The Gaming Experiment

I was quite busy week for the first week of this experiment. First I finished Uncharted, which I really loved. But I also was able to finish Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction.

Let me start off by saying that is this my first Ratchet and Clank game that I have finished. I have messed around with the series before, but never delved too deep. I can say that if this iteration of Ratchet is any indication of how the rest of the series has been, then I have missed out tremendously.

What a fantastic game! The characters are funny, witty, and well animated. The dialog is well-written and the voice acting is some of the best I have ever seen.

In this outing, you play Ratchet, the last Lombax in the universe trying to find out why he is the last and where are his roots. You have your robotic sidekick clank that not only offers witty retorts but also adds some functionality to Ratchet.

The universe is under attack and Ratchet is torn between discovering more about who he is and saving the universe. Luckily, he is a good enough protagonist that he can handle both causes. From what I’ve read, this chapter in the franchise is more gun heavy than the previous games, but from my point of view, the weapons were some of the best parts of this game. There were your standard weapons, like the Combuster, a gun that shoots balls of fire, and there was the Groovatron, which was a gun that shoots out a disco ball, and all enemies in an area of effect begin to dance and are completely vulnerable to attack. I found the Predator Launcher, a rocket launcher that can target multiple enemies, to be the most affective, and in many cases, the most fun to use.

The platforming and puzzle portions of the game were fun and felt very solid. The enemy design was great too. Plus who doesn’t like fighting robots that are controlled by fish.

Even though I hadn’t played the previous R&C games, I was still enjoying and able to follow the story. This is definitely a game that I can recommend. And right after I finished R&C, I downloaded the downloadable game Ratch and Clank: Quest for booty, and I am really enjoying it too, more platforming and fewer weapons so far. But I am only a couple hours in.

So I decided to play a couple games this week. Two of the games that I played this weekend were Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Both of these games were released at around the 1 year anniversary of the PS3 launch. They were both day one purchases for me too.

Let me start with Uncharted. This is an action adventure game developed by Naughty Dog, the developers of the Crash Bandicoot series that became a mascot and staple of the Playstation Brand.

I would have to say, overall, this is a fantastic game. It was one that kept me wanting to progress and had intriguing puzzles and action. This is an unbelievably beautiful game too. The water effects look great and the cut scenes are not only beautiful but entertaining as well.

The Story (no spoilers):

You play a treasure hunter named Nathan Drake, descendant Sir Francis Drake, looking for the lost city of El Dorado. You are able to find Sir Francis Drake’s old journal and a map to the possible whereabouts of the lost city. The environments are amazing and life-like. From the jungle the old cobblestone buildings, the environment is gorgeous and really has a sense of worn down and being actually inhabited. You have a friend named Sully, a good friend that might not always make the best bets, and when the debts need to be collected, Nathan is caught in the middle.

Sully and Nathan are tracked down to a possible location of the lost city, but then are intercepted by rich and affluent treasure hunter, who has no qualms with getting rid of anyone in his path to achieve his goal. Nathan is able to escape the immediate situation, but now he is being hunted on this island.

There is also a journalist that accompanies you through several portions of the game; however this is not an incapable NPC. No babysitting required. The relationship that is formed really roped me into the story and drove me to care even more for our protagonist. I wanted to see Nathan succeed, not only because I wanted to beat the game, but because I actually cared about the adventure he was embarking on. There was a good balance of determination to survive the situation that he was put into and also a perseverance to find the treasure and understand what his relative (Sir Francis Drake) was dealing with.

Overall, I really loved this game, there were certainly some frustrating moments, like when an enemy can take 5 shots to the face, and still fight back. But that is more of a game mechanic than poor design. The environmental puzzles were great and overall a fantastic experience.

The sequel ‘Uncharted: Among Thieves’ will be coming out fall ’09. It will be a day one purchase.