Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Review

In 2016 the world received a modernized version of the Ratchet & Clank series, (soft-)rebooting the franchise and making it into something more coherent for the fans. Even a movie was released during this period, but the latter was somewhat more directed towards a younger audience. Nonetheless, the reboot proved to be very interesting and we were quite eager to see more of this revamped version of the iconic duo. Now, four years later and for the next generation, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has been developed, adding a truly perfect addition to the series.

Story

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart picks up with a grand celebration for Ratchet & Clank. They have finally reached a proper hero status, and are loved by the crowd. Sadly, the festivities are interrupted when a dimensionator is stolen by Dr. Nefarious, for his evil schemes. Soon, the heroic duo finds themselves split up in a different dimension, very much like theirs, albeit with emperor Nefarious pulling the strings. This dimension’s Nefarious clearly has won a lot of battles and is now on an ultimate seat of power. Nonetheless, this world also has its own skilled Lombax fighting back. This experienced female warrior goes by the name of Rivet, and she soon stumbles upon a damaged Clank. While not immediately trusting a robot, Rivet and Clank soon find themselves partnering up. Ratchet, however, just wants to find his partner, deal with Nefarious and go home. He is also struggling with using the dimensionator to find other Lombaxes in different dimensions. However, for now, he’ll first have to get the device back.

The story is nicely presented, and swapping between Rivet and Ratchet is also done in an interesting fashion. The nuances between each dimension’s variant of characters are quite entertaining for longtime R&C fans. You’ll get enough story value in-between big missions, but there’s also enough chatter via radio communication to propel the story forward. There are hardly any ‘blank’ spaces, even when exploring different regions. Some story segments do repeat when revisiting planets, triggering certain voiced lines again.

Graphics

Rift Apart looks absolutely amazing. This game, in its genre, has no equal as to how it has been shaped and modeled in a breathtaking adventure. The game lets realistic backdrops clash with its comical characters, making it all quite believable as you play through the different events. The lush environments on one planet, are soon replaced by a desolate wasteland on another, only to be replaced once again by an industrial complex that houses many different robots. In the visual department, there’s nothing to complain about, except a few minor clipping errors. Gameplay-wise however, a few invisible walls hampered the fun.

The character models in the series have never looked this good before. The fur on all of the organic inhabitants of both dimensions looks very detailed, and there is no real distinction between cinematic and gameplay anymore. We were very impressed with the different character designs, ranging from the overall enemy types to the slight variations of classic characters of the series, albeit in their respective dimension.

Sound

Not only is the voice acting superbly handled, the musical score simply screams adventure. We sometimes found ourselves just relaxing, taking the background music in. We truly enjoyed all the little sound effects, in combination with the aforementioned quality voice acting and backdrop.

Gameplay

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is still, like the other games in the main series, a hybrid between a classic 3D platformer and a third-person shooter. Ratchet, Clank, Rivet, and ultimately a fourth protagonist, will be dropped in different environments, gunning down and beating up minions, while collecting enough currency for new weapons and their upgrades. For those who want even more, the game offers enough sidetracking to find cosmetic upgrades and different armor sets; the latter giving passive bonuses. The game is not shy of content, especially for those who want to explore every nook and cranny.

As you progress, you’ll unlock more and more weapons, which you’ll have to buy to actually receive. This means that you’ll have to make choices as to in which order you want to buy shiny new toys. When you decide on what weapons turn your opponents into galactic stardust best, you can start upgrading them. This is done by using the weapon in combat often, to then gain new levels for said weapon. Then, you’ll need to spend Raritanium (a crystal found in the R&C universe) to make the weapon(s) stronger. This can range from expanding the clip size, to more damage, to longer range, etc. The variety of weapons truly suits different playstyles, and the game somewhat forces you to try out new things, as some boss battles tend to deplete the ammo of certain weapons quickly. This, in turn, will motivate you to swap to weapons that might seem dull, often proving you wrong.

Exploring further, you can unlock cosmetic items, which serve no special purpose other than extra entertainment. Nonetheless, exploring is rewarded, as you’ll gain more cash to buy weapons, more Raritanium to upgrade weapons, new armor sets, and so on. Those who regret not exploring every portion of the world will be happy to know that you can still visit planets you already cleared the main missions on.

Conclusion

In our books, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a perfect game. There may be a few minor bugs you’ll encounter when playing through this title, but the experience is just amazing. The overall story is very appealing, the presentation is top-shelf quality, the length just feels right, even for those who are just in it for the story, and the action sequences are truly entertaining. We couldn’t want anything more for a series such as this, and we actually doubt a sequel could do any better than this.

Ibuki

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Aspiring ninja.

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