Author: rosaliarambles

What is a roguelike?

Well, it’s a game like Rogue. (Obviously).

Redundancy aside, Rogue was a game developed in 1980 by Glenn Wichman and Michael Toy, with assistance from Ken Arnold later down the line. Two of Rouge’s main gameplay elements were procedurally generated dungeons to explore and permadeath, the idea of a save being valid up until death, at which point it is deleted.

These two elements are the ones most commonly associated with the word “roguelike”, but several more gameplay features and layers of complexity have been added as the genre developed.

Sometimes more modern games with roguelike elements will be referred to as “roguelike-like” or “roguelite”, as they aren’t true dungeon crawling games, but take a lot of influence from previous games in the genre.

Modern roguelike titles have introduced additional elements to the genre to define it. These often include some reliance on luck for item or equipment generation, multiple playthroughs rewarding the player and of course… Soul-crushing difficulty…

… And this is why I absolutely love playing them.

Having recently bought the Afterbirth+ expansion for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, the dive back into the completionist grind began once more. Now with even more bosses!

Isaac functions closer to a roguelike than other recent titles. You go through a set number of floors, all procedurally generated, with death being the end of one run, forcing you to start another.

Luck does play some role in runs, but the game design is done in such a way that doesn’t promote rerolling a run because of one bad item, combos can be pulled off with the most obscure of items. Even Bob’s Brain can be useful under the right circumstances. (Present Rosalia update: Don’t believe the old me, she speaks only in lies)

But all the luck in the world doesn’t mean anything when facing the brutal challenge of playing as The Lost. A one hit point wonder, with the benefit of flight and obstacle-piercing projectiles (and a once-per-room shield after some game progression) tests your movement skill to the limit.

It… takes a while.

However, roguelikes don’t necessarily have to be in dark, dank dungeons.

FTL puts less of a focus on luck and more on resource management. Keeping track of fuel, missiles and scrap (currency) is the ideal method to go forward.

Do I have enough fuel to make X amount of jumps? Should I use missiles to disable the shields or save them for a potentially more dangerous ship? Is it worth buying the weapon and weapon system power, or should I upgrade my shields?

As expected, permadeath is involved, once your ship has been blown to pieces or all crew ejected out the airlock in despair, you start back again at the beginning of the galaxy, with a fresh crew.

Defeating the final boss, The Rebel Flagship, is a task of insane proportions which with an adequate run with smart management can be done. Of course, you could always blow it up at the same time as you die.

Of course, you can always go to a game which holds roguelike elements to its core, offering the experience of a dungeon dive, all the loot that goes with it and difficulty to match.

Dungeons of Dredmor is the closest example to a traditional roguelike in this article, and it serves as a brilliant introduction to the genre, with an easy-to-understand interface and quality of life updates to make the dungeon experience more accessible for everyone.

Descending through ten to fifteen floors of procedurally generated mazes, the objective is simple: defeat Lord Dredmor. Throughout your journey you will be aided by your skills, equipment, lutefisk and Krong (the most fickle of all gods), paired with an amazingly self-aware sense of humour in both the surroundings and enemy dialogue.

You’re going to need all of the above, as this game does not let up with enemy difficulty, even on the first floor. It’s possible to go down to the thirteenth floor and be swarmed by a monster zoo…

…or be killed by a simple Blobby on the first floor.

So, that’s been my summary on the elements of three roguelike games that make me love the genre so much, even as I recoil back in anger as I failed to defeat the boss once more, taking a moment to pause over how such a good run could’ve gone so wrong.

Then clicking to start another one; There’s no stopping me.

(NB: Originally posted to https://geekoutuk.com/2019/09/15/ratchet-and-clank-original-trilogy-retrospective-part-3/)

Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal – or just Ratchet and Clank 3 in other places – was released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2, once again one year after the game before it. The game opens with Ratchet and Clank enjoying life in the Bogon Galaxy, before revealing that Clank is now a Holovid star playing “Secret Agent Clank”, a news story plays showing Ratchet’s home planet of Veldin being invaded by Tyhrranoids under the command of Doctor Nefarious…

… Who I will now spend a paragraph gushing about, because, Nefarious is probably one of the best aspects of the game. He is over-the-top, ridiculous, delusional, psychopathic, sadistic, and can randomly pick up transmissions of a soap opera during moments of great anger. These factors alone put him into contention for being an awesome villain, add in his long-suffering robotic butler, Lawrence, to bring a deadpan angle to affairs and the interactions between these two can get downright slapstick.

Anyway, Ratchet returns to his home planet to aid the Galactic Rangers in taking the planet back, leading them to meeting the Galactic President who asks them to follow a lead on someone who knows where Captain Qwark may be. Or as it turns out, actually is Captain QWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!

