Ratchet & Clank (PlayStation 4) review "Sure, it could have used more Dr. Nefarious, but so could most other games!"

While I’ve heard that 2016’s Ratchet & Clank for the PlayStation 4 was made as a re-imagining of the original Ratchet title on Sony’s second PlayStation, I can’t compare it to the original due to not starting the series until its installments on the PS3. While I’ve also heard this game was released as a companion to a movie covering its events, I never watched that, so once again, no comment.

What I can say is that Ratchet & Clank is a really fun game. Maybe not the best experience I’ve had in this series, but I still had a great time playing through it and didn’t feel I was missing out on anything due to having no experience with either the original game or movie.

A lot of that has to do with these games’ formula. It’s a simple one that’s very effective. You primarily control Ratchet and collect a massive number of weapons to fight back against hordes of enemies scattered over a number of diverse planets, as well as tools to help navigate those places. As you take out foes with those weapons, they (and Ratchet) level up, making you a more powerful force on the battlefield. You’ll also be able to collect a special mineral used to further enhance those weapons, so it constantly feels like you’re doing something to improve yourself.

Occasionally, control will switch to the diminutive robot Clank. He’s not the fighter that Ratchet is, so when he takes center stage, you’ll often focus on solving puzzles to manipulate the environment to aid in progression. Or occasionally run from a robot powerhouse, looking for opportunities to short-circuit it with water.



Much like in previous games I’d played, I found the Clank sections to be well-done and enjoyable, but controlling Ratchet was where I had the most fun. A lot of his weapons were ones I remembered from those PS3 games and there’s simply something addictive about finding the ones you like the most and building them up to be capable of outright wrecking entire legions of enemy combatants. As you enhance them, they’ll get such buffs as increased damage or a wider range of effect, so you’ll be in this constant state of progression and constantly be improving.

From what I gather, the plot is pretty similar to the original game with Ratchet looking to join the Galactic Rangers to be a hero. While his first attempt is rebuffed by Ranger leader Captain Qwark because Ratchet isn’t exactly buff, he soon sees a spaceship crash on the surface of his planet and is able to rescue its lone inhabitant — Clank. The little robot arrives with a warning for the Rangers, as a pair of evil-doers are creating an army for sinister purposes. Seeing this as his opportunity to impress the Rangers, Ratchet offers to take Clank to their headquarters, leading to an adventure that takes place over several planets.

As per the norm for this series, visiting those planets is a lot of fun, as they deliver a wide variety of locations to explore. You’ll visit a couple large cities, travel through large facilities and spend a lot of time wandering the great outdoors — getting to visit a tropical resort, as well as many places far less tourist-friendly. While most of these places are pretty linear as far as doing what you have to do for the game’s plot, they often have side areas you can explore to obtain goodies or places you can’t access until you obtain one tool or another. One planet even offers a small open-world setting. While you won’t have to do much there in order to advance the story, you will have to explore it thoroughly in order to complete a scavenger hunt quest. And even if you don’t care to do that, well, just think of how much you’ll be able to enhance those weapons by blasting everything that moves.

And I have to admit, I put more effort into leveling up virtually all of those weapons than I recall doing in previous Ratchet games. Sure, the blaster and bombs you have nearly the entire game are nice and all, but as you progress, you get new toys that leave the basic stuff far behind. If you have a large horde of weaklings descending upon you, switch to the Pyrocitor and burn them all before they can reach you. If you have some tougher foes bombarding you with their weaponry from a distance, fling a Proton Drum towards them and watch them suffer damage while you can remain safe behind cover. Trying to handle something powerful and tired of getting distracted by annoying, smaller enemies? Summon Mr. Zurkon and your little robot buddy will zap anything that gets within range. The Plasma Striker is great for sniping foes from a distance, while ones like the Predator Launcher and Warmonger can pack serious punches, making them great during boss fights. Or you can use the Groovitron to force enemies to start dancing, making them sitting ducks for your onslaught. Or the Sheepinator to transform them into a helpless animal.



Yeah, that was fun. Really, nearly everything about this game was fun, although I did have a couple quibbles. Previous Ratchet games I’d played have had one planet based around a combat arena, where you can take part in all sorts of fights to gain tons of currency, win special prizes and, of course, build up those weapons. I loved those arenas. There is no arena here. Instead, two planets have hoverboard races. At least for me, this felt like a serious step backwards as far as diversions go. Not as much fun and they didn’t tie into the whole “character improvement” vibe like everything else does.

Also, one of the tools you get is a jetpack that, on a few planets, allows you to fly around as long as you pay attention to its fuel and refill it when needed. For the most part, it’s implemented well, but it sure made the game’s final boss more of a chore than I’d have preferred. For that fight, you will be flying in a large chamber with a small number of landing spots where you can refuel. While taking on a large adversary with many different attacks AND who occasionally smashes one of those landing spots, taking it out of commission. The fight itself was fun and fairly challenging, but dying multiple times because I got so involved in assaulting it and dodging attacks that could tear through my health that I neglected my jetpack and plummeted to my demise did detract from things. Yeah, I was able to eventually persevere — I’m just not a big fan of an element that is only used sporadically throughout a game being placed front and center for its big, climactic moment.

But when I remember Ratchet & Clank, it won’t be for its lack of an arena or a final boss fight that fell short for me. It’ll be for all the things it did right. I thought the PS3 games in the series looked really good, but this one is a few steps better. I enjoyed the diversity in its many planets and had a ton of fun building up weapons and testing them on anything that got in my way. With the exception of a couple scattered moments, I found this game to be pure fun and the sort of gaming addiction that’s a great change of pace from my usual addiction to those brutal Souls-likes that devour so much of my time. And sanity.

Community review by overdrive (June 26, 2026) Rob Hamilton is the official drunken master of review writing for Honestgamers.