Blowing stuff up isn't as fun anymore

Money’s Worth: High
Replay Value: Very High

Blasting endless waves of enemies has always been a major part of Ratchet & Clank games, along side plat forming, “Mega Games” and puzzles but it was never the only focus of the games. Now in the fourth, Ratchet: Deadlocked, it’s the only thing that is being focused on. This does make the series feel a little different since the past three titles followed the rule “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” philosophy. A lot of what made Ratchet & Clank games excellent titles is now either minimized or gone.


the story isn't strong either, but it still manages to be humorous. It picks up from R&C:UYA and has Ratchet fighting and going against challenges set up by the director in a television to survive.

The game still plays the same with the excellent Lock-Strafe mode and the action has been turned up a couple of notches but it’s missing the platforming sections that made it so much fun. There’s rarely a time where precise timing and jumping is needed, leaving out the roots of Ratchet & Clank. Along with platforming, puzzles are totally axed from the game. Same goes for the Clank missions, which are some of the better parts of past titles. There’s not even an exploration aspect anymore due to the fact that the missions are rather linear. Now all this is a bad thing but the single player mode still manages to be fun and addicting, it just doesn’t pass or even reach the bar other R&C titles have set up.


One thing that makes this Ratchet different from the rest is the weapons in the game. Instead of having fun gimmicky weapons from past titles, Deadlock only gets the most basic weapons such as a shot gun, and let’s the player use mods to personalize the weapon. The mods can range from a freeze mod, brainwash mod or time bomb mod, in all there’s 10 to mix and match with. By replacing the large number of weapons with mods does seem to be a better idea, the game loses a lot of charm past titles had.


The multiplayer mode has been enhanced and tweaked to make online play a great experience. The multiplayer is more balanced this time around and has new modes and options to have fun with. One new mode is conquest where you have to build up to a set number of bolts by destroying your opponents and taking over nodes set around the map. The weapon choice is limited but there’s a weapon for everyone to enjoy. Overall the multiplayer is an addicting, fun experience that helps make up for the somewhat shady single player campaign.


Ratchet: Deadlocked looks, plays, sounds and feels the same as it’s predecessors but loses a lot of the charm the past titles had. The game is still a must for anyone who loves to blow up stuff, just don’t expect the same level of quality as the past titles.

Ratchet fan 7 out of 10
Action fan 8 out of 10
Regular gamer 7 out of 10