*Coughs* Sorry.

Once Qwark is retrieved and made to realise he is not a monkey, the adventure speeds up into tracking down where Nefarious may be and what he may be planning, with devastating consequences for the rest of the galaxy.

The bond between the two heroes remains strong, with a consistent cast of supporting characters this time around, along with a dedicated writer, the story feels like a co-ordinated effort against a much larger threat.

Weapons

A slightly reduced weapon count is featured in this instalment, going down to 20, with 5 weapons returning from the previous game (free if you have a save that owns said weapon). 14 are original to this game (with a 10% discount if you have a save from the first game) and 1 weapon returning with some tweaks and upgrades from the first game. The weapons from the second game thankfully retain most of their power, allowing them to be perfectly viable choices in any scenario.

You start the game with nothing but your wrench, though within the first few minutes of gameplay you are given two weapons to use, the Shock Cannon (a shotgun type weapon that can later be charged) and the Nitro Launcher (a standard Area of Effect weapon), with the designs once again going for a mix of conventional and unique.

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From the first full planet you gain the ability to buy the Plasma Whip. Admittedly, I don’t have the most positive view of this weapon, I think it’s a bit weak in the face of early game enemies. However, give it some time and upgrades and it can become incredibly potent, especially since the whip can be thrown like your wrench for a devastating wide area attack.

Only a short while after this point does the Spitting Hydra become available for purchase. At 40,000 bolts it is a massive investment this early on, but the return is incredibly worth it. The weapon is electricity-based, requiring the player to charge each shot. As the shots charge, the weapon locks onto nearby enemies and upon releasing the fire button the shot is released, dealing massive damage to any enemies that had been locked onto and any poor sap who happened to be in the cone at the time. As the weapon upgrades it becomes more powerful and can lock onto more enemies at once.

A fact I have alluded to but not covered in detail is each game having a weapon that turns enemies into a type of animal, and the Qwack-O-Ray is the best one to show. Starting off fairly simple by just turning your enemies into harmless ducks, upgrading the weapon adds in the ducks laying exploding eggs, then going onto to making the ducks explode themselves. These upgrades culminate in the weapon allowing for an eldritch-duck-phoenix to be created, that will seek out enemies and turn them into exploding ducks.

With another game comes another R.Y.N.O. This time under the guise of the RY3NO (that’s short for “Rip Ya 3 New Ones”), initially assuming the guise of your standard supercharged rocket launcher before upgrades turn it into a more energy based weapon, before finally upgrading into the RYNOCIRATOR, which turns it into a screen-clearing monster… with admittedly poor potential for taking out bosses, which means that the crown of “turning the whole game into a cakewalk” cannot go to this iteration.

Gameplay

New to the series progression is the addition of a hub area for the game, in the form of the Starship Phoenix. Whilst you are still going through a mostly linear series of planets to advance the plot; quite often you will see yourself returning to the Phoenix to get a new gadget, further the plot, or just check in.

Once again a series of 40 collectible special bolts are found throughout the game, now titled Titanium Bolts. Keeping in tradition with them being rewarded for exploration and gadget use, they now serve a purely cosmetic purpose of purchasing skins in the Extras menu, which can be changed at any time from this menu.

A new collectible appears alongside these bolts. Trophies are a collectible that can be obtained through two means: character trophies placed in and around regular levels, and trophies earned for completing a certain goal such as maxing out your nanotech or fully upgrading all weapons. Once all trophies have been found the player can access this game’s version of the Insomniac Museum.

Skill points also return, still in a set of 30 and rewarded for completing challenges within levels. They continue to be used for cosmetic cheats.

About cheats though, there is one non-cosmetic cheat in the game. Hidden on the opening screen is the ability to access a demo for Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves, completing this demo provides the player with access to a cheat code (o □ o □ ↑ ↓ ← ← whilst paused, if anyone never knew this) which turns the Omniwrench into a dual bladed laser sword with greater reach.

Presentation remains consistent with the rest of the series, the game runs at 60fps and the level palettes and themes are amazing. However… I do need to break off here to talk about the levels.

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In the entries before this one, levels were designed as open to exploration with multiple routes to go down, with each rewarding the player differently. With the more action-oriented direction this game took, the level designs suffered a fair bit. Gone are a good mix of platforming challenges and enemy encounters, in some levels aside from a few swingshot points you won’t be doing any platforming at all, just going through a linear corridor of enemies. To some this streamlines the game and lets them get right into it, to others (including me), this removes a core part of what the series built up.

The RPG elements introduced in the previous game are slightly expanded upon. Health still upgrades by 1 unit at a time through experience gains, but weapons can now go up multiple levels to 5, with each level now offering additional damage, ammo capacity and, for a good majority of weapons, a lock-on system.

