Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - Review

In addition to the game Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which appeared on both PS4 and PS5, the developers Insomniac Games also worked on the PS5-exclusive game Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. The game was developed exclusively for the PS5 and with all the new features in mind. In this review, I'll tell you whether this is noticeable and whether it was successful all round.

Story & Overview:

After Ratchet & Clank was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2016, we finally get a new game in the long and successful franchise. As the game's cover shows, there are two main characters that can be played. Of course the well-known Ratchet and for the first time in the series the lovely and great visualized female Lombax called Rivet.

It's time to stop Dr. Nefarious who wants to conquer dimensional worlds. Cross-dimensions is the right keyword here. Again and again you travel through portals in parallel worlds that differ not only in appearance. The story is beautifully told in high quality cutscenes that look like a Pixar movie. Over the playtime you will learn the motivations of your characters, secrets and fears. The story has always kept me playing. Mainly because all the characters in the game world are so wonderfully authentic. They are well written, the great animation makes them come alive and lovable. 

The synchronization is also great. In English but also in German. Lara Loft (GER Lara Trautmann) does a great job with her voice and Rivet, which I would like to highlight in particular.

Weapon dictionary:

The star of the game is the actual gameplay. It's so good and that over the entire 15 hours of playtime.

With your ship you travel to different planets, all of which are well designed. Known in the franchise, you get a huge amount of different weapons that can be leveled up and also have different fire modes. You will need several weapon wheels (selection menus) to choose all of them.

Leveling up comes automatically through use, so that you will always be rewarded when you shoot wirth your favorite weapon. 

But, it was always a great feeling to get a new weapon with a completely different style of play. Due to the large number of weapons, you will most likely not use all weapons extensively, so that this could come into play for a new playthrough and increase the long-term motivation enormously.

The  weapons are of course accompanied by all the PS5 exclusive DualSense features. Every weapon gets a certain impact via the addaptive triggers and the haptic feedback. Machine gun-like weapons rattle over your finger with every shot, and explosions also have an impact.

Furthermore, the sounds of the explosions and the weapons are practically implanted into your ear  via the so-called 3D audio. The incredibly fun weapons in harmony with the 3D audio and haptic feedback hold you into the game world and won't let you go. Smiles inevitable.

A particular weapon that I don't want to spoil just amazed me. A really great experience for all long-time PlayStation fans out there. I don't want to reveal more about this. Please experience it for yourself.

Dimension Madness:

Since we've already talked about the benefits of the PlayStation 5's haptic feedback and 3D audio, what about the fast SSD? Oh boy. This really changes the way we play to date.

You can enter new areas almost instantly via various portals. What Bioshock Infinite had teased back then is now reality.

With the blink of an eye, you can travel back and forth between dimensions. I actually moved through a portal for several minutes and couldn't believe what kind of magic is being used here. A real "eye opener moment" for this new generation of consoles. I really promise you , that your eyes will sparkle when you slide along a rail for the first time and the entire world changes in seconds at the touch of a button. Madness!

Again and again the game sprinkles in set pieces, which already achieve comparable traits to a Naughty Dog game. Bridges and mountains collapse while you drive on some speed tracks, get shot with laser beams and change the environment at the push of a button. Incredible.

However, especially with boss opponents, I personally would have liked more ideas and integrations with the mechanics. But this is complaining at a very high level. We are still in the first year of the PlayStation 5 and what Insomniac Games has delivered in terms of technology is something special. I can hardly wait to see what else is possible with the console generation later on.

Technical miracle:

As mentioned before, the technical execution of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is just great. Right at the beginning of the game you can choose from three different modes:

- Performance mode (60fps / No Ray Tracing)

- RT Performance Mode (60fps with Ray Tracing)

- Fidelity mode (30fps / 4K and Ray Tracing)

I finished the game in RT Performance Mode and was thoroughly impressed. The game always ran smoothly and looked very good. I tried the other modes as well but decided to go with 60fps. The game is so fast and action-packed that I liked more pictures per second. But of course you can choose yourself. Furthermore, your playthrough is not tied to a selected mode. You can change the settings at any time in the pause menu.

Exploration & Replay value:

The planets are often linear in level desing, but there are also open areas that invite you to explore. In hidden areas you will of course find various collectibles that you can exchange for new outfits or even weapons. The exploration is always fun and rewards you. The exploration reminded me of older games like Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, which I loved back then on the PlayStation 2.

Small puzzles and mini-games come at the right time and interrupt the shootouts in a good way. These are not particularly long or difficult, but just the right thing to take a deep breath.

After your first playthrough, you can keep your game status and start a new adventure. I did that straight away, increased the level of difficulty and again had a lot of fun with my already leveled weapons. I also earned the platinum trophy straight away. This is wonderfully accessible as the game progresses and I can only recommend everyone to take this trophy. 

Photo Mode:

As we are used to from Insomniac Games and the Spider-Man Games, there is also a wonderful and extensive photo mode in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart that invites you to experiment. Lighting, viewing angles, poses and much more can be adjusted here again. I have attached a few sample photos here, of course. 

Especially in the close-ups, the characters are bursting with details. Even the smallest living beings in the levels have an absurdly high level of detail. Really a stunner.

Verdict:

With Ratch & Clank: Rift Apart, Insomniac Games has not only created a technical masterpiece, but also an exclusive PS5 title for which a console purchase is more than worthwhile. For me, this game has dethroned Returnal as my game of the year pick so far. I can hardly wait to see which adventures (for sure) can still be experienced in this universe.

9.5/10

Code provided by PlayStation