Ratchet & Clank (video Game) - Reception

Reception

Ratchet & Clank was met with generally favorable reviews. After playing a preview of the game, GameSpot described it as having "excellent graphics, varied gameplay, and tight control". The game's use of weapons, rather than simple melee attacks, was cited as one of the main features that made it stand out from other platform games; Computer and Video Games said that "Going berserk with your giant ratchet is seriously satisfying Every time you thump an enemy with the hefty tool, it looks, sounds and feels remarkably solid. What's more, the same can be said for all the other weapons you collect and use over the course of your intergalactic adventure". GameSpot noted that the player doesn't need to follow the same paths multiple times, as was common in platformers at the time. Gameplanet said that it was "Quite simply the best platform game on the PS2 right now and possibly the best on any format!"

Reviewers praised the game's graphics, specifically pointing out the character and background designs as being high-quality for PS2 games of the time. GameSpy called the graphics "mind-blowing", and GameSpot praised the game's smooth frame rate. GameZone noted the animation of Ratchet, praising the details in his animation. Reviewers found that the game's voice overs and other audio elements were generally well done. IGN commented on the game's artificial intelligence, saying that it wasn't as well done as that of Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, but still "purposefully comic and somewhat sophisticated" in others. Gameplanet felt that the game's levels were well laid-out.

Criticism was aimed at the game's camera angles, which Eurogamer felt were "idiotic" at times, giving the example of boss fights in which the camera centers on the boss rather than being freely movable. Allgame found that it was hard to form an emotional bond with Ratchet & Clank's main characters, saying that Ratchet is "your typical teenager who desires nothing more than excitement and adventure" and that Clank is "the stereotypical intellectual; stuffy and almost prudish to a fault", feeling instead that the characters of Jak and Daxter from Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy were "infinitely more likeable." Some criticisms were also aimed at the story, with GameSpy saying that the game became predictable, boring and "just bland". Reviewers also noted that the first half of the game was "yawn inducing", but once the player reaches planet Rilgar it becomes much more intense and difficult; GamePro found that the player doesn't "engage a single thought process" for the first parts of the game.