A terrific and entertaining romp through multiple worlds, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Play it if you like fun, family-friendly games where good guys win, unless you have something against them. Essentially a reimagining of Rachet & Clank, the latest R&C game is free for PS5 owners with the PS Plus Collection. Rift Apart has the titular pair jumping between worlds and dimensions to stop Emperor Nefarious’ plans. Ratchet’s alternate self, Rivet, joins them.
Rivet gets the lion’s share of the story, though her backstory isn’t quite emotional enough. The plot works, and our heroes go to different worlds, each with its own fauna and flora. In terms of gameplay, Rift Apart is pretty similar to previous games. Get bolts to unlock new weapons and explore the zone to find collectibles. There’s also a lot of similarity between Ratchet and Rivet. You can use gear unlocked on one character on another. A new weapon, the Topiary Sprinkler, blasts enemies with water that freezes them into ornamental plants, adds to the action. In addition to the frenetic action, there are several puzzle-solving scenes involving Clank.
Wall-running, teleporting via tethering, and dimensional rifts are also new ways to traverse. Many of the game’s action set pieces feel like rollercoasters, thanks to these new moves. Once you finish the game, you can start a new game with your existing gear and upgrades. Scarcity of ammo is my biggest challenge, but it also forced me to try new weapons. With excellent haptic feedback and audio, the DualSense controller shines. You can half-press the adaptive trigger for different fire options and the game’s pace is fantastic.
Like Returnal, Rift Apart is on PS5. Looks like a Pixar movie, almost. At first, I was overwhelmed by all the shiny things on screen. There’s little load time between cutscenes and gameplay. In Fidelity mode, I played the game at 30fps with ray tracing. Before the review embargo lifted, the Day One Patch was the only option. I did try out both 60fps modes though. The performance RT is a good compromise between performance and graphical fidelity. The game had several bugs, like enemies getting stuck in the terrain and cutscenes not triggering. A hard reboot of the PS5 was also needed for two freezes. I hope the patch fixes them.
