Ratchet: Deadlocked (Ratchet: Gladiator)

The fourth Ratchet game is here, its Gladiator subtitle swapped out for Deadlocked. So that means no Jet or Wolf... and no Clank either. Contestants, ready?

	Version PS2	Developer Insomniac Games	Publisher Sony	Genre Shooter

By Stephen Rowley

It's that time of year again when the cold weather starts drawing in, town centres are rammed with present-buying parents and the Sony triumvirate of annual platform franchise updates rolls in. Joy. This new entrance in the Ratchet & Clank series, Ratchet: Deadlocked (aka Ratchet: Gladiator) sees our favourite Lombax kidnapped and entered into gladiatorial combat against legions of killer robots, in the Shadow Sector's most watched TV show, DreadZone.

In a similar vein to how the Jak & Daxter series has (literally) driven off the beaten track from its usual platform laden content, so too has Ratchet and Clank, though on the surface of things it is much less obvious. It's only when you've played for a while that you'll start to notice. You see, Ratchet's latest has also dumped the jumping and exploration, this year consisting of nothing more than balls-to-the-wall blasting. It appears that the sidelined sidekicks, Daxter and Clank, have eloped with the platform-based gameplay (and presumably in Jak's case, the fun too) to the PSP.

The Ratchet series has always been a solid shooter, so there is still a good foundation for what is here, but the loss of those other elements makes this 'all shooting, all the time' experience feel somewhat hollow, particularly in comparison to last year's Up Your Arsenal. The introduction of multiplayer in Ratchet 3 appears to have taken over in Deadlocked, not so much in regard to the dedicated online/local multiplayer, which is still ace and significantly expanded upon, but in the singleplayer mode.

All of the level maps are taken from the online game, as are most mission objectives (capturing nodes) and the general dumbing down of the whole affair. Ratchet is even constantly trailed by two helper bots, leaving Clank to only make appearances in cutscenes.

The filling of multiplayer maps with singleplayer content is particularly irksome, not least because it means the mostly excellent level design from Up Your Arsenal is missing, but it also renders certain skills obsolete - there is rarely a chance, never mind a need, to use either the charge or gravity boots.

Don't get us wrong though, as multiplayer maps they do the job well, with plenty of vantage and choke points, and a good mix of open and enclosed spaces. If it weren't for the well established foundations and always superb presentation, the singleplayer would feel just a bit too tacked on this time around.

The emphasis on the shooting aspect of the game has also led to a further refinement (and balancing) of each of the weapons. The total number is dialled down from the previous games to a nice round 10, but Alpha and Omega mods have been completely separated out and can be applied to weapons individually, adding a slightly more strategic slant to the online game. Some of the more esoteric weapons the series has seen are missed, such as the Rift Inducer, but there isn't call for them in Deadlocked's new structure anyway, and they would perhaps unbalance the multiplayer.

Ratchet is also no slouch when it comes to the visuals, as you would expect from a third sequel; to quote the in-game presenter, "explosions are pretty". The amount of neon pyrotechnics that get thrown around, particularly whilst commanding a vehicle, puts even the Star Wars films to shame, overblown prequels included.

When you're using more powered up weapons against 20+ enemies, slowdown does show its face, but by this stage you'll be on your second run through the game so it's not much of an issue. Voiceover work is also still well produced, but unfortunately the characters in Deadlocked are even less charismatic and defined than they were last year. Indeed the single most amusing moment involves a short post-credits cameo from two of last year's cast.

On the bright side Deadlocked is still a dependable blaster; the compulsion to level up your weapons is still there, all the way up to version 99 (which comes faster than you'd think), and a second trip through the game with this goal in mind seriously adds meat to the otherwise bony structure.

Indeed, you need to be the sort of player that strives for 100% completion, or intends to play online, to get your money's worth out of this new Ratchet, as the story mode is also over too quickly. If not, your cash would be better spent elsewhere, Ratchet fan or not.