Ratchet & Clank: Qforce (PlayStation 3)

Captain Qwark and the gang are back with Ratchet and Clank Qforce known as Full Frontal Assault in America. This is a $20 downloadable game for the ps3 celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Ratchet and Clank series.

STORY This games story isn’t bad but it will not exactly leave you on the edge of your seat. Basically Captain Qwark has lost the election and is no longer galactic president, so he travels on starship phoenix with Ratchet and Clank looking for something that can excite them. A new masked villan then appears and threatens the planetary defense systems on near by planets. That’s when Qforce jumps into action and the story takes a back seat. Believe me when I say you will not guess who the masked villan is though.

GAMEPLAY The usual formula of these games return but with a twist to it this time. You have to use strategy to not only protect your base but to take down your enemies. In the campaign you have a base and you start off with just a pistol you then have to explore the planet capturing nodes to get more weapons and bolts and you can use bolts to build the defenses of the base. You have to do this while fighting off enemy attacks from the base. The enemy also have a base and you have to build up your arsenal until you believe you are strong enough to make the attack. I like the strategy in this but I did find it a little to easy at times for one when you are infiltrating the enemy base enemies never seem to make an attack on yours. I really would have have liked being in the middle of the enemy base to see then see that your base is under attack, it really would,ve made you make sure that your base defenses were top notch and able to fight off an attack without the general. I really did enjoy the campaign though you also get the choice between playing as either Ratchet, Clank or Qwark but none of them are really different.

MULTIPLAYER This is where Qforce really shines and it has had me hooked for a while probably why I didn’t get this review out as soon as I would,ve liked. You have a choice between a one on one or a two vs two match. Matches are split into three rounds, The recon stage is first and you will have you running around the planet capturing as many nodes as possible before your opponent captures them. After you capture a node you will be able to add defenses so that your oppenent will have a hard time if they try to take it from you. As in campaign the nodes you capture will give you bolts and weapons the more nodes you capture the more chance you have of launching a successful attack on the enemy. The second is squad round, here you will go back to your base and purchase reinforcements to attack the enemy base you have to decide whether you will buy as much reinforcements as you can to take out the enemy or focus on your base defense,I love the strategy in this and it really makes you think about what your oppenent will do. In the last round you will assault the enemy base, you have to break past all of the defenses and destroy the six generators in the base all while worrying about the enemies attack on your base. This round will go until all of the reinforcements are taken down from each side or someones generators are destroyed if either teams generators are destroyed then it will go back to the recon phase. I really loved this because you are wondering whether you should stay at your base and let the reinforcements carry out the attack while you act as extra defense for your base or you might go on the attack hoping that your defenses can hold out. You can also buy upgrades for yourself your reinforcements and your base defenses. Multiplayer is definently the highlight of the game specially when you are up against an oppenent that just keeps countering your strategy and just keeps making you think up new ones in order to stay in the game. I just know I will be on this for a long time to come which is great because for $20 you could get more hours out of this then you could a full fledged game.

VISUALS Insomniac are sticking with what we fans like to call the cartoony look some of you may like it some may not. I would rather the Crack In Time look back but I am ok with this and the graphics are just about as good as All For One.

ACCESSIBILITY If you are a fan of this series you will be able to pick it up right away and feel at home, if not then I would suggest buying the HD Collection before playing this. It isn’t really dissapointing though because this is a celebration for the 10th anniversary and it is for the fans.

DISLIKES Honestly I couldn’t find much about this game I didn’t enjoy, I just wish the story was a little more compelling and that the campaign required a little more strategy.

LIKES This game has amazing online multiplayer that will continuously make you think in the middle of matches and coming up with new strategys is a blast. The campaign may not focus on story but it will certainly have the old Ratchet and Clank humour to it with all of the usual voice actors present. Depending on how you take to the multiplayer you can get many hours out of this game.

FINAL THOUGHTS If you are a fan of this series you will have a blast with this game, this isn’t the best R&C game but it is not trying to be so you can just sit back relax and enjoy the game unless you are playing online frantically thinking up new strategies which is a good thing. If you are a fan this game is definently worth it if not this probably won’t get into the series.