This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Ratchet: Deadlocked is the latest installment in the famed Ratchet & Clank platformer series from developer Insomniac Games, and while it's got most of the bells and whistles that fans are accustomed to, it has also abandoned a lot of the platformer gameplay that defines the series. Preferring a sharply focused, third-person shooter to round out the PlayStation 2's last year, Insomniac has opted to strengthen the combat, foes, and weaponry to better suit the action, but while the mechanics were born for it and the weaponry just demands it, the presentation suffers because of it. The question really is: how much of the traditional Ratchet & Clank experience are you willing to give up for a funny, but slightly cut-and-pasted shooter?

Ratchet: Deadlocked utilizes a humorous storyline consistent with the series, though it is simplified: Ratchet, Clank, and his scientist buddy, Al, have been kidnapped by the “Vox Network” to appear on a holovision show called Dreadzone, which pits heroes from across the galaxy against menacing foes in gladiatorial combat. To keep Ratchet and his friends from trying anything “funny”, Gleeman Vox, the network’s president, has installed a collar on his contestants’ armor. If Ratchet should try to escape (or worse – become boring), the collar electrifies him or otherwise explodes, ending his Dreadzone career. It’s up to Ratchet’s “Team Darkstar” to raise ratings, destroy the holovision show, rescue the other captured heroes, and defeat Vox. And this time they do it without Clank.

Insomniac Games immediately makes up for that, however, by providing ten powerful weapons available through the vendors, including a vulcan cannon, scorpion flail, fusion rifle, and a mini-turret launcher. As fans would expect, the weapons gain experience from kills and level up from 1-10 rather quickly, becoming much more lethal in the process. As a bonus, Insomniac added alpha and omega gun modifications; alpha mods can increase a gun’s intensity/rounds or even add special effects, like health regeneration or more bolts rewarded upon an opponent’s death. Omega mods, which are much more useful and fun, are purchased from the vendors and attach to weapons, though you can’