The Ratchet & Clank 3 impressions topic.
- Thread starter Wellington
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R&C2 > R&C > R&C3
There, I said it.
All were worth the $100 I spent getting all of them, but R&C3 the least so. Going Commando had a number of things going for it- the level design while not great, was not bad. There were RPG elements to keep the player interested. There were tons of extras to go and find out, including a hidden "planet." It was also a bit lengthy and had a lot of replay value.
R&C, though a more basic R&C2, had better levels, and balanced out the weapons with gadgets just a bit more.
Up Your Arsenal, well... The level design was just bland. The things that were cool in GC like the huge desert or snowy mountain ranges were gone. Missions replaced 30% of the game, and we're introduced to half-assed vehicles. Everything just screams "more of the same," and I can't bring myself to say it's even my PS2 GotY. The multiplayer, while fun, doesn't do enough for me to bring it up to that level. If I were to score it out of 10, I'd say Gamespot was dead-on.
There, I said it.
All were worth the $100 I spent getting all of them, but R&C3 the least so. Going Commando had a number of things going for it- the level design while not great, was not bad. There were RPG elements to keep the player interested. There were tons of extras to go and find out, including a hidden "planet." It was also a bit lengthy and had a lot of replay value.
R&C, though a more basic R&C2, had better levels, and balanced out the weapons with gadgets just a bit more.
Up Your Arsenal, well... The level design was just bland. The things that were cool in GC like the huge desert or snowy mountain ranges were gone. Missions replaced 30% of the game, and we're introduced to half-assed vehicles. Everything just screams "more of the same," and I can't bring myself to say it's even my PS2 GotY. The multiplayer, while fun, doesn't do enough for me to bring it up to that level. If I were to score it out of 10, I'd say Gamespot was dead-on.
ManDudeChild
Member
AniHawk said:
What hidden planet?
ManDudeChild
Member
AniHawk said:
?
Go to planet Boldan in Going Commando. Go to the courtyard with the big clock in the distance, and a fountain in the middle with a warp pad that isn't active. When the clock hits 3:00 AM, the warp pad will allow you to warp to planet Burbank. Before you do this, you're going to have to wipe out a couple of enemies even after you warp. Down the corridors, you'll eventually find something that will let you travel to the Insomniac Museum at planet Burbank.
There are things like vehicles, weapons, enemies, and water effects (that you can mess around with) there, along with real-time commentary (just push a button to turn it on as you screw around with things). You'll also have to use one of your gadgets to access the back area of the museum. There's more to it than that, but it's all that I can remember.
There are things like vehicles, weapons, enemies, and water effects (that you can mess around with) there, along with real-time commentary (just push a button to turn it on as you screw around with things). You'll also have to use one of your gadgets to access the back area of the museum. There's more to it than that, but it's all that I can remember.
ManDudeChild
Member
Oh, that thing. Forgot the name of the planet.
The Insomniac Museum in "Burbank" is basic in R&C3, too.
I've done pretty much everything there is to do in the game in about 25 hours. Got all the weapons, all fully upgraded, all bolts, all skill points, all armor, full health....I like the amount of things there are to do in R&C3, but the series is starting to suffer. You can tell. There are so many different elements, not necessarily half-assed, but many of which are either uynnecessary or never used to their full extent. I mean, one gadget introduced near the end, the warp pad, is used only TWICE, and in each instance to solve an absolutely simple puzzle. Was it even necessary to include this thing? I just feel that there are now so many gameplay modes/weapons/gadgets/items/etc. that a lot of them are really getting the shaft in the use department. I think with the next game, Insomniac needs to either A) Take some extra time to double the length of the game and give due use/time to each element they wish to include or B) Focus it even more so that some of these elements might have to go in favor of tightening level design/gameplay around a few, more choice elements. Its still a really good game, but if it keeps going like this, R&C4 just isn't going to be that fun.
You guys seem to know your R&C series pretty thorough. Let's say I've only played halfway through the original R&C... How should I tackle the rest of the series? Finish the first game, jump to the supposedly much-improved sequel, or skip directly to UYA because of its tight controls and online play?
P.S. I'm a big fan of Metal Arms, which is more on the intense shooting side and less about platforming.
P.S. I'm a big fan of Metal Arms, which is more on the intense shooting side and less about platforming.
My thoughts exactly. I would love it for Insomniac to crank out a final R&C game, but develop it over 2 years to get some well thought out plans for the game. R&C 3 really felt like it was made in a year, where R&C2 doesn't.
I thought it'd be so fun to be able to use gadgets in conjunction with weapons during boss fights. Maybe gravity boots to keep you grounded in those metal pipes as you fight a certain boss.
ManDudeChild
Member
Teddman said:
I haven't played UYA yet, but R&C: Going Commando's a great game. My advice would be to finish R&C1, then move on to two, then three.
I found it funny how in R&C: Going Commando there's that part where the engineer, plumber (sorry I forget his name and exactly what he did, its been awhile) says, "see you next year."
Teddman said:
UYA is more of a shooter than platformer. Its levels are really bland compared to the previous two though. I think Going Commando is the best in the series. It blends the platforming and shooting better than UYA (which feels rushed).
I'd go R&C > R&C 2 > R&C 3. You'll probably stop at 3 anyhow because of the OL play. You can probably skip the rest of R&C if you want. Going Commando is much better.
Belfast said:
I think they should make the levels open ended. Although I love the artistic look of all the levels, after 3 games the linear pathing of it is getting a bit annoying. They should take these cool levels like Metropolis and stuff and make them open ended with multiple missions within them. Instead of having 10-15 ultra small linear planets have like 5-6 open planets you can explore. Then they need to have multiple paths for each mission. You could use the hacker to hack your way in through the back, use the disguise tool to sneak in through the front or use the warp pad thing in get through an elaborate warp maze. I like R&C3, but the implementation of all the gadgets, except for the reflector and maybe the hacker, is pointless and stupid and just there for the sake of being there as some gadetry filler. Give them more uses, give them to us early in the game and let us decide when and what to use.
Also, why did they take out the flying missione
I really liked those.The Clank missions seriously sucked in this one too. They need to be improved and more need to be added.
Some changes made to each R&C followup have been of a more lateral variety, intended just to mix things up rather than to improve the overall formula. Meanwhile I do think they have incrementally improved the core elements of the series with each game and this game in particular. They've tightened control, added additional control schemes, improved the context sensitivity of certain actions, deepened the Quick Select. They've taken a survival of the fittest approach to the weapons and gadgets that have been aired so far, eliminating some, tweaking/streamlining others and even converging a few. The storytelling and characterizations on offer in UYA are the best in the series so far.
The level design is perhaps the most divergent in that it moves the focus away from larger and larger monolithic levels in favor of more and generally smaller levels with a greater focus on skirmish type encounters. However, I don't see any significant decrease in the amount of platforming involved. It's got about the same focus as its had throughout the series so far, and there's at least a few levels in the game where the focus is mostly on platforming (Obani moons). I find the aesthetics of the level design to again be the best of the series because, while the levels retain the now familiar R&C blend of retro-scifi styling with Saturday morning cartoon character designs, they've managed to pepper the homogeneity of this look with a few more otherworldly setpieces than we've seen thus far in the series. The overall presentation of the game's levels are further enhanced by the smart use of bloom/glow effects, better water effects and a much greater use of specular highlighting.
On top of all that, you've got the online component. It doesn't go about reinventing anything but it nails the execution almost flawlessly. Hosts and players have got just about every option they could want to start and find games, create buddy lists and clans, all within a very accessible and largely intuitive UI. The gameplay itself is surprisingly indistinguishable from offline gameplay in terms of performance for me thus far. The game types are familiar, but the use of trademark elements of R&C gameplay help them to stand apart with the particular mix of weapons (like the mine layer and lava gun), the light acrobatics, the gravity defying antics of wall and ceiling walking and the use of the swingshot and dash boots.
Not to say I don't miss some aspects of the earlier games, but the overall change has been positive with each release for me.
The level design is perhaps the most divergent in that it moves the focus away from larger and larger monolithic levels in favor of more and generally smaller levels with a greater focus on skirmish type encounters. However, I don't see any significant decrease in the amount of platforming involved. It's got about the same focus as its had throughout the series so far, and there's at least a few levels in the game where the focus is mostly on platforming (Obani moons). I find the aesthetics of the level design to again be the best of the series because, while the levels retain the now familiar R&C blend of retro-scifi styling with Saturday morning cartoon character designs, they've managed to pepper the homogeneity of this look with a few more otherworldly setpieces than we've seen thus far in the series. The overall presentation of the game's levels are further enhanced by the smart use of bloom/glow effects, better water effects and a much greater use of specular highlighting.
On top of all that, you've got the online component. It doesn't go about reinventing anything but it nails the execution almost flawlessly. Hosts and players have got just about every option they could want to start and find games, create buddy lists and clans, all within a very accessible and largely intuitive UI. The gameplay itself is surprisingly indistinguishable from offline gameplay in terms of performance for me thus far. The game types are familiar, but the use of trademark elements of R&C gameplay help them to stand apart with the particular mix of weapons (like the mine layer and lava gun), the light acrobatics, the gravity defying antics of wall and ceiling walking and the use of the swingshot and dash boots.
Not to say I don't miss some aspects of the earlier games, but the overall change has been positive with each release for me.
I disagree. I thought it was a pretty big step-down from GC. The villains were great, but they didn't even try adding character to the new characters or old ones (except for Qwark).
And for the love of god, why the hell did they have to throw in romance between Sasha and Ratchet? It was so damn unnecessary. Stuff like that should have been taken out of the game so Insomniac could focus on bettering the storytelling or gameplay. The animation was superb though, and the voice acting was excellent.
I hope that they make one more R&C to come out on the PS2 in 2006. This time making the levels more interesting, improving weapon evolution (would be cool to go to a mod shop to meld weapon abilities together), improving the storytelling and characterizations (this is a minor thing though- it's not so much a focus in these games).
After that, I'd like to see what else Insomniac can do in 2008 with a new franchise on the PS3.
I'm going to make sure we have some kind of "Character of the Year" category when we do year-end awards on the site. Just so we can give it to Lawrence.
The cutscene where Lawrence is doing the closed captioning for the hearing impaired may be the funniest thing in a videogame this year. Or in several years, for that matter.
DFS.
The cutscene where Lawrence is doing the closed captioning for the hearing impaired may be the funniest thing in a videogame this year. Or in several years, for that matter.
DFS.
quick quesiton about two player split screen - i just tried it with my friends, and for whatever reason, the screen's not divided correctly. instead of filing the entire horizontal screen, both the top and the bottom half fills up to 70% horizontally, with the remaing 30% being some random non-in-game background. Both the top half and the bottom half of the screen do that - wtf?!
it makes the actual area displaying the game really small, screen's all weirdly scratched, and shit like - very annoying!
i poke around the options and couldn't see anythign that can solve it :/
it makes the actual area displaying the game really small, screen's all weirdly scratched, and shit like - very annoying!
i poke around the options and couldn't see anythign that can solve it :/