Ratchet and Clank

Reviewed By: Nat (a.k.a Kite)
VOLUNTEER GUEST REVIEWER

GAME TECH INFO

Computer Platform: PlayStation II (Sony)
Produced by: Insomniac
Price Range: $11-20
Learning curve time: 1-30 min.
Age level: Children (Older)
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Overall Rating:
Genre: Platformer
Christian Rating: 4 of 5
   (slightly offensive)
Gameplay: 5 of 5
   (excellent)
Violence: 4 of 5
   (barely present)
Adult Content: 4 of 5
   (barely present)

Ratchet and Clank. Illustration copyrighted.

Ahhh explosions! As a friend of mine once put it, "It's not the fire: it's the pure energy of the blast.'' And never have explosions been better than in Rachet and Clank.

Story: The evil Supreme Executive Chairman Drek has polluted his planet, and as such must take large hunks out of other planets to build a new home for his people. Enter Rachet, a teenage(?) Cat-Humanoid, who loves tinkering with machines. One day, Clank, who has escaped from Drek's robot factory, crashes on his planet. Clank shows Rachet the video that Drek made to announce his plan. Rachet agrees to help Clank stop him, but mainly because he wants to leave his planet. Thus starts a galactic adventure that's part Star Wars part Mystery Science Theater.

Gameplay: It's a platformer, but it puts a new spin on platforming. Instead of the usual, "gather all the doo-dads", it has you finding, buying or being given weapons and gadgets. You also collect bolts to use as money for buying new weapons and weapon ammo. There is also a nifty little Star Wars style dogfight mini-game. Besides that, it is a platformer--lots of running and jumping.

Graphics: Some of the best I've seen in a platformer. Smooth animations and good frame rates make this one of the best looking games on the PS2. The cartoon-y setting fits the game perfectly.

Violence: Lots of blowing things up. Starfighters, monsters, enemy soldiers. You name it, you can blow it up.

Some enemies explode in a green fog kind of stuff. When you destroy one guy's fighter it plummets into a planet. You can also turn your enemies into chickens and blow them up. Civilian ships can be blown up.

Screenshot

Sexual Content: Next to none. Rachet flirts with a mechanic girl, only for her to end up thinking Clank's the cutest thing ever. Rachet talks about wanting to check out that helpdesk girl. The aforementioned helpdesk girl turns out to be a robot and Clank flirts with her. A girl on one planet has a bare midriff.

Bad/Crude Language: Drek says something like, "You can form a line behind me and kiss my.'' but is cut off before he can say more. In a T.V ad it says, "Is painful itching in your nether regions causing you undue embarrassment?'' In the special features video they say some beeped out s- words.

Other Offensive: Rachet is a jerk; he is greedy and later in it only for revenge.

Positive: Clank is in it for nothing. He just wants to save the galaxy. Later Rachet stops being a jerk, and becomes a lot more likable.

Overall: Positive.

While the game does have its shortcomings, it's a fun game and quite clean, really. It's a really good platformer for people avoiding magic and a lot of sexual content. Just don't expect a deep life changing experience and you're fine.

Year of Release—2002

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Christian Spotlight review are those of the reviewer (both ratings and recommendations), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Films for Christ or the Christian Answers Network.