Upgradeable armour makes a return from the sequel and sticks to 4 distinct upgrades, all of which offer increasing levels of damage reduction.

Gadget diversity from the last game has decreased, though newcomers, returning, and re-imagined gadgets fill the roster:

• The Dynamo from the previous game is combined with the Swingshot to create the Hypershot, capable of swinging from targets and activating platforms
• Both Charge Boots and Gravity Boots return in mechanically identical forms
• The Holo-Guise from the first game is re-imagined as the Tyhrra-Guise; allowing the player to assume the form of a Tyhrranoid and play a rhythm minigame to communicate with Tyhrranoids
• The Refractor is new to the game, letting players redirect lasers to activate doors and solve puzzles
• The Warp Pad is also new but is used for two whole segments on one planet (which can be cheesed with the Charge Boots if so desired)

Finally, this game’s entry gadget, the Hacker. Keeping with the more reaction focused vision of the Infiltrator you now play a mini-game which has you absorbing green code snippets and destroying red defence programs to open doors. Once again, none of the compulsory challenges are massively difficult, and even in my research for this I learnt they have adaptive difficulty if a player is struggling. Nice!

A slight gripe with how gadgets are used in this game is that, well, they aren’t. Aside from the Hacker and Hypershot there’s very few chances to use these gadgets, the Refractor has slight combat potential, but will be used for it’s introduction segment then once or twice afterwards, the Tyhrra-Guise is used twice with the two instances being very far apart, and as mentioned the Warp Pad is used twice on the same planet and is then never revisited.

Clank levels return for the game, now with a new mechanic in the form of the Banana Guided Autonomous Monkey Device (BGAMD for short). For this gadget, you are provided with a monkey who can be used to solve puzzles and distract enemies. Just shoot a banana in the place you want the monkey to go and he will follow. Aside from this they remain the same, using Gadgebots to solve puzzles and progress.

Giant Clank also returns, but he only appears once in a non-repeatable boss fight. The boss fight itself is also admittedly disappointing, with no real stake or circumstance behind it. This may be down to it being thematically a staged fight for an episode of Secret Agent Clank, but even then, if a fight against Giant Robot Ninjas doesn’t evoke anything in a player, something must be wrong.

Finally, there are still plenty of side mechanics in the game for players to explore.

Arena combat returns from the previous game, now centralised to a single planet which has no other features aside from this arena. The usual challenges of waves of enemies, boss fights, weapon-specific and timed events are featured, but new to the game are 8 “gauntlet” levels, run-and-gun stages which have some platforming elements intermixed into the combat. The bolt rewards seem better this time around and the arena remains a great place to level weapons up.

Another way to earn bolts is by doing missions with the Galactic Rangers. These are interspersed in both the main story and on the side as optional objectives. These missions take a more objective based approach and take place on a set battlefield. Objectives can range from pushing forward to a specific point, taking control of a vehicle to defend a squad of Rangers, or eliminating enemies of a specific type.

Gathering a specific collectible in exchange for bolts makes a return, now on a single planet this time round. Unlike the levels from the previous game; this one can’t be completed in one sitting, as the Gravity Boots are required to fully explore the sewers. (The collectibles are now at least marked on the map for easier revisiting)

Throughout the game’s normal progression, five “Captain Qwark Vid-Comics” are earned. These are short 2D side-scrolling levels that are played for both progression and earning bolts, skill points and titanium bolts. Each level has 100 Qwark tokens which will be converted to bolts upon completion, collecting all 100 earns a titanium bolt and a skill point is rewarded for completing the level in a frankly ridiculous time limit. (Haven’t done it myself, it requires the nerves of a speed-runner which I do not have)

And to culminate, probably the biggest feature added into this game, but one I do not have much experience with: multiplayer. This takes the form of standard action shooter multiplayer modes of the time such as Capture the Flag, Team & Solo Deathmatch, and Base Defence. 4 players can play on a PlayStation 2 and, back when the servers were online, up to 8 players were able to connect together to play.

Controls

For this installment I can elaborate a fair bit on the controls, since Insomniac now provides players with three different control methods to pick from.

There’s the standard “Third Person” controls I’ve been talking about for the last two articles. Nothing massively new here aside from the camera finally being in a state where I feel good controlling it and it doesn’t get as stuck in tight spaces, such as the sewer level.

Expanded upon from the previous game is “Third Person” controls, making the game function like a standard first-person shooter. Whilst this is a fairly solid control system; it has a sort of “ascended gimmick” vibe to it, being put in both to expand on how it worked in the previous game and to provide a control system to those coming into the franchise from the now-popularised FPS games on other consoles.

