Ratchet & Clank (2002 game)

Ratchet & Clank (Japanese: ラチェット＆クランク Rachetto & Kuranku) is a three-dimensional platformer game for the PlayStation 2, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony. It is the first game in the Ratchet & Clank series. Ratchet & Clank was released in North America on November 6, 2002, and received both ommercial and critical success. It won PlayStation 2 Game of the Year in 2002. By 28 August 2012 it was available in for download on the PlayStation Network or as part of the Ratchet & Clank Collection in all the original release regions.

Overview
Chairman Drek was planning to create a planet for his race, the Blarg, by breaking off a large quantity of other surrounding planets and using them to form the new Blarg planet, showing no concern to the people of these doomed planets. To stop him, Ratchet had to try to contact Captain Qwark, the greatest hero the galaxy had ever known.

Gameplay
Ratchet & Clank was one of the first games to shake up the platformer genre by focusing not only on making difficult jumps, but also on action and shooting gameplay. In addition to shooting, the game includes space dogfights, hoverboard races, Grindboot rails, Magneboot sections, Giant Clank battles, and Swingshot courses. Ratchet & Clank was one of the few platforming games at that time with an inventory system and more shooting-styled gameplay, which inspired more video-game companies to make more third person shooting / platforming games.

Plot
The story began on a backwater planet in the Solana galaxy, known as Veldin. Ratchet was initially shown working on a space ship. Upon checking what else was needed via "HelpDesk", he sadly discovered that he needed a robotic ignition system. Meanwhile, at a robot manufacturing plant elsewhere in the galaxy, a robot creating Sentry-bots seemingly made an error and accidentally created a small, inferior robot, XJ-0461. Upon seeing an Infobot revealing Chairman Drek's plans to create a new planet by harvesting parts of other planets in the galaxy, he fled the planet. Sentry-bots followed him, however, and he was shot down over Veldin. Ratchet, curious about the crash, explored his way through the planet and discovered an unconscious Clank. Realizing that Clank had the robotic ignition system he needed, Ratchet began working on his ship again. Clank awoke and explained the situation at hand, and struck a deal with the Lombax: If Clank would start his ship, Ratchet agreed to help Clank locate Captain Qwark to save the galaxy from Drek. After exploring different planets which Drek attacked such as Novalis and Eudora, they were able to track down and meet Captain Qwark on Rilgar. Unbeknownst to the duo, Qwark was actually working for Drek, and upon winning a Hoverboard Race, Qwark tricked them into heading blindly into his trap on planet Umbris. Captain Qwark explained his betrayal to them upon their completion of this obstacle/death course and left Ratchet and Clank to fight a Blargian Snagglebeast. Upon defeating the Snagglebeast, the two used a new ship and flew to save the warring planet of Batalia. Ratchet vowed to gain revenge on his former idol, while Clank tried to convince him that Drek was the bigger issue. Ratchet's anger began to subside as the duo came to the realization that Drek planned to not only harvest planets, but entirely destroy another one using the PlanetBuster Maximus for the sake of placing his new planet in the same orbit. Ratchet and Clank soon headed went to Drek's Gemlik Moonbase, where Ratchet was able to enact his revenge on Qwark (Qwark, however, survived the loss and crash-landed on Oltanis.) Drek modified his plan to destroy Veldin so that the new Blarg planet could take its place, specifically to anger Ratchet even more. After defeating Drek in a final showdown on Veldin, they turned the Deplanetizer back at the Blarg Planet, destroying it and killing Drek. The two became instant celebrities and were featured on many magazine covers and Holovision shows. They settled on Veldin to relax, not knowing that their next adventure was right around the corner.

Limited edition poster
Like each game that followed it, Ratchet & Clank had its own limited edition game poster before its release. The poster shows Ratchet shredding from the edge of a rail and Clank standing by.

Characters

 * Big Al
 * Bob
 * Clank
 * Clank's mother
 * Commando
 * Deserter
 * Drek
 * Edwina
 * Fred
 * Gadgetron CEO
 * Gratch, Darla
 * HelpDesk Girl
 * Jowai Resort Owner
 * McMarx, Skid
 * Miner
 * Novalis Chairman
 * Plumber
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Qwark's Bouncer
 * Race Girl
 * Ratchet
 * Robot lieutenant
 * Sam
 * Shady Salesman
 * Skid's Agent
 * Ultra-Mech Scientist
 * Scientist
 * Dr. Nefarious (Behind the Scenes)
 * Lawrence (Behind the Scenes)

Weapons

 * OmniWrench 8000
 * Bomb Glove
 * Pyrocitor
 * Blaster
 * Glove of Doom
 * Suck Cannon
 * Taunter
 * Mine Glove
 * RYNO
 * Devastator
 * Walloper
 * Visibomb Gun
 * Decoy Glove
 * Drone Device
 * Tesla Claw
 * Morph-o-Ray

Some weapons in Ratchet & Clank also had unique Gold variants that only become available in Challenge Mode.

Gadgets



 * Helipack
 * Swingshot
 * Trespasser
 * Grindboots
 * Hydrodisplacer
 * Sonic Summoner
 * Pilot's Helmet
 * Magneboots
 * Metal Detector
 * Thrusterpack
 * O2 Mask
 * Hydropack
 * Gadgetron PDA
 * Hologuise



Items

 * Gold bolts
 * Hoverboard
 * Platinum Zoomerator
 * Premium Nanotech
 * Ultra Nanotech
 * Raritanium
 * Persuader
 * Bolt Grabber
 * Map-o-Matic
 * Codebot

Drivable vehicles

 * Hoverboard
 * Jet Fighter

Ships

 * Ratchet's Ship
 * Courier ship
 * Qwark's tour shuttle
 * Blarg Starfighter

Planets and locations

 * Novalis - Tobruk Crater
 * Kerwan - Metropolis
 * Aridia - Outpost X11
 * Eudora - Logging Site
 * Nebula G34 - Blarg Tactical Research Station
 * Rilgar - Blackwater City
 * Umbris - Qwark's HQ
 * Batalia - Fort Krontos
 * Gaspar - Blarg Depot
 * Orxon - Kogor Refinery
 * Pokitaru - Jowai Resort
 * Hoven - Bomb Factory
 * Oltanis Orbit - Gemlik Base
 * Oltanis - Gorda City Ruins
 * Quartu - Robot Factory
 * Kalebo III - Gadgetron Site
 * Veldin Orbit - Drek's Fleet
 * Veldin - Kyzil Plateau

Critical reaction
Before its release, GameSpot received two preview builds of Ratchet & Clank. After previewing it for the second time, GameSpot described "excellent graphics, varied gameplay, and tight control(s)". IGN had similar views after seeing it in action at E3 2002, stating it would rival Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter.

At release, Ratchet & Clank was met with positive reviews and scores, earning an 88 out of 100 at Metacritic. It was praised for its high quality graphics and wide range of weapons and gadgets. Some criticisms were aimed at the story and characters, GameSpy feeling that Ratchet was an unlikeable main character and that the game became predictable, boring and "just bland". GameSpot on the other hand felt that the game, although it was easier than others at the time, had enough variety that kept the player interested and moving at a good pace.

Trivia

 * According to the magazine promo image, Ratchet & Clank apparently took place in the year 5354, and the months that appeared on the magazine were called Octogus. This implies that the galaxy's calendar is different than ours.
 * In Ratchet & Clank, one of the skill points was named "Going Commando", which would become the name of the second installment in the franchise.
 * Ratchet was the only character in the game with five fingers. Every other character in the galaxy had three.
 * When the disc first loads up, if you don't press start to load or create a game, after a short while a demo will play. After one finishes, another one will follow after the same amount of time. There were 3 demos.
 * Dr. Nefarious, the main antagonist in Up Your Arsenal, technically had an effect in the game, since he was responsible for the Amoeboids on Rilgar.
 * This is the first game released by Insomniac Games after its departure from the Spyro series. However, a game, known as I5, was in production for months before the concept of Ratchet & Clank, but it was ultimately cancelled, opening the doors for this franchise.
 * Ratchet & Clank was not built using the engine from Jak and Daxter, contrary to popular belief. It was actually built using its own engine, and was aided by the engine from the 2001 racing game Kinetica.

Sources and references


Ratchet & Clank