Ratchet and Clank: Multiplayer Matters (ign.com)
- ign.com -
November 28, 2006 - Along with Jak and Daxter and Sly Cooper, the Ratchet and Clank series is one of the PlayStation 2's most beloved original franchises. With that in mind, it only makes sense that their stories would extend beyond the PS2's lifetime and onto other platforms. And while Sly Cooper's fate still remains somewhat of a mystery, the other two IPs are already moving forward. Daxter, for example, made quite a splash when it appeared on the PSP earlier this year, whereas the PS3 Ratchet and Clank is already in full production. It's the New Year, however, that holds the most immediate news -- with yet another Ratchet adventure is heading our way on the PlayStation Portable
The release in question is Size Matters, the first official development from the former Insomniacs at High Impact Games. Though smaller in format and viewing dimensions, the game itself doesn't appear to be watered down in concept at all. Then again, if you've been following our coverage you already know that fromour previews written in April, May, and September. If you haven't read them, however, but still want to know what's going on then worry not: Size Matters still has plenty of big levels, lots of weapons, and that classic Ratchet and Clank sense of humor.
November 28, 2006 - Along with Jak and Daxter and Sly Cooper, the Ratchet and Clank series is one of the PlayStation 2's most beloved original franchises. With that in mind, it only makes sense that their stories would extend beyond the PS2's lifetime and onto other platforms. And while Sly Cooper's fate still remains somewhat of a mystery, the other two IPs are already moving forward. Daxter, for example, made quite a splash when it appeared on the PSP earlier this year, whereas the PS3 Ratchet and Clank is already in full production. It's the New Year, however, that holds the most immediate news -- with yet another Ratchet adventure is heading our way on the PlayStation Portable
The release in question is Size Matters, the first official development from the former Insomniacs at High Impact Games. Though smaller in format and viewing dimensions, the game itself doesn't appear to be watered down in concept at all. Then again, if you've been following our coverage you already know that fromour previews written in April, May, and September. If you haven't read them, however, but still want to know what's going on then worry not: Size Matters still has plenty of big levels, lots of weapons, and that classic Ratchet and Clank sense of humor.
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But the game has something else as well. I speak, of course, of its multiplayer capabilities. Designed with both ad hoc and infrastructure in mind, these four-player modes have already been in the testing phase via public beta for weeks. We joined in on these festivities ourselves by trying out all the same features available to participants and walked away with pretty positive impressions.
To start, the first thing we noticed is that users can hop into chat rooms and pass the time away with other Ratchet fans within seconds of connecting via infrastructure. Alternatively, they can also do every other thing typically associated with online play like join games, host games, set up buddies, lock games with passwords, mess with their configurations... the whole shebang. Regardless of their choice, though, they'll ultimately end up in one of three different four-player mode types: Iron Lombax, Death Match, and Capture the Flag.
The Death Match and Capture the Flag modes are pretty self-explanatory, so I won't get into that, but the Iron Lombax option definitely needs some clarification. Luckily it's rather easy to explain since it's essentially a version of "Invade the Base." In an interesting twist, though, Iron Lombax actually changes in how it's played based on the selected stage. This means that if players are on the Island Escape map, for example, they'll have to collect Power Cells and deliver them to their team's generators before their opponents can. In Danger Valley, users have to collect Homing Beacons and run them into their foe's force fields. Both ways to play are pretty cool and come complete with turrets, special gimmicks (hold a power cell too long and you may transform into a giant radioactive thing) and plenty more. In other words, it's fun stuff.
To start, the first thing we noticed is that users can hop into chat rooms and pass the time away with other Ratchet fans within seconds of connecting via infrastructure. Alternatively, they can also do every other thing typically associated with online play like join games, host games, set up buddies, lock games with passwords, mess with their configurations... the whole shebang. Regardless of their choice, though, they'll ultimately end up in one of three different four-player mode types: Iron Lombax, Death Match, and Capture the Flag.
The Death Match and Capture the Flag modes are pretty self-explanatory, so I won't get into that, but the Iron Lombax option definitely needs some clarification. Luckily it's rather easy to explain since it's essentially a version of "Invade the Base." In an interesting twist, though, Iron Lombax actually changes in how it's played based on the selected stage. This means that if players are on the Island Escape map, for example, they'll have to collect Power Cells and deliver them to their team's generators before their opponents can. In Danger Valley, users have to collect Homing Beacons and run them into their foe's force fields. Both ways to play are pretty cool and come complete with turrets, special gimmicks (hold a power cell too long and you may transform into a giant radioactive thing) and plenty more. In other words, it's fun stuff.
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Multiplayer is made all the more entertaining by the inclusion of various weapons. Though it only has a small percentage of the guns available in the final version, the Beta does have five different blasters to choose from -- the Concussion Gun (think shotgun), the Shock Rocket (similar to the Arbiter but with an electric twist), the Acid Bomb (uh, it shoots bombs with acid in them), the Scorcher (a flamethrower), the Lacerator (your standard speed-firing rifle), and the very cool Bee Mine (kill your enemies with swarms of bumblebees).
In addition to the multiplayer goodies, High Impact has also made a number of small but beneficial fixes to Size Matters over the last few months. The most important of which comes with the inclusion of easier strafing (it has been moved to the directional pad by default) and an improved framerate.
That about concluded our look at the Size Matters public beta, but it didn't stop Sony from showing us a few extra things from the single-player portion that it hadn't revealed before. Our favorite is definitely the collection of new "Giant Clank" levels that play out similarly to StarFox complete with projectiles, space battles, and giant robot-killing bosses. We also took a sneak peek at a playable dream sequence stage that constantly changes in design and direction because "the dream world doesn't support conventional rules." SCEA even busted out a brand new weapon that allows you summon plants that do your bidding similar to that of the Agents of Doom... but sadly, we didn't get it to try it ourselves.
Hopefully our "hands-off the new stuff" status will change soon, though, since Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters is only a few months away from release. Expect more as we learn it.
In addition to the multiplayer goodies, High Impact has also made a number of small but beneficial fixes to Size Matters over the last few months. The most important of which comes with the inclusion of easier strafing (it has been moved to the directional pad by default) and an improved framerate.
That about concluded our look at the Size Matters public beta, but it didn't stop Sony from showing us a few extra things from the single-player portion that it hadn't revealed before. Our favorite is definitely the collection of new "Giant Clank" levels that play out similarly to StarFox complete with projectiles, space battles, and giant robot-killing bosses. We also took a sneak peek at a playable dream sequence stage that constantly changes in design and direction because "the dream world doesn't support conventional rules." SCEA even busted out a brand new weapon that allows you summon plants that do your bidding similar to that of the Agents of Doom... but sadly, we didn't get it to try it ourselves.
Hopefully our "hands-off the new stuff" status will change soon, though, since Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters is only a few months away from release. Expect more as we learn it.
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