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.
