OPM UK Ratchet and Clank: QForce review: reloaded shooter is wide of the Qwark

OPM UK writes: Herein lies a lesson: never change a winning formula. You wouldn’t slather bangers and mash in soy sauce. You’d never release Ronaldo on transfer deadline day then replace him with David Goodwillie. And you sure as sucrose wouldn’t rejig Christmas as Mandatory Dental Work Day. So quite why Insomniac has mangled its beloved platform series into a joyless, plate-spinning tower defence game is beyond me. I want my Lomba-ck. 5/10

[moegooner88]

Ever since A Crack in Time, and it seems the franchise is struggling with its identity, why would Insomniac feel the need to revamp the formula is beyond me, just bring the old school, and the future series Ratchet and Clank back, franchise wasn't broken until Insomniac tired to "fix" it.

[360ICE]

I don't know. I'm glad they mix it up every now and then, even though I agree all the best R&Cs are the ones that have kept to the original formula.

[MariaHelFutura]

The funny thing is... A Crack In Time was the best one.

[-Gespenst-]

I thought Tools of Destruction was the most refined one.

A Crack in Time felt different somehow, and the visuals seemed worse to me. I liked it but it felt like a slight step back or in the wrong direction or something. It definitely didn't seem as focused to me.

[SaiyanFury]

I can't proclaim to know which is the best in the series, as ultimately, it's a personal opinion at best. I liked Tools of Destruction the best, on a personal note. Now speaking to QForce (Full Frontal Assault over here across the pond) I booted up the demo, and the very first reaction I had when taking control of Ratchet, is that the game felt cheap. No 60FPS that's been a staple of Ratchet & Clank for 10 years, but 30FPS instead. That said, 30FPS isn't necessarily a bad thing; I've played lots of very playable games at that rate with no issues at all. Second, was that Ratchet's movement animations felt really stiff and artificial. Somehow in previous games the controls felt so much more organic. The controls work, don't get me wrong, they just feel off is all. Sorry to rant a little, folks. By all means try the demo and see for yourselves if you enjoy it. These issues are only a personal take. :)

[GribbleGrunger]

You know, I reckon the staff of the OPM are pretty annoyed that the mag is soon to be discontinued. Their reviews of Sony games have been extraordinarily harsh since the announcement. This game may only warrant that score but a quick trip to Metacritic makes you wonder about their overall scoring recently.

[360ICE]

Maybe they saw how scores have completed inflated, because it turns out that people like reading about how great their purchase was, and decided to cool it down a little. Or maybe it's coincidence, and the reviewers didn't like the games in question as much as others? Maybe it's not really so at all, maybe they're about average, but you've seen some very specific reviews.

Or maybe they're annoyed that their magazine is going down, so they give harsh scores to Sony games to make up for it...

One of those reasons seems less plausible.

[dazreah]

Maybe the games don't deserve a high score!?

[Ben_Grimm]

I love it Gribble.

Sony game gets a low review score...

"they must have an app on 360"
"they're bitter they are going out of business"
"they are a MS owned site"

Okay that last one I just threw in there but you do you see what me and others above are getting at? Not everything is a conspiracy against Sony.

Oh and by the way IGN gave Persona:Golden a TERRIFIC review.

[G20WLY]

Gribble - what you said, right there, is ridiculous...

But I 100% agree.

I thought the same thing just a couple of weeks back. Seriously guys, if you consider their past reviews in relation to the metacritic average, they were always aligned or above for any PS exclusive and so you had to follow their advice with caution. These past couple of months they have pulled a blatant 180 and PANNED the most key games for the PS brand this holiday season.

Who knows? Maybe the mag will close, but the site will remain and they're trying to draw attention to themselves? It's certainly a barren site, with most reviews/articles drawing 0 comments and never more than a handful. Desperate times, I guess - how sad...

[PopRocks359]

Your idea of firing back an argument is by blocking me without giving me an opportunity to retort? Cowardly method of debating, no?

[G20WLY]

^?? There is no 'debate'; my points stacked up, yours didn't. I have no interest in hearing you incessantly whine about the grief Mario gets for being over used, because I simply don't feel that strongly about it either way, I'm sorry.

I was very clear that I replied out of courtesy; I'm not looking for a pen pal.

Happy gaming - and let's try to stay on topic for the sake of N4G.

[DJ]

metacritic
dot
com/game/playstation-3/ratche t-clank-full-frontal-assault

Check out the other reviews.

[Canvas Of Flesh]

Light a torch for Insomniac. It's sad to see them turn to shit so quickly, but I'm sure that FUSE will be the final nail in the coffin.

[tigertron]

The best R&C games this gen have been TOD, QFB and ACIT.