Finally, we have a sort of combination of the two systems in the “Lock-Strafe” controls. This is a third person control system with a few adjustments:

• Whilst holding a weapon, Ratchet now strafes without needing to hold L2 or R2, these buttons now being rebound for precise aiming and crouching
• The camera moves closer to Ratchet, acting as an over-the-shoulder camera and rotating with him, rather than around him

This makes it more suited to combat sections than platforming sections, but these changes make arena combat and boss fights go so more smoothly than previous entries, to the point that it’s able to use this games sniper rifle as a weapon for regular encounters (a tactic I have used a fair bit myself)

Within Galactic Ranger missions two vehicles have been added in; the Turbo Slider and the Hovership.

The Slider appears in two levels and is used primarily as a method to get between points. To this end it has good handling and decent acceleration, there was never any point where I felt like I was veering towards an edge. Reversing is a bit clunky to use; in many cases it’s easier to stop and change trajectory before speeding off. It does have limited offensive capabilities in the form of a turret but, as someone who used it mainly as transport, it never really came in handy.

On the other hand, the Hovership is a perfectly capable offensive vehicle. With heavy firepower, precise aiming and incredibly tight controls the Hovership feels great for both laying waste to enemies on the ground and partaking in dogfights against Tyrrhanoid dropships.

Finishing it today, and final thoughts

Despite some parts of this article reading more… negatively than I have been in past entries, I genuinely did enjoy my time playing through this game again. This game was the whole reason why I wanted to go through the franchise again and why I decided to write this series of articles. Playing in reverse-order, then writing about them in sequence, let me appreciate how much this game built on the control system and bolt economy.

Grievances with level design aside, there was enough in this game that I was hooked enough to be able to do a full playthrough in a couple of days, doing my best to sweep up any and all collectibles. I still maintain that I think 2 is the best of the trilogy, as it epitomises the perfect blend of platforming and action gameplay I see in the series, but 3 remains a perfectly solid game on its own and in comparison to the rest.

So, what happened after this? The more action oriented gameplay got expanded into Ratchet: Deadlocked before the series got a continuity restart with the “Future” line of games, and in 2016 we had both the re-imagined first game and a film to go alongside it (the latter being a topic for another day), which is the last we’ve heard of the series.

If you’ve followed each article from start to finish, thank you. I’ve joked to friends that with the amount I’ve written on these three games I’ve essentially done the word count of a dissertation, which I’m perfectly fine with. This series is one I’ve grown up with and still enjoy playing today, and I’m glad to have shared that love online.

I’ll leave off with a link to a YouTube channel, uselesspodcasts. It features videos from Mike Stout and Tony Garcia, two of the developers of these games, talking about their experiences at Insomniac, the techniques they used to get the game running on a PS2 and life as developers in general. If any of those interest you, take a look.

(NB: Originally posted to https://geekoutuk.com/2019/09/02/ratchet-and-clank-original-trilogy-retrospective-part-2/)

Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded, (or Going Commando in parts of the world where innuendo can be in game titles), was released in 2003 on the PS2, one year after the first game. The game begins with the duo appearing on an interview, lamenting the fact that no one needs a hero nowadays.

An individual in another galaxy sees this broadcast and teleports them to a ship, introducing themselves as Abercrombie Fizzwidget, CEO of Megacorp. Recently an experiment was stolen from Megacorp by a masked thief and he wants Ratchet to reclaim it, whilst offering Clank a high-ranking administration position at Megacorp.

The thief evades Ratchet and escapes with the experiment, kidnapping Clank shortly afterwards as a warning to Ratchet. The two are reunited shortly afterwards and the adventure restarts in earnest.

Unlike the first game where it carried themes of “two opposites working together”, this time the focus is more on the bond the two have developed. They are shown interacting as friends, with Ratchet not hesitating to jump to Clank’s defence and Clank doing what he can to assist Ratchet.

Weapons

A total of 24 weapons are in the game this time round, 19 original to the game and 5 returning from the first. The 5 returning weapons are free if you have a save from the game on your memory card, but, don’t expect to be using them much. Combined with enemy buffs and the weapons themselves being nerfed; they’re not going to carry you like they did in the past, especially since the new weapons can be upgraded. There’ll be more on that in gameplay.

You start out with the Lancer and the Gravity Bomb, standard single-target and crowd-control weapons respectively. The more ridiculous weapon concepts have been toned down in favour of doing interesting things with conventional technology, with a few out-there weapons thrown in.

An early game weapon I tend to rush for is the Blitz Gun. The games equivalent of a shotgun, it’s able to deal massive amount of damage within a cone, sometimes clearing through crowds of tough enemies up until the mid-game. Combine this with a high ammo capacity and you get a weapon that can easily last until the third act.

