Some time ago, I decided that the time had come to meet my PS3, which I have since 2014. Her library is very cool, the 7th generation gave rise to a bunch of class projects, which would be interesting to try out. In addition, I wanted to get acquainted with the PlayStation in general, and games from the HD Sony Remaster with PS2, including the Ratchet & Clank trilogy, got into my collection.
The first part, the original of which was released in 2002, was not very pleased with me. I knew that R& C is, one might say, the classic Sony franchise, still alive and very well-known. And it was very strange to get acquainted with the first part of this series of shooters, which was an inept platform from the 3rd person with a curve of movement, poorly working and disgusting jokes, which would not hurt to very thoroughly finalize. And although for 2002, the game was even excellent, I was somewhat disappointed. It remained hoped that it would be better further.
And hopes were justified. The second part from the very first minutes pleases, corrects the mistakes of the original and entertains qualitatively. She inspired me to write this article about her game design, interesting solutions and problems.
This is my first blog, I hope someone will like it. I have no capture cards, so there are strangers, alas.
Original
The first part was released in 2002 and everyone liked it very much. The players liked that in the platform in battles the emphasis was placed on shooting, and not on a close battle. There was a lot of content in the game, the planets differed both with gameplay chips and enemies. As written on Wikipedia, by 2006 the game was sold in a million copies with a small copy, which for the game from the early 2000s, also console exclusive, is quite good.
According to the plot, to the Lombaks mechanics (the local race of cat-girls and cat-bors) racketeering on its native planet gets a defective robot, which the hero calls the clan. He wants to stop the chairman of the Drek, who destroys the planets in order to somehow earn it there-the game has a criticism of soulless corporations, for everything ready for profit, as in Borderlands. They are trying to achieve the help of a superhero, captain Quark, who turns out to be a bad person and works on the Drink. The guys together carry a quarter, which in future parts will appear in the role of a villain, etc. They become celebrities, and quark goes to prison and remains with nothing.
In general, the plot in the first part is very bad. The characters are so empty that they are even ashamed to call them stereotypes. They act and decide everything on command from the screenwriter, they have no real nature. Ratchet plays out a stereotypical teenager who behaves the whole game as a finished degenerate, and the clan-intelligent robot, which also behaves the whole game, like ended degenerate. There are no characters, the plot is practically the same, the way I described it above, perhaps more interesting, something, as it is served in the game. After the passage, I was surprised who thought of this expensive full -length cartoon to release. And it was expected, after all, that something would turn out at least tolerant (for some reason). But this is me, for the introduction-the plot, after all, does not affect the objective quality.
Gameplay is a platformer. And sometimes Runner: in mini-game with races or when moving along the rails. There is a close battle and joke. Level Design is not bad, the levels are often interesting. And here you can start about problems. In this game, almost every fundamental mechanics is broken.
The character is bad, the mulm does not work normally. The developers decided that they have a very realistic game, so Ratchet does not know how to turn on the spot. With the deviation of the stick to the side, he goes forward and turns around the arc. In short, if you stand on the edge of the abyss and look at it, getting out of this situation will not work, you will most likely fall down. For a platformer, this is very bad.
The joke does not work normally, because in the game, where you can directly aim only in the first person, standing still (which cannot be used, because it is impossible to dodge in this mode), there is no help in aiming. GG will fall into the enemy only if you look directly at him. And with such a muvment, where the hero does not turn, where you need, but spins with arcs, it just fails to aim normally. You can aim at the glass, but the camera moves too slowly and does not solve the problem – it is simply inconvenient.
Boxes with cartridges at levels, well, very few. The cartridges are expensive, despite the fact that you buy almost all the weapons yourself, it is rarely given according to the plots, and the bolts (local currency) are not enough for the other. As a result, there are never enough cartridges, and it is not possible to use the firearm effectively.
“But there is also a close battle!"-someone will say. He is, and he doesn’t work either. This same one mentioned earlier, the emphasis on the firearm in the game was made by a non-trivial way- it is simply impossible to use a close battle. The fact is that there is no camp in the game. After receiving damage, enemies play an animation, immediately after which they attack you, because they have a range of attacks above. Small enemies, with a short attack, attack you, usually in the amount> 10. And because of the delay between the blows, you cannot throw even small opponents in close combat without getting damage. And this despite the fact that in the game 85% of time you will have 4 CP, and there are few medicines on the map. The game is designed that you will shoot, because in close combat they will simply kill you.
And although the game as a whole worked, and was even pleasant, it demanded some … improvements. The game had a good foundation, interesting ideas and clumsy implementation. And with such a luggage, Insomniac moved to the development of the second part.
Exemplary sequel
The second part was released in 2003, a year after the original. Everyone again liked her very much, people praised interesting gameplay solutions, and design, and graphics. By 2007, it was sold in a circulation of over 3 million copies and gained great popularity.
According to the plot, the head of the Megorp Corporation, Mr. Fitzcvid, teleported the retrock and the clan to another galaxy so that they would do some work for him, and he generously rewarded them. I won’t spoil it very much (the game, which is 22 years old, yes), in general, they met Lombaks Angela, who liked Ratchet, and Quark was again to blame for everything.
This time the plot turned out to be good. There are characters, they work, and are no longer degenerates. At the same time, the game permeates the trolling of large corporations again. For example, there is a planet that Megorp, led by Mr. Fitzcvid, turned into a lifeless desert, and when the protagonists learn about it … They do not draw any conclusions and continue to help this company. Funny. The game has enough jokes about the credulity of the main characters.
Fitztzvidet shows Megacorp in a laudatory documentary. https://howlcasino.co.uk/ The background describes how noble the company is conducting its affairs
And in the gemple plan, the developers pleased. It is very pleasant that Insomniac turned out to be a company that does work on mistakes. It will be better to describe the beginning of the game here: the racetech flies to the ship where Protopet can be located, the animal, through the fault of which all events are taking place in the game. You move the stick to the side … and the racetech turns normally! The game is now normal!
You get to the first opponents and discover that now there is Aim Assist! The protagonist is normally aimed at enemies. The sensations from weapons became much tactile, in the form of the first person the chamber’s movement added inertia, and the gun at the same time became visible. Shooting now more convenient and more pleasant. All the game design in the game evolved, but more on that further.
With a new mivment to jump on the platforms and pulls. The character is now well controlled, it is normally felt, and Levele design is made so that there are no questions about whether the hero will fall on the platform. Swingshot, the local hook, there are more, there were interesting segments with tasks for a while. Grouting and running in the new part is very nice.
The joke was also greatly improved. The developers thought: “Why was it so painful to shoot in the first part?". And the conclusions were drawn. First, yes, working AIM ASSISSST. Now you do not need to deal with perversions in order to at least get into someone. Secondly, Gam- and Levele-design was imprisoned under shooting.
In the first part of IMBO there were flying opponents: not only do they need to somehow find them up, so that they also have to get into them, but the character himself does not aim. Now there are almost no flying opponents. Those that are, either appear one by one, or in the conditions in which you can get into them normally. In general, the game, like a shooter, works and gives pleasure.
The game was added to pumping. The developers themselves called this RPG mechanics. Now, for the dead enemies, you get experience, the character with each level is added in the health cell, and the weapon can become more powerful. All new weapons from this part (there is a weapon from the first) pumps.
In addition, the use of special bolts was processed (in the first part they were gold, in this they are platinum). Now for each weapon for the N-th number of such bolts you can put up to two modifications. They can add some additional type of damage, or attach a full-fledged Target-Lock to this weapon. Comfortable.
For the resource of Raritanium, you can pump your spaceship.
In the game there were additional activity on which bolts can be earned. They are represented in the form of races, arenas with waves of enemies and battles in space.
The races have evolved from the time of the first part, now there are several stages on each highway, there are Pick-UP’S in the Mario Kart style, with which you can attack rivals, and it is possible to control the speed more or less that it translates this mini-game from the category of EASTROMY, into full-fledged races resembling Episode 1: Racer .
2 arenas were added to the game, on which you fight with unique bosses, and perform various challers, such as the passage of a series of rounds without damage. Cool activity, from which, as I understand it, later the full -fledged part of Ratchet grew: Deadlocked .
Full -fledged cosmic battles appeared in the style of military aircraft. They are interesting and, in fact, very high quality and pleasantly made. It does not feel like an ugly craft added for a check. There are 3 cards for such activities, each in 4 stages. More than enough.
The game has become more pleasant to the eye, the art design pleases. The planets are beautiful. There are huge megacities, and flooded planets, deserts and several levels resembling a mustafar from star wars.
If you hit the enemies, pieces of armor fly away from them, as in Doom Eternal. The game looks juicy and, most importantly, reads well, there are no questions, you can get somewhere or not, and if you get on enemies, it is clear that you are damage, which is very important for the second half of the game.
From the interesting, there were grinds, where there is almost no such left-handed design, but you can go to points of interest and earn bolts. There are more battles on a huge-robot-klanke, conceptual stages, not always understandable, but interesting. In addition, small planets with weakened gravity appeared in the style of the "small prince". There are also flights on the glider: Runner segments, where you need to evade obstacles with vertical controls in vertical.
The game now turns into a puzzle in places. There are several stages where it is necessary to correctly arrange objects at the level, freeze or defrost the tanks with water, or activate the mechanism and for a while pass the segment. Cool.
At the same time, unfortunately, the bosses in the game are not always good. For example, the last battle with the leader of the scumbags (as I translated the word Thug) is a boring run between static turrets, in which you just try to keep the sight as long as possible on the boss. The aim at the turrets, for some reason, is inverted vertically, and the whole battle lasts 7-10 minutes, for which it more than manages to bore.
Some bosses from the rent are somewhat broken: either they use attacks that cannot be dodged, or they are not allowed to aim.
And the last boss in the game, although interesting, but for some reason, the camera is all the time recorded on it, although it is surrounded by opponents more allegedly, which, as a result, cannot be found. In short, bosses are more likely to delight, but not always.
In general, the game has become much more diverse, better. It has many interesting mechanics, mini-games, cool levels and enemies, who often have to choose their approach. As in the first part, the game has very pleasant music. But it’s time to move on to "but".
The first "but"
In the first part there was another problem. The game has practically no progression of complexity, and the blaster, which the player found the level at the third, remained the most useful weapon until the end of the game. And the guys from Insomniac decided to deal with it. Progressing in the second part is present, but it is somewhat uneven ..
I think everyone who could read this article is familiar with the term "norfing". In this game, you can feel on your own example why this phenomenon is so called. About the middle of the game, half of your whole weapons becomes completely useless. Heavy Lancer, which you often used from the beginning of the game, literally turns into a NERF, a toy automatic. The average enemy will demand about 50 rounds from this gun, with a maximum ammunition of 300. The trunks that go to Lava Gun on the list now practically cannot harm anyone. The funny thing is when a shotgun who had previously demolished literally all from one shot now and does not kill anyone almost no one.
To destroy ordinary enemies on this location, you have to use a bomb called Mini Nuke, and finish off with rocket launcher
All enemies began to be felt in invulnerable terminators at which shoot-not-shot, you won’t get any effect. At the same time, the enemies themselves began to cause very much damage, and your 30 and more health cells calmly fly away in seconds.
Closer to the end of the game, another leap of complexity occurs, after which 4 shots from a sniper will be required for one ordinary enemy, which, after the middle of the game, continued to “whine” everyone. New weapons, yes, strong enough to effectively deal with enemies, so the game does not break fully, but it, as they say, makes it painfully otherwise.
The second "but"
In the first game there was a weapon called R.Y.N.O, which cost approximately as many bolts as I earned and spent in the whole game. This is the only weapon that I have not received.
In Going Commando, I received an achievement shortly before the final, which is given for earnings of a million bolts. Even in the first part there was a grind problem-it was necessary to somehow earn a bunch of bolts in order to just move in the plot. A couple of times I had to go to Grinditage in order to get, missing for the plot purchase, bolts. And in the second part, which, expected, given the local problems with the balance, the situation has somewhat deteriorated.
Bolts in the new part are given much more, I did not face the fact that I did not have enough money for cartridges or quests. But. I fulfilled all the challenges on all arenas, all the stages in the local aircraft and almost all races. I collected all the crystals on both grinds. And earned, as I noted above, about 1 million. I did not get 3 guns and maximum reservation pumping. In total, this is more than 3 million bolts. Joke.
After the first passage of tests in the arena or in mini games, the award for the passage is significantly reduced. That is, I scored the maximum possible number of bolts from all, including additional, activities in the game, but to open all the content of the game, I must earn more than 3 times more. And now the question is: “It’s like?".
Yes, Grind is practically not required to pass the game, but at the same time, in order to, so to speak, to achieve everything in this world, you need to grin a lot and it is not clear where. The game has NG+, in which, it seems, there are more bolts, but the weapon in this mode does not pump.
This is not something very critical, yes. But this is very unpleasant.
We summarize
It is written on Wikipedia that the second part began to be developed almost half a year before the release of the first part, that is, the developers should have already understood that the original R& C is not all right. And yes, they corrected almost all the mistakes of the original and, I would say that it was from this part of the Ratchet & Clank franchise that I received the right to be called the Great (conditionally). Yes, they broke a lot, yes, not all innovations and stages of the game are interesting. But the game turned out to be beautiful. Despite the broken balance, strange bosses and some controversial elements in mini-games, when you understand everything, you begin to get high. If someone wants to get acquainted with this series, the second part, perhaps, will be better than the entry point for this. Ko-o-o-nan.