Ratchet and Clank has been one of Playstation's favorite franchises since the first game came out in 2001. The series includes some of my favorite games, characters, and plot lines of all time. On November 27, the eleventh installment was released under the title
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault. The game features a mix of tower defense and platforming shooters, as players are sent to take over enemy structures while simultaneously defending their own headquarters. A huge fan of the series, I couldn't stay away from this game for very long. The nature of the game caused me to convince Danny K, vintage game expert and fellow R&C fan, to help me out.
The game begins aboard a cruiser called Phoenix II, where Captain Qwark, monitors the galaxy for possible threats. Qwark expresses his discontent with how peaceful Polaris is just in time for a masked, nameless super-villain to appear and reveal that he had deactivated the Planetary Defense Network across three planets. Qwark, along with Ratchet and Clank, immediately dive into battle, leaving the Plumber in charge of Phoenix II. The game tracks our three heroes across the endangered planets, defending Q-force bases and reactivating pieces of the Defense Network.
Both the offensive and defensive aspects of this game work well. As attacker, you must venture out, taking out squads of enemies and unlocking weapons, much like the classic style. During defense, you're required to defend six generators powering your Q-force HQ using turrets and mines that you place around the area. Alone, this can be frustrating, as you have to travel back to the base the instant some enemy triggers the motion sensor. With a partner, one player can be out earning money while the other fend off enemies and builds turrets. The vendor system, however, stands apart from the other games. All weapons are free, but you can only carry eight per round, only collect one per vendor, and the weapons reset after each round.
There is also a competitive multi-player aspect of this game. Competitive battles consist of three phases, recon, squad, and assault. Recon is for collecting weapons, squad is for building turrets and hiring troops, and assault is for leading the strike on your opponents. How you act in your squad phase can determine how your assault phase runs, as not having enough troops can cause your opponents defenses to stand or not having enough turrets can leave your base wide open. The competitive aspect of the game adds something fun to do with your friends if you've already run through the short list of campaign missions.
My biggest issue in this game is its lack of creative levels. You battle across three planets, then the villain launches weather devices and you battle across one of the planets again, this time with a snowstorm. Also, if played alone, the game takes much longer to finish and is a bit more difficult, making a coop partner necessary.
This game is an interesting spin on the Ratchet & Clank norm, and I had a lot of fun battling against aliens alongside my friend. This is a welcome addition to the Ratchet & Clank family, but a fan can only hope that Insomniac Studios will return to the platforming, planet hopping games that we all loved.
7.5/10
