Entertainment

Games: Mismatched scamps Ratchet and Clank still crazy after all these years

Ratchet and Clank – a remake and a movie tie-in but none the worse for either, miraculously
Ratchet and Clank – a remake and a movie tie-in but none the worse for either, miraculously Ratchet and Clank – a remake and a movie tie-in but none the worse for either, miraculously

Ratchet and Clank (PS4)

By: Sony

WITH 15 games over the past 14 years, Ratchet and Clank fans have seen more platform action than Slade's cobbler. The latest is simultaneously a reimagining of the original game and a tie-in with the animated flick currently stinking up fleapits.

Hollywood's shameful track record with videogames remains intact with a butt-grade cash-grab that won't have Pixar losing sleep and isn't a patch on its videogame inspiration, the latest of which reboots the series in spectacular form on PS4.

For the game of the movie of the game, developers Insomniac don’t reinvent the wheel, instead preferring to cherry-pick the series’ best, hanging fresh trappings over familiar beats for a game that’s both familiar and new, and always utterly brilliant.

Fans of the original will find much of Ratchet and Clank pleasingly familiar, though pebble-dashed with new surprises, as a feline alien mechanic and his reject robot sidekick team up for a free-roaming adventure that doles out intergalactic gun-slinging, time-bending head-scratchers and wacky weaponry.

Deft at whacking various baddies upside the head with a wrench, Ratchet smashes all and sunder for their sweet nuts and bolts, currency for gamedom’s most surreal arsenal. Weapons still upgrade with experience, but each now boasts a skill tree which uses crystals to unlock enhanced powers and abilities.

And what glorious guns they are. Old favourites, including the Groovitron (which fires disco balls that force enemies to boogie) and Sheepinator (which turns enemies into ovine bleaters) mix with new efforts, a standout being the Pixelator, which turns enemies into chunky 8-bit versions of themselves.

The classic third-person platforming template remains, our duo enjoying a level of polish and wit sadly missing from their silver screen shenanigan. And while incorporating some ideas from the movie, the tie-in aspect is thankfully kept at arm’s length.

While at heart offering typical platformer fare, including snow, fire and water worlds, it’s all so vibrant and slick, with meta humour and the kind of design genius rarely seen outside of Nintendo. Before you tire of blasting through waves of baddies, the game has players competing in hoverboard races or piloting aircraft, while the Pixar quality visuals couldn’t be easier on the eyes.

From PS2 to PS4 by way of the PS3, PSP and Vita, Ratchet and Clank have crammed a lot into the last decade-and-a-half, but our mismatched scamps are still crazy after all these years. And given the words 'remake' and 'movie tie-in' hang, bell-like, over the lesion-pocked ar**-end of our hobby, for a game to be both and brilliant takes some going.