Ratchet and Clank: Q Force PS3 Review

Ratchet and Clank: Q Force PS3 Review

Released by Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PS3

It's no secret I'm a big fan of the platforming experience that is Ratchet and Clank.

Every single one of their titles has had the trademark mix of good solid platforming, shooting things, collecting things and humorous story telling. So, I have to admit, I was a little wary when I saw this new title was just to include simply one of those things - just the shooting of things.

There's a brief story with this title - also known as Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault - and it goes a little something like this.

Qwark is now retired and looking around in space for some adventure with R&C - when a baddie mysteriously appears on the scene and plunges a whole heap of planets into chaos, it's upto Q Force (Qwark, Clank and Ratchet) to head down to each one and fend off the alien invasion and nasty hordes of creatures. You've got your own base on each planet - but here's the twist; you can't simply head off and attack the bad guys as you have to defend your patch too as they are prone to attacking your base at any given time. Thankfully you can pick up weapons around the worlds to fight your corner.

Ratchet and Clank: Q Force is actually more playable than I had expected, given some of the ingredients of the formula had been left off. Despite the real lack of the storyline running throughout, it means you can pick up and put down the levels without any real loss of continuation. After each one is completed, you can also replay again to beat various targets which have been laid down.

You'll need to be tactical so Ratchet and Clank: Q Force isn't just a game about shooting things and leaving your brains at the door. You have to be strategic and build up defences for your bases so that when you're trying to tackle something on the other side of the planet, you can be confident that it'll stand on its own two feet. Collecting bolts once again helps with that - and replenishing ammo and health is a lot simpler given that the boxes rejuvenate every few minutes.

What's problematic about that is also that when you've cleared one area of bad guys, if you head off to get some ammo and supplies, reinforcements are dropped in the area and you have to start all over again. It's a frustrating touch, particularly when some of your weapons don't hold as much ammo as you could need.

Graphically, when the bases become overwhelmed, there's plenty to watch on the screen and it all works well together without any real sign of any glitches or freezing.

Ratchet and Clank: Q Force is a good, strong fun title - a shooter which offers up online and multiplayer capabilities - you may actually find yourself enjoying it more than you'd thought.

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