Close to the start of the second act the Bouncer becomes available for purchase, at 100,000 bolts it’s a steep purchase at this point in the game, but if you’re willing to grind, it’ll become a mainstay in your arsenal. It fires out a large spherical projectile that will explode on contact or after coming to a complete stop, releasing lots of small bouncing explosives that gently home towards enemies, creating a weapon to handle crowds and bosses.

For an endgame weapon that will handle both of those with a bit more accuracy and power, look no further than the Plasma Coil. The Coil will fire out a large bolt of charged plasma which will inflict heavy damage upon the intended target and arc out lightning to any nearby enemies, softening them up for another shot chain.

Continuing with series tradition, the R.Y.N.O returns in the form of the R.Y.N.O II. Instead of being a multi-rocket launcher it now takes on the form of an 8-barrel gatling rocket launcher. The missiles retain their individual strength and homing ability but are now fired much more rapidly, with a 100% increase in ammo capacity from the first iteration the R.Y.N.O II. Much like its predecessor, it turns the game into cakewalk.

Gameplay

Progression remains unchanged from the first game; you go through a linear series of planets which usually have 2-3 paths for the player to explore. These routes will usually include one that will advance the plot and another that will provide access to a gadget. As usual returning to a world with newly acquired equipment can provide access to new areas.

Returning from the first game are a series of 40 collectibles, this time called Platinum Bolts. Once again these normally require clever use of a gadget or searching all the hidden areas on a map, unlike the first game however they can be used earlier on.

At a few points during the game, you can find a button that calls Slim Cognito down to modify your weapons in exchange for Platinum Bolts. Most weapons will have access to a Lock-On mod that makes it easier to move & shoot, and most will have either a Shock or Acid mod for additional damage.

Skill Points make their return: 30 skill-based challenges ranging from fast completion times to destroying all breakables in a level. Earning skill points are now used for earning ship customisation options and unlocking toggle-controlled cheats, ranging from Big Head Mode to Mirrored Levels.

The main feature of a level being presented to you through a set camera continues. With how much larger some of these levels are, it really gives an idea of the scale Insomniac could work with in the sequel. The game is still running at 60fps with some occasional slowdown when a lot of enemies or projectiles are on-screen.

Bolts return as the primary currency, and the economy is so much better. Both enemies and crates drop a reasonable number of bolts in line with the game’s progression, which allow for buying new equipment at a steady pace. To aid this, other methods of earning bolts have been introduced, these will be covered in detail in a bit, but hover bike races, gladiator battles, crystals and space combat sections all reward bolts.

The game has now introduced slight RPG elements. As mentioned earlier, weapons can now be upgraded through use. As enemies are defeated weapons will gain experience and once they have gained enough experience, they will upgrade. A weapon upgrade can grant a higher ammo capacity, increased damage, additional mechanics or all the above. Health can now be upgraded the same way, rather than a set number of units in the previous game.

Because of this change to health; players can now upgrade their armour as well. A new suit becomes available for purchase at 4 different points in the game, and each new set will give better damage reduction, up to 90% for the best suit.

Gadgets to aid in mobility and progression remain a feature. Returning from the first game are the Swingshot and Grind Boots, the latter remains mechanically identical whilst the former now gains the ability to pull objects towards you.

New to the game are:

• The Dynamo, which can be used to activate machinery to generate platforms or open doors.
• The Gravity Boots are modified Magneboots, which now allow Ratchet to jump during these segments.
• The Tractor Beam is used to move around platforms to block forcefields (actually managed to softlock the game once doing that), open the way or move bombs into positions.
• The Thermanator which is used to freeze water or thaw ice to create paths through levels.
• The Electrolyzer which allows you to play a reaction based minigame to complete a circuit,
• And finally, near the end of the game you get the Hypnomatic which allows you to hijack robots to play through small shooter segments.

I’ll also break off for a moment to focus on one particular gadget, the Charge Boots. With a double tap of R1 Ratchet is propelled forward with a continuous burst of kinetic energy that won’t stop until R1 is released, an object is collided into or, as has happened to me, falling off the edge of the world. These come midway into the game and make backtracking so much easier. (they’re also pretty stylish)

There are also two gadgets used for traversing long distances at set points. First is the Levitator, an activated backpack for Clank, which uses a set amount of fuel but allows for unlimited flight during it. Second is the Momentum Glider, which I’ll talk about more in Controls.

The gadget diversity is strong, but once again there is a gadget that allows you to open doors. This time it is called the Infiltrator and presents the puzzle in the form of a sphere with an incomplete circuit. Your goal is to move around the sphere completing the circuit, with dead ends thrown in to impede your progress. This version of the entry gadget as a timer on it too, meaning you must exercise both your logic of where you’ve just been and how fast you can figure out where to go next. Aside from the puzzles to find optional collectibles, which are intentionally more difficult; none of the compulsory sections will stump a player for long.

Both Clank and Giant Clank return for the game. The latter is no different, he has missiles, bombs and his fists (though those do a lot more damage this time round). One segment is compulsory, one is for an optional item. The former has some changes with Gadgebots making their return but three types of unique bots appearing. A Bridge Bot for traversing gaps, a Hammer Bot for smashing obstacles and operating catapults, and a Lifter Bot which is used for one whole obstacle and is never seen again.

As mentioned when discussing bolts, a lot of things now give bolts as a reward, and they form the side mechanics of this game.

A change from the first game is that now Ratchet rides on a hoverbike, rather than a hoverboard. Small change I know but I much prefer this to the somewhat mediocre races of the previous iteration. Bikes are faster, weapons bring much needed diversity and the courses are well-designed. Once again one is compulsory for progression and another earns you the Charge Boots, with additional races afterwards to earn bolts.

Two planets in the game play host to gladiator arenas. These are specific spots where all you will do is fight rounds of enemies to win bolts, allowing you to grind experience for weapons at the same time. Both arenas will present unique challenges to play through, such as using only one fully loaded weapon to defeat all enemies, defeating all enemies within the time limit, or clearing the challenge without taking damage. These arenas can be surprisingly addictive with a good pay-off to match.

On two other planets, once the main objective is achieved, there is a wide open space to traverse filled with crystals, which can be retrieved and brought to someone who will give you bolts in exchange for them. Collecting all crystals on a planet earning you a skill point.

Finally, the small ship combat sections from the first game have been expanded upon greatly. There’s now 3 dedicated areas which are exclusively ship combat, with the first mission being a straightforward “eliminate all the targets” and required for story progression. The subsequent missions being elimination missions or taking more of an objective focus. The last mission is always a checkpoint race through the level.

During these segments, a collectible called “Raritanium” can be dropped by ships. This can be taken to Slim Cognito’s Ship Shack for various ship upgrades such as better lasers, new secondary weapons or upgraded engines. This is also where the unlockable ship paint jobs can be purchased.

Controls

Ratchet controls similarly to the first game, small tweaks to make platforming tighter and Clank’s Thruster and Heli pack upgrades are now mechanically identical with no new moves added, the choice now being just for player preference (Thruster Pack all the way).

Ratchet can now strafe right out of the gate. This makes combat so much easier as you can now sidestep around enemies whilst targeting them properly, now able to jump if a large projectile is coming your way.

The camera still feels off though, it gets stuck on things less but in tight areas it’s still awkward to angle right due to the rotation speed. It continues to be the perfectly workable camera for a 3D platformer, but it’s not until this game’s sequel that we’ll see the camera done right. (An aside, beating this game once unlocks a toggle-controlled first person mode, which is a full control method explored in the sequel)

And my issues with controls don’t stop here sadly, as when I was talking about gadgets, I briefly mentioned the Momentum Glider. It is used a grand total of three times in the game, two of which are for compulsory segments, with one of these segments holding one of the most awkwardly placed collectibles in the game. These three segments are not enough to get used to how the glider controls, with the controls being inverted even if you turn off camera inversion and the camera being right up Ratchet’s arse makes long sweeping turns difficult as you can’t see what’s around you.

This ties into the awkwardly placed collectible. It’s placed in such a way that it’s impossible to pick up without doing one of two things. Either turning around at the end of the course in a long sweeping turn and travel all the way back to the start, or intentionally stalling the glider close to the start, quick turning around and then attempting to get it.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because it took me until this playthrough, 16 years after first playing the game, to finally get that collectible, through multiple playthroughs and years of attempts I finally did it.

Finishing it today

I did a perfectly fresh and clean playthrough this time round, and it turned out to be one of my best. I had so much fun using every single new weapon, getting to explore all the new worlds which still felt fresh and fun to me. I grabbed collectibles that have eluded me for 16 years and played through missions that were impossible to a younger me.

I know it feels early to say with an article still to go, but this is the best game in the original trilogy for me. The worlds are diverse with so much content to explore, all the new weapons are incredibly well designed with utility up until the end game, and the replay value is insane, to the point one of the saves on my memory card which belongs to my dad has 11 playthroughs on it.

This is also the game that introduced the “Insomniac Museum”, a side level dedicated to the game’s development and letting players mess around with the systems they developed for the game and showing off cut content from both this game and the previous game. To both a regular player and to the more technically minded this is a fascinating addition to the game.

And as we move forward to Up Your Arsenal, more changes happen… though some are not for the best.

(NB: Originally posted on https://geekoutuk.com/2019/08/25/ratchet-clank-original-trilogy-retrospective-part-1/)

Ratchet & Clank is a series of 3D platformer/action games developed by Insomniac Games, then known for developing Spyro the Dragon and known nowadays for developing Sunset Overdrive and Marvel’s Spider-Man.

In this series of articles, I’m going to talk about the original 3 games, covering off their major features, plot, equipment, control, and how it felt finishing them today. I’m going to be upfront, these games were some of the first I played; I still adore them today 15/16/17 years later, so gushing may occur.

With that out of the way, let’s get started.

Introduction and Plot

Ratchet & Clank was released in 2002 on the PlayStation 2. The game starts with Ratchet working on a ship he’s built from scratch, with the last step being a “Robotic Ignition System”, which he has no idea how to get.

Meanwhile, on a production line of robots, the machine suddenly freaks out and out pops Clank; who as a defective model – who also just saw some very sensitive information on an Infobot – is targeted for destruction. He escapes, but in pursuit is shot down over Ratchet’s world of Veldin.

The lombax (Ratchet’s race, admittedly not brought up much in the trilogy aside from a few mentions) goes to investigate the crash site and retrieves Clank, who after waking up shows the Infobot to Ratchet.

Chairman Drek of the Blarg is building a new home world for his people after the previous one was polluted. How is he doing this? By finding other planets in the galaxy and removing the best chunks from them to add to his own. To try and stop this, Clank wishes to track down the greatest superhero the galaxy has ever known…

CAPTAIN QWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRKKKKKK!!!

*Ahem* Sorry.

Ratchet agrees to this, as Clank is also able to act as the aforementioned Robotic Ignition System, which allows him to start his ship. This begins the duos adventure across the galaxy, taking them to unique planets with different problems to solve. As it progresses the plot almost seems to take on a “buddy film” kind of vibe, with these two very different personalities able to work together well, eventually forming a tight friendship.

Weapons

Starting out, you only get Ratchet’s Omniwrench and a Bomb Glove to use for fighting enemies. As the game progresses, each new location gives a new weapon for the player to purchase, for a total of 14 – These weapons range from the conventional, the powerful, and the somewhat ridiculous.

Personal favourites of mine include the Pyrocitor; On the surface it’s a bog-standard flamethrower for a decent Area-of-Effect attack. The refresh rate was changed in the PAL version, which makes it deal more damage per-frame. The joys of unintentional bugs.

Another is the Tesla Claw, one of the more expensive weapons in the game and only unlocked at the third-to-last planet. This is a high ammo claw with shoots out a homing bolt of electricity, prioritising enemies closer to Rachet.

Finally, we have the Visibomb Gun. A sniper rifle weapon only becomes a series mainstay in the sequel but the Visibomb does all the work and more. It’s a remote-controlled rocket launcher in which you see the Point of View of the rocket, and it will detonate on contact with a surface or can be remotely detonated to deal with a group of enemies.

Although, I cannot write a Ratchet and Clank article without bringing mention to the R.Y.N.O (Rip You a New One). This weapon is not available in conventional vendors and must be brought from the Shady Salesman for a whopping 150,000 bolts (the in-game currency). Once purchased the game becomes a cakewalk, with a massive 50 ammo capacity and each shot having the potential to launch 9 heavy damage rockets, single targets and groups fall within seconds.

Gameplay

The game has linear progression through the plot. You go to a planet, solve the problem presented in the cutscene or by an individual you meet on landing, watch another cutscene and go to another planet.

However, the levels themselves are designed in a very non-linear way, with most planets have 2-3 routes to traverse through, each giving a different reward – the only time this differs is for plot-centric planets, where the game will direct you through. There are also instances where a planet needs a revisit when new equipment has been acquired, leading to new areas being available for exploration.

Hidden within levels are Gold Bolts, 40 of them total are scattered across the planets. Either hidden in hard to reach places, or behind longer platforming challenges, these collectibles only begin to serve their purpose after reaching the Gemlik Base level or finishing the game, as this allows you access to purchase Gold Weapons which are mechanically upgraded versions of 10 weapons in the game.

The game, like previous Spyro the Dragon titles, hosts a Skill Point system. Achievements before achievements in a way, these rewarded the player with a point for performing a specific task, such as completing a platforming segment without touching the floor or beating a level with only one type of weapon. 15 points will earn you a Sketchbook full of concept art, and the full 30 points will earn you a “where are they now”-style Epilogue.

Level presentation holds up insanely well after all these years. Each level begins with the camera being set to a specific angle to show the player what is ahead as the music swells. The soundtrack in this game is fantastic, with all the tracks matching the atmosphere of the level perfectly. The game running at 60fps is also a plus.

As mentioned in Weapons, the primary currency of the game is bolts, acquired from destroying enemies or breaking crates. These are primarily used for weapons and ammo but are sometimes used to advance the plot.

However, the game is terrible at giving players access to these bolts. It’s likely to take a few planets worth of grinding to be able to buy a single weapon, which is also only supplied to you at half ammo. Unless you put in a lot of time grinding, it’s likely to take repeat playthroughs to buy the R.Y.N.O. Repeat playthroughs go some way to fixing this issue, as all bolt drops are increased by an unspecified multiplier, making each planet more valuable to run through.

Various gadgets become available to the player throughout the game’s progression, used for either advancing through a plot-mandatory route, or for accessing hidden secrets. A lot of them are used for mobility, Grind Boots for grinding rails, Swingshot for swinging on targets, Magneboots for magnetising yourself onto surfaces and a Hydrodisplacer to create areas to swim in.

I’ll give particular focus to the Trespasser though. Each game in the trilogy has a gadget that lets you play a minigame to open a lock, and the Trespasser is this game’s version. It’s an untimed challenge which has you directing 3 rings of lasers into various ports by rotating them by set angles, focusing more on logic of how the lasers interact and block each other rather than reaction times.

Scattered around the game are a few mechanics used for a handful of gameplay segments.

At two points during the game you can enter a hoverboard race, one of these is optional for a side mission, the other is mandatory to get a gadget for progression. They function well enough, but they don’t really have any reason to replaying them, other than for bolts and an arbitrary score.

There’s also points where, after obtaining a pilot’s helmet, Ratchet gets to pilot a fighter jet to secure the path, get a new item, and even a late game boss fight.

Finally, the game features a two-name title, so you get to play as Clank every so often. His levels are more focused on slow platforming and using Gadgebots to handle your combat and puzzle solving, although that doesn’t mean he can’t see action. In two segments, Clank can become Giant Clank, a building-sized behemoth equipped with missiles, energy bombs and fists that can shred through enemies, these may be short segments compared to the rest of the game but my god, they are fantastic.

Controls

As a 3D platformer, Ratchet controls pretty good. His jumps have weight and the sound of the double jump still feels satisfying to me. His turning circle does feel a bit wide in sections, but he is able to change directions on a flick of the analogue stick incredibly well.

To aid in platforming – and later swimming – segments, Clank obtains three backpack upgrades. The first of these is the Heli-Pack which opens the possibilities of slowing your descent in a glide, a high jump and a long jump.

Later, you earn the Thruster Pack (my personal favourite to use going forward) which has mostly similar functions with faster movement due to the rocket propulsion. Two new moves unlocked are a power slam allowing you to break metal crates and operate switches, and a rudimentary strafe (more on that in a bit).

This culminates in the Hydro Pack, a backpack that is automatically equipped when underwater. With a click of the R1 button it activates, automatically propelling Ratchet through the water, where you only need to control depth and direction. This is needed to access some hidden areas for both Gold Bolts and upgrade items, as the normal swimming speed is nowhere near fast enough.

However, there are two main areas where I have criticisms, one of them is a product of its time and the other was rectified in the sequel.

The former is the third-person camera, it’s workable and won’t cause many problems during gameplay but it suffers from the sins of early 2000s game design, as it got stuck in scenery in tight spaces. Even on its fastest setting, the camera doesn’t rotate fast enough to face an enemy behind you, combined with a patchy-at-best targeting system, this can result in a fair bit of damage.

After playing through the game, the main conclusion I came to is that the camera is a perfectly good camera for a 3D platformer. It is what you’d expect from the people who made Spyro, but it would take a few years before it became good for a 3D action shooter.

The other issue is the ability to strafe (moving in cardinal directions to aim/avoid attacks). This is mostly unimplemented in the game, with the only option being the Thruster Pack which only allows for better aiming as you cannot jump in this strafing mode. It does make later combat segments easier to navigate due to this refined movement but the lack of a flip for quick dodging leads to more enemy attacks connecting than they should.

Finishing it today

Despite my grievances with how the bolt economy works and some of my issues with the controls, I still really enjoyed getting to experience this game again. Slight confession here, I did my full playthrough of the game for this article on a second playthrough. I briefly attempted a normal run, but the bolt problems just got a bit much.

Having the unspecified multiplier and the bolt pickup range upgrade brought the gameplay more in line with a first playthrough of either of the sequels, which built on the underlying gameplay in each instalment. This made the grind towards Gold Weapons and the R.Y.N.O not feel like a slog.

This game started off a franchise that lasts to even today, when this game was re-imagined in 2016 alongside a feature film. However, that’s a topic for another day.

And the franchise is only going to grow in the sequel, Going Commando.