Halo Warthog-style jeep, and flying around in a hovercraft to destroy targets. There are even 2D platforming/semi-run and gun segments where you play as Captain Quark. The only tiny complaint I have is that I wish your auto-lock-on were a litttle more accurate, or that you had a fire button mapped to a shoulder button so you could look, move, and fire all at the same time. It's all great fun, and there wasn't a single point where I thought "well this game was great right up until HERE." The difficulty is also way better tuned than the previous two games, settling in at a nice place between R&C 1's often unfair-feeling challenge and R&C 2's too frequent ease, all leading up to a really satisfyingly challenging final boss fight (although hoo boy is that final level hard). This is also the first R&C game I'd say has actually good music. The music in the previous games is at best appropriately atmospheric, but this game manages to actually have some nice tunes in it. It's also once again a very pretty-looking game, flexing a good art style and well-designed characters. Although it does encounter some framerate issues from time to time, like Ape Escape 3 (another first party Sony game released around the same time) these are never problems that seriously impact gameplay. The Japanese version of each of the first 3 R&C games is more or less identical to the international version with a couple notable (and infamous) exceptions. Ratchet has his infamous large, black eyebrows that make no sense with the rest of his fur coloring. His head is also slightly larger, and that all adds up to what I suppose is to make his face somewhat more visibly expressive? I'm not positive on the rationale behind it. The localization otherwise is really good, and I actually prefer it to the English original in many ways. I think the relationship between Ratchet & Clank suffers a bit, as Clank comes off as similarly silly and quippy to Ratchet in many ways compared to how well-spoken he is in English, but their buddy dynamic is still very fun despite Ratchet's more kid-like voice. The voice cast on the whole feels like they're hamming it up more than the English VAs, and that overall makes for a much more fun time for characters like Dr. Nefarious and Captain Quark. The Japanese VA threw me off pretty bad at first, but it's something I've really grown to love in a way I didn't expect myself to. Verdict: Highly Recommended. This is up there with Ape Escape 3 as one of my favorite games on PS2. It plays so well, the writing is so fun, and it all stays varied enough to keep you interested with the new story beats and new guns you find that it's just a big fun time until it's all over. I'd say you should probably at least play R&C 2 before you play this one, but if you only play one of the original 3 games, this is easily the top of the pile in terms of its overall quality.
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AuthorI'm an avid gamer who likes to detail their thoughts about what they play in the hopes it might aid someone else's search for a game to play. Archives
April 2024
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