Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
"Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a pure superhero spectacle that takes full advantage of the PS5 hardware."
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Exciting set pieces
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Lots of weapons
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Fantastic look
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Impressive technology
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Disjointed story
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Overzealous DualSense support
Insomniac know how to make a superhero game. In the past few years, the studio has released two excellent Spider-Man titles of death defying action and big budget set pieces that could make Kevin Feige jealous. So it's no wonder that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a full-blown Marvel video game film.
It's a natural evolution for one of Sony's most enduring first-party franchises. While it began as a standard 3D platformer in an era when Sony spawned animal mascots, it has only pumped up the galactic spectacle with each new console for the past two decades. With Sony's most impressive hardware yet in the PS5, Insomniac Games can finally play its Hollywood chops and transform the duo into compelling pint-sized Avengers.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a technical powerhouse full of exciting platform set pieces and busy environments. Its weapons arsenal doesn't quite reach the creative heights of previous editions, but the visual high makes for a fun summer blockbuster.
Marvel's Ratchet & Clank
Like previous games in the series, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is an action-packed third-person platform game. The eponymous Lombax hero Ratchet combs planets for collectibles as he carves his way through waves of enemies while the robot Clank tackles puzzle interludes. It's always been a recipe for success for Insomniac, and not much has changed about the secret sauce here. Everything is a little bigger and more noticeable, but the core gameplay is still rock solid.
Playing through a world really feels like flashing through another Hollywood action set piece.
The main difference this time around is that the game plays with alternate realities. Ratchet finds himself in a dimension where his rival Dr. Nefarious has finally taken control of the galaxy. It wouldn't be a "Mirror World" story without a doppelganger, so the game includes a second Lombax called Rivet that players control almost every other level. Functionally, it's exactly the same as Ratchet, which feels like a missed opportunity. Equipment, weapons, and upgrades are shared between both Lombaxes, so it feels like playing the same character with a pallet swap from planet to planet.
It's hard to complain about when Lombax up-to-the-minute gameplay is so much fun. Each level is a finely designed amusement park with exciting rides. When players aren't hunting for secrets or blowing up enemies, they'll race off ramps on the back of a beetle or drag on roller-coaster-like rails as explosions go off in all directions.
This is where the superhero DNA really becomes visible. Playing through a world really feels like flashing through another Hollywood action set piece. This can make the experience feel disjointed at times, as the game's strangely tangled story feels like a way to justify putting dozens of different ideas together. But as with any good blockbuster, it's best to sit back and take in the colorful sensory explosion.
No superhero movie is complete without a few sidekicks. The clank sections are sparse but a perfect change of pace. They revolve around simple ball puzzles where Clank must safely guide projections of themselves to an exit with balls that they can speed up, jump and do more. The more exciting side missions come from Glitch, a miniature mech that Ratchet uses to fend off microscopic viruses. It's little shooter sections that offer some mind-boggling movement, effective haptic feedback, and the game's most charming original character.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart isn't the most narrative-addicting adventure, but it offers the same thrill as Insomniac's Spider-Man games. The heroes are just a little furlier.
Lights, camera, action
The Ratchet & Clank series sets itself apart from other mascot platform games with its focus on action, and that is true here as well. Rift Apart offers players a buffet of weapons and grenades to experiment with. The game does an excellent job of encouraging players to use them all instead of picking one and quitting it. Each weapon can be leveled up, expanding your personal upgrade tree. I found myself back and forth between my guns in every battle, really driven to see what each one could do in its final form.
Compared to previous entries, the arsenal is a bit tame this time around. There are plenty of recurring favorites, but few of the new weapons feel as creative as tools like the Groovitron or Qwack-O-Matic that turned enemies into ducks in Up Your Arsenal. The most memorable tool is the topiary sprinkler, which temporarily turns enemies into shrubs. This is one of the few weapons that master the series' slapstick fight.
I found myself back and forth between my guns in every battle, really driven to see what each one could do in its final form.
It feels a bit like Insomniac played it more directly to make better use of the PS5 DualSense controller. Many weapons have alternate modes of fire or quirks that take advantage of the controller's adaptive triggers. The headhunter sniper zooms in depending on how hard the left trigger is pulled, for example. Not every gun makes use of this idea, but those that add a little extra depth to the shooting.
The technology is fun to use, but admittedly it can be a pain point. And I mean a literal one. The pull-off resistance becomes physically demanding. With a weapon like the ricochet, players must hammer the right trigger multiple times to destroy enemies. The trigger pull is so hard that I switched to my middle finger just to give my pointer a break. Returnal really got to the heart of how to develop gunplay around adaptive triggers with their Alt-Fire system, but I can imagine a lot of gamers will turn the feature off here entirely.
The gunplay may have been reworked a little to fit the PS5 itself, which is what we've seen in games like Destruction AllStars. Despite these quirks, the fight is still chaotic. When I electrify a creature with a weapon, I create a perfect "weird nonsense" moment in which my stunned enemy wobbles in place like a cartoon character after plugging a fork into an electrical outlet. Shooting down a creature is always rewarded with some sort of detailed animation that is a joy to see.
Big budget thrill
If Returnal is the best presentation of the PS5 controller, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the game that best shows off the console itself. It's a visually stunning game that plays like a CGI movie. There were moments when I didn't even realize I had regained control of the character after smoothly coming out of a cutscene. The worlds are so rich in detail that they look like they belong in a pre-rendered film sequence.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is in many ways the best example of how powerful this current generation of consoles is.
Take a location like the game's opening world, a little slice of a busy city. It's not just a couple of major buildings that some NPCs are walking around in. The sky is filled with flying cars whizzing overhead and neon signs flashing far in the distance. For an even easier treat, clap the wall of a box and enjoy the explosion of particles that occurs when hundreds of wood splinters and bolts fly in all directions.
The real star of the show is the PS5's SSD, which Insomniac takes full advantage of. Ratchet and Rivet are given a tether with which they can cross portals and teleport them forward seamlessly using a technical magic trick.
This is particularly useful for the entire alternative dimension angle. There are “pocket dimensions” scattered over the levels, which take the player to a completely different level of challenge without loading time. Whenever games try to pull such tricks, there is always a secret seam that they use to hide the wait. Check out God of War, which uses a mystical zone to hide the loading between areas. When those moments happen behind the scenes at Rift Apart, they are completely invisible.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is in many ways the best example of how powerful this current generation of consoles is. It offers spectacle after spectacle and creates its own version of "film magic" for games. I just wanted to reach into a bag of popcorn for the whole adventure.
Our opinion
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is another great PS5 exclusivity that really shows what the hardware is capable of. It's a visually detailed platformer with three thrilling Iron Man films. Filming suffers a little from an overzealous DualSense integration that is literally painful, but Insomniac has created a colorful blockbuster that's crammed with good old-fashioned comic mischief.
Is there a better alternative?
If we think of this as a superhero game (which it is), it's about on par with Marvel's Spider-Man. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury offers a little more value for platformer.
How long it will take?
The story lasts about 10-12 hours and I got 100% within 15. There are good reasons to play again, however, as weapons can level up the second time around.
Should you buy it?
Yes. It's another strong exclusivity for the PS5 range, and one that really gets the most out of the system.
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