Ratchet: Deadlocked

[Anarchemitis]

[http://www.insomniacgames.com/]
Ratchet: Deadlocked
Developed by: Insomniac Games
Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment America
PS2 only
2005
(Rated Teen for Fantasy Violence and Comic Mischief)

Spoiler: Other reviews by me.

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Ace Combat Zero - The Belkan War [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.181134]
Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of World War II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.145860]
The Arrival by Shaun Tan [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.67522#600389]
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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.86412]
Sid Meier's Railroads! [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.68483]
Gang Garrison 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.77975]

In order, my first experiences with video gaming ever, were Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, and a demodisc in which a preview of the original Ratchet & Clank presided. Ostensibly Insomniac Games became the first video game company I was loyal to. Going Commando was the first I actually played of the fun-loving gun-toting Lombax Ratchet, followed by Up Your Arsenal in 2004 (around the same time some geek with a metal stick started [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Freeman] popping up in a lot of advertisements.) Come to think of it, the UYA disc actually won't work anymore because I literally played the crap out of it. I don't recall how or when I acquired Deadlocked, but it has the respect and attenuation in my mind for being one of my favorite games. The fan-base of other Racthet & Clank titles is somewhat divided over the general opinion of the game in of itself, but personally I hold it in high regard.

The game itself is very reminiscent of its prequels with platforming, numerous interesting levels, weapons, abilities and vehicles, and a pretty cleverly designed and acted story.However, the fan-base disparity comes from the balance of those aspects. Compared to its immidiate prequel, Up Your Arsenal, there is far less platforming and far more gunplay. Additionally, the story is a bit grimmer and slapstick compared to the more lighthearted (and ridiculous) installations that came before it, as well as a generally shorter plot and rather ridgedly enforced mission-based system for level navigation. I blame the success of Insomniac's direct competition at the time, Naughty Dog Inc. with their own brand of Dynamic Duo on an adventure to save the world, Jak 3, and a heaping helpful of the phenomenal triumphalism that was Halo 2.

The story continues from the end of Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, in which Ratchet the protagonist is in charge of the hub world vessel 'Starship Pheonix', is suddenly attacked and kidnapped by a big evil organization, who kidnap heroes in order for them to combat in exotic and elaborate gladiator fights. As the game progresses, the challenges, missions and levels get harder and longer, occasionally interrupted by Boss battles until you take-on and take-down the best Gladiators they have, at which point you fight the boss of the organization and destroy the space station which he used to conduct the horrid bloodsport. It's somewhat lackluster compared to Going Commando or UYA, but at least it has cameos by Captain Qwark and Dr. Nefarious.

Deadlocked has about 10 planets, all of which are one level divided into subsection areas for various missions involving running, gunning, sometimes with the vehicles (a Hover motorbike, tank-truck, four-legged spider mech and hover gunship) sometimes not. When the level does not support very much platforming, it emphasizes your two helpful combat buddies, the two Hoverbots named Merc and Green. They do fill supportive roles of making grapple-lines to skate across (exactly as awesome as that sounds), shielding you when/if you need to turn a lever, and activating 'hacker orbs' in order to progress through certain doors, in addition to shooting things. [img_inline caption="Among beautiful vistas and shrimp with lasers, explosions are a common tourist attraction in space." width=260 align=right]http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/661/661501/ratchet-deadlocked-20051027114753256_640w.jpg[/img_inline]Overall the gameplay itself is pretty comfortable, and varied enough to keep you interested, but if you're a fan of the predecessors in the Ratchet & Clank series for the PS2, Up Your Arsenal and Going Commando are much better contenders, making Deadlocked look lackluster in comparison.

Multiplayer and Co-op, are a slightly different story. Deadlocked is the first iteration of R&C to embrace functionality and fun of having more than one controller wholeheartedly, compared to UYA. Although some of the levels from the missions are entirely reused for Multiplayer, the minor additions such as vehicle and weapon mod spawns as well as jump-pads make platforming far more enjoyable. (Me and my older brother can kick each other's ass at this game, but I always loose because my combat tactics are far more ambitious and therefore I always end up face down in lava at least once, leaving me a point behind.)

________________________________________________________________
Compared to other installations of Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet: Deadlocked is definitely not the best. If the option is presented, elect to get either a sequel for the PS3 or a prequel for the PS2. However of the choice is unavailable, then Deadlocked is a fine tie over while waiting for something better to happen.
That is unless you have a friend willing and able to play a couple rounds of multiplayer with you, in which case it's pretty fun.

One and a half thumbs up.​

 

[Anarchemitis]

Nice review, much better detail and description than mine, but of course, every review is better than mine. But I don't like "thumbs up"s for reviews, for me, I either reccommend it or don't, I don't want a number system or thumb-system, it makes the aspects too annoying. I prefer it when I can just sound like I'm conversating about the game and I tell the other if I reccommend it, it's much simpler. But meh, you got no requirement to listen to my critique since I really should be trying to make a better review. But whatever, have a good one.

Thumbs up, stars or percentages are things I only use with the knowledge that many people are going to want to know my opinion in a generalized laconic form before they actually read it. Therefore it's a subnote for all those who would dare "tl;dr" me.

 

[Kollega]

The boxart and the first screenshot... oh my god. As the saying goes, "IN THE GRIMDARK FUTURE OF THE GRIMDARK GRIMDARK, THERE IS ONLY GRIMDARK."

It's a good review, but it could have been longer and more descriptive. The reviews i write are usually three times as long. By the way, want me to put that up in The Insomniacs? I can do that. However, if i do that, a bit of a flamewar could be expected.

 

[GloatingSwine]

The boxart and the first screenshot... oh my god. As the saying goes, "IN THE GRIMDARK FUTURE OF THE GRIMDARK GRIMDARK, THERE IS ONLY GRIMDARK."

Not enough skulls for proper grimdark. Also colours.

 

[Ekonk]

It's a lot darker than the firs Ratchet and Clanks, indeed. In humour, story, and visuals.

But it's good. The soundtrack was nice, too. Not as good as the early Ratchet and Clanks, but certainly better than the bombastic epic music of the later. Bah.

 

[Kollega]

Not enough skulls for proper grimdark.

Well, the first three R&C games were offbeat space opera parodies[footnote]Well, kinda sorta.[/footnote] - but this one is pretty much The Running Man

[b]IN SPACE[/b]

, with explosive collars thrown in for additional grimdark points. I'd say the only thing that's missing are indeed skulls.

 

[Roxas1359]

Interesting review, and I can relate to your copy of UYA not working for playing the heck out of it. This game is good, but does lack some of the "charm" I saw in the others. Still I found it a great game to play and has an interesting soundtrack, like all R&C do.

The boxart and the first screenshot... oh my god. As the saying goes, "IN THE GRIMDARK FUTURE OF THE GRIMDARK GRIMDARK, THERE IS ONLY GRIMDARK."

It's a good review, but it could have been longer and more descriptive. The reviews i write are usually three times as long. By the way, want me to put that up in The Insomniacs? I can do that. However, if i do that, a bit of a flamewar could be expected.

Don't worry, I'll try to make sure that they don't devolve into a Flame War. They really shouldn't, but then again I still remember what happened last time.