PC Review Code Provided by Insomniac Games
We recently got the newest entry into the classic series Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart with its new PC port! Created by Insomniac Games and ported to PC with the assistance of Nixxes Software, people can now enjoy the newest entry to the series and we got a chance to review the PC port ourselves. Now Ratchet and Clank is a long-running and very beloved series since the original’s debut on the PS2, with a wide category of games that have been generally good and well received. When it comes to Rift Apart, its original release received groundbreaking reviews all around, and for good reason. So by now, people know it's a good game the question is, what is the port like?
TLDR; it’s good, but not as good. The main selling point of the PC port outside of access to anyone who doesn’t own a PS5, was a better frame rate and the addition of ray tracing. The short of it is that bugs make Rift Apart’s PC port fall just a bit short of the original’s high standards.
Story
The story of Rift Apart remains unchanged from its console release, and therefore an incredible job. The game tells from two perspectives, that of Ratchet and Rivet, two lombaxes from different dimensions who both believe themselves to be the last of their race. In Ratchet's dimension, after a tool called The Dimensionator tears a whole between dimensions at a parade celebrating his past heroics, he finds himself stranded in Rivet's dimension, one where his enemy Dr. Nefarious has conquered the galaxy. There the story takes turns between Ratchet and Rivet as they travel across the galaxy and dimensions before teaming up to defeat Nefarious. During all of this, we have some amazing moments of character development and storytelling told through some frankly beautiful cutscenes and setpieces.
Quite frankly the series took a rather drastic turn with its amazing focus on meaningful storytelling. Ratchet and Clank has always been great at making fun, detailed, and oddly deep characters but the story hadn’t always been a huge selling point of the series. The story in the main series games was never bad (except for Deadlocked) but we don’t talk about that one), but it wasn’t until the Future Trilogy for the PS3 did character development, backstory, and an overarching plot become central to the series. And now with Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, they have taken the bar up a notch by telling an amazing and beautifully designed story from two different perspectives, that I’m not sure Insomniac will be able to top. At least until Insomniac stops pulling the football and finally lets Ratchet meet the missing lombaxes other than one per game.
Gameplay
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart gameplay doesn't differ largely from the series as a whole but there are some glaring absences. As always the main gameplay is about carrying around a ton of crazy guns on the world hoping for adventures and blasting the bad guys away as you upgrade and level up your weapons. Where Rift Apart differs is that there is less importance placed on platforming than in previous entries and a complete lack of gadgets, puzzle solving, and minigames.
Previous entries in the series had gadgets that you could pick up along the way that you could use to solve puzzles or backtrack to previously inaccessible areas. This is largely gone from Rift Apart and its absence leaves a distinct impression as the mechanic left to break up the gameplay are these incredibly boring and repetitive inside a computer, virus-shooter sections that make no sense whatsoever. Also where previous entries generally had a fun racing minigame you could come back to and compete at harder difficulties, there are none in Rift Apart, but of course, they still have the gladiator arena section!
Nevertheless, the gameplay of Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart is still incredibly fun and addictive even if some classic elements of the series are missing.
Audio and Visual
Ratchet and Clank has never shied away from amazing sound effects and Rift Apart doesn’t disappoint. Each wacky weapon is a joy to fire with its unique and satisfying sound effects. In addition to that the music track and the voice acting are blown out of the park for this one.
Where the PC port runs into trouble however is the visuals. The game frankly looks amazing, the graphics and its quality are incredible, when they run that is. While admittedly the game has only been out for a few weeks as of this review it has experienced a variety of graphics issues from frame drops to UI bugs to crashes and more, Rift Apart definitely has some stability issues. Now for the most part Insomniac has been working to fix them and they have been getting better, but the game was clearly not ready for release, and companies should have learned that players don’t enjoy buggy messes of releases. Here’s hoping the bugs get fixed eventually, but for now they are still a part of the game.
Replayability
Ratchet and Clank has always encouraged replayability with its own version of new game plus, where you play through the game again, but now you can upgrade and level up your weapons even more and even buy new ones. Rift Apart is no different, once you beat the game you can start again with the added challenge of a multiplier for bolts earned is based on how many enemies you can beat in a row without getting hit, and you’ll need your multiplier if you want the bolts to purchase more upgrades to your weapons which are now more expensive. Playing through the game again but with full access to your insane arsenal is always a fun part of Ratchet and Clank and Rift Apart is no exception to that rule.
What It Could Have Done Better
As I mentioned before, the biggest thing that Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart could have done better was spend another month or two in QA. The gaming community is tired of companies using the first month or two after a release as free QA for their game. Digital releases have made companies sloppy, it's not like it's impossible to release a working game, it was done every time back when physical copies were the only way to play. Aside from the buggy code and graphics, the only gripe with the game is that some fun aspects that used to be in the series like puzzles, minigames, and challenging platforming are absent from Rift Apart, but that feels like a design choice the devs made to make the game more smooth and accessible, so it's forgivable to some degree.
Verdict
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart was deemed a masterpiece when it was released on PS5, and the PC port is still an amazing experience, however, the bugs and graphics issues that have plagued its release make the port a lesser choice in comparison to the original. The game is still an incredible experience that I heavily recommend, I just suggest you play the PS5 version, at least until the PC port is completely fixed 3-4 months from now, give or take.
