Ratchet & Clank Review

Everything the series would become is here in its first draft. The planets are dense and distinct, the gadgets open routes rather than decorating them, and the arsenal is the point, with the suck cannon and the glove of doom setting the tone for two decades of joke weapons that are also good weapons. The writing is sharper than the genre expected, and Captain Qwark is the rare mascot antagonist who is actually funny.

The shooting is the weak link and Insomniac knew it. Aiming defaults to a lock on that snaps to the wrong target in a crowd, strafing is awkward, and the game leans on the wrench far more than the guns because the wrench is the reliable option. Ammunition is scarce enough that experimenting with the arsenal is discouraged, which undercuts the entire premise. Progression is also stingy, since weapons do not level up here. As a first attempt it is confident and inventive, and the two sequels immediately made it obsolete.