Ray and Jennifers Excellent E3 Adventure – Article — Part 2
Articles
Ray and Jennifer’s Excellent E3 Adventure
by Ray Ivey & Jennifer Miller
Part Two: PlayStation 2
RAY: So what did you think about the offerings on the first of the lame duck consoles, the PS2, Jen? Let’s start with Ratchet: Deadlocked from the venerable Insomniac Studios.
JEN: Okay, so my first impressions of this follow-up to the much beloved franchise of Ratchet and Clank were not good. Extraordinarily not good. In fact, they were pretty darn bad. I was shocked! Ted! Where has the humor gone? Where has my fuzzy tailed, wise cracking hero gone? Where has CLANK gone?!!
Here’s the premise: You as Ratchet have been forced into slavery to compete in a reality series called Dreadzone. In order to save yourself and your friends from certain destruction, you must compete in the game and win against an army of gladiators and robots. You won’t be able to escape due to an explosive Deadlock attached to your neck, hence the game’s title. Hmmm . . . Running Man anyone? You will have help from two companion robots. And there’s also co-op modes and multiplayer for those with PS2 online.
RAY: Co-op Mode. Great. Just exactly what the platforming genre needed. Hrrumph.
JEN: Co-op mode isn’t that bad. Brings a party element to the game. There could be worse things to happen to platformers, like timed combat arenas. Oh wait! Silly me! That’s just what I didn’t like about this game! Ratchet: Deadlocked has to be the most grim view of the Ratchet universe we have ever seen. I was faced with the task of competing in multi-player mode and forced to kill all the other little armor clad space-cats around me. In the rain, with a gray sky. No bright blue sky and puffy clouds. The graphics were impressive – if you were playing SOCOM. With little shiny robots. And a space-cat with a rocket launcher.
RAY: Ratchet & Clank is the best platforming action/adventure series EVER. What insane person sent Insomniac a memo and told them to morph their brilliant series into a cartoony Unreal Tournament 2??! If I wanted to play Unreal Tournament, I’d play Unreal Tournament.
JEN: Well, that being said, the game did grow on me. After my first attempt, I wandered E3 for a few days, then returned to my much beloved Insomniac to take another crack at it. And okay, I’ll admit it, the game did become more fun. I was happy to talk to a wonderful PR rep from Insomniac and ask things like “Why is this so serious?” and “Where is Clank?” to which he answered with the deft precision of a PR rep. “The humor is still there, especially in the cut scenes,” (for which I saw none) and “Clank is still in the game, giving you advice from the sidelines,” (making him an NPC). Had it not been for the fact that Mr. Ted “Insomniac” Price showed up at that moment to challenge me to a duel in multi-player, I might have still walked away sad and bewildered. Of course, he completely fragged my ass, but it was still cool.
RAY: I’m convinced that Ted Price’s tall, skinny C.E.O. cuteness has charmed you into being way too nice to the alarming new direction their franchise is heading in.
JEN: Okay, I plead the fifth on that. But yeah, he isn’t bad looking. Probably far from single, though. We could have cute little gaming children, running around with proto-types of the newest Ratchet weapons.
RAY: No wedding ring. I’m just sayin’.
JEN: It could happen. (Ted, call me!)
RAY: Sure. Now where were we? Oh right, moving on to Ratchet’s sidekick. No Clank, except for cutscenes? No humor, except for cutscenes . . cutscenes they wouldn’t show you? Ratchet hidden behind a fugly Darth Vader mask the whole time? Nope, I think the wheels have finally fallen off of the cart over at Insomniac. They should have stopped at three games, like they did with Spyro. It’s time they created a new franchise, so there.
JEN: Perhaps so, but Naughty Dog seemed to be doing okay with their new Jak spin-off. I don’t know. I’m mixed with this game. I love Ratchet – this series was my gateway to console gaming after a nearly 10-year absence. But is this next Ratchet really a sequel to my much beloved series, or perhaps more of spin-off fodder?
RAY: So, speaking of evolving PS2 platformers, what did you think of the third game in the Sly Cooper franchise, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves?
JEN: Oooo . . . pretty . . . I can see red and blue with my cool shades. And I look like a raccoon.
RAY: Yes, dear readers, Jen is not kidding. You play the new Sly game while wearing old-fashioned 3D glasses!
JEN: I really like Sly Cooper, almost as much as Ratchet, and Jak and Daxter. But 3D? Really guys . . . since when do platformers need 3D? It’s like saying that Will and Grace will now be broadcast in Klingon . . . yes we can do it, but do we really need it?
Of course the game looks REALLY cool with the shades. But after a while, all I got was a headache. And it would have also been nice to play the game with the 3D colors turned off, which I couldn’t.
RAY: I’m worried about the headache issue, as well. I get headaches often enough just from staring at the screen so much . . . I do hope these glasses aren’t a one-way ticket to Migraine Island. What has me just as worried, however, is the addition of multiplayer. To a Sly Cooper game. Really . . do we need multiplayer in a platform game?
JEN: However, there was a cool flying level I saw, and another level where Sly has to crawl through a series of gears. The art is still quite stylized and fluid and the colors are great.
RAY: One last concern about the 3D glasses. We didn’t find out if they were OPTIONAL or REQUIRED. Could make a big difference.
JEN: Precisely. But 3D? Am I at Busch Gardens? Or E3?
Okay, on to Kingdom Hearts 2.
