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Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault ( Ratchet & Clank: Q-Force )
PlayStation 3
in ur base killin ur motivation
2.5/5 stars
“Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault” (“FFA”) is the third minor release in the ‘Ratchet & Clank’ franchise to grace the PlayStation 3. None of these other spin-off titles have lived up to the greatness of the core ‘Ratchet & Clank’ games, with which developer Insomniac single-handedly proved that 3D platformers could be about more than collecting stars and yelling, “YIPPEE!” Yet my appreciation for the characters and the universe has kept me coming back, even in the face of disappointment. “FFA” promised to rejuvenate the franchise with a dose of Tower Defense, which led me to envision something like “Dungeon Defenders,” except without the hideously unbalanced DLC and painful amounts of grinding. And while “FFA” doesn’t have a lack of balance or a large amount of grinding, it is also lacking in almost every way.
Presentation
“FFA” looks about like every other ‘Ratchet & Clank’ spinoff title. The character models are as cartoony and well-animated as ever, and the designs for the off-the-wall weapons and alien creatures are both incredibly well-done. Yet, not everything is coming up roses for Insomniac’s aging art assets. For a series that started on the PlayStation 2, then wowed the world with HD graphics in its PlayStation 3 debut, ‘Ratchet & Clank’ is beginning to look a little bit worn. There are noticeable jaggies all over the place, and many of the texture assets look ever-so-slightly less than sharp running at 720p, while the flat, 2D assets still look great.
Soundwise, “FFA” stands up to the high standards set by its predecessors, with movie-quality voiceacting and a pleasantly benign soundtrack. Of course, it also bears mentioning that one moment in the soundtrack pays particular attention to the stupidity of pop-culture, by including the apparently-infamous “Trololo” song (YouTube it).
Technically, “FFA” is as solid as any other game in the ‘Ratchet & Clank’ franchise (though it did make me download a 400+MB update before playing). The one technical difficulty I ran into doesn’t bother me for its impact on me, personally, but in principle. Every new copy of “FFA” is supposed to include a free downloadable copy of “FFA” for PlayStation Vita AND a downloadable copy of “Ratchet: Deadlocked.” My copy of “FFA” IS new, and when I clicked the “Disc Benefits” option on the XMB it took me to the PlayStation Store. But it did NOT add “FFA” for Vita or “Ratchet: Deadlocked” to my list of downloads. Perhaps I did something wrong, but ever since, attempting to access “Disc Benefits” only gives me an unhelpful error message. While I didn’t WANT “FFA” for Vita OR “Ratchet: Deadlocked” for PSN, the fact that I was promised those things and still didn’t receive them is kind of a slap in the face and exemplary of the shoddy way in which Sony runs the online portion of their empire.
Story
“FFA” is very thin story-wise compared to other entries in the franchise. The only redeeming feature of the story is that the villain is NOT Dr. Nefarious, but someone else dredged-up from the old PlayStation 2 entries in the franchise.
The rest of the story involves Captain Qwark losing the presidential election and longing for some evil-doers to beat-up to take his mind off the situation. A villain from the past, with a personal grudge against Qwark, does indeed show up and begins to propagate some small-scale havoc across three insignificant planets. While I think Captain Qwark is a great character and have been hoping for a ‘Ratchet & Clank’ storyline that revolved around him, the lack of scale and lack of punch in “FFA’s” plot just doesn’t do the character justice. Along with Ratchet and Giant Clank, Qwark is even a playable character. And having played the entire game as Captain Qwark, I was left wondering exactly why Ratchet and Clank were even involved in the game’s events, as Qwark seemed to have everything under control by himself.
Gameplay
After the overly-linear Beat ‘em Up debacle of “Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One,” “FFA” returns the vast majority of the gameplay to the traditional 3D platformer format, with free movement throughout individual areas and a freely-controllable camera. In addition to the traditional arsenal of wacky weapons available to the cast of characters, “FFA” ham-handedly adopts some conventions from the Tower Defense genre, saddling each area with a base that needs defending, two lanes leading to said base, and a few designated spots upon which to build defenses – such as turrets, barriers, and mines inspired by other weapons in the long history of the ‘Ratchet & Clank’ franchise.
Ultimately, the combination of running around environments shooting aliens while saving up enough bolts to buy defenses for the base could result in an incredibly fun game, if the mechanics were handled well. Unfortunately, they aren’t. Instead of allowing the characters to collect an arsenal of weaponry as they progress through the game, each mission starts the characters unarmed (except for melee attacks), and they must find the weapon pods deployed from their mothership in order to rebuild their arsenal each time. While weapons do level-up through use, there just isn’t much use for many of them… especially when one takes into account that there are only 5 missions in the entire game… And one of these missions just takes place in a rehashed version of the first mission! The Tower Defense aspects of the game feel incredibly simplistic and watered-down, with the set-in-stone build locations for defenses greatly limiting player strategy and creativity. I find it painfully ironic that some of the personal weapons turned out to be far more effective as base defenses than the defenses themselves!
I wouldn’t say that replaying the same 5 missions over and over is grinding, per se, as it isn’t necessary in order to progress. But the game is built to revolve significantly around speed and unlocking character perks by earning medals. Clearing each mission without dying grants one medal, while finishing each mission without any major damage to the base grants another. In order to earn all three medals from each of the first four missions, it’s necessary to beat a minimum time as well, which is impossible when the player is unfamiliar with the stage and difficult even when they are, as even the lowest challenge times require players to cut corners and skip weapon unlocks for the sake of time.
It almost seems like the game is intended to be played by more than one person at a once… and indeed, it is! In a multi-player game where one player can guard the base while the other goes out in search of weapon pods and mission objectives, I can see the entire experience as being a bit more fun and more streamlined. Yet, as a game with three playable characters, “FFA” only supports 2-player local co-op. If it allowed 3-player co-op, I would have played this with the rest of the MJ crew. Since it doesn’t, I played it alone. Sure, “FFA” supports 3-player co-op via PSN, but none of my friends own this game, and I have no interest in playing with strangers. “FFA” also includes versus matches where players can battle to take over each others’ bases. Again, I never bothered with this mode, as meaningless deathmatches are anathema to everything that ‘Ratchet & Clank’ has always been about.
Overall
“Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault” combines watered-down Tower Defense with watered-down 3D platforming to create an overall watered-down ‘Ratchet & Clank’ experience. There are occasional sparks of creativity that show Insomniac’s good intentions with the game, and it could have been much more enjoyable with reliable, freely-placed defenses, more stages, less repetition, and a more fleshed-out, less-compact plot. Instead of dragging Ratchet, Clank, and Captain Qwark through the mud experimenting with genres outside their expertise, maybe Insomniac should stick with what they’re good at and return the franchise to its roots.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 2/5
Gameplay: 2.5/5
Overall (not an average): 2.5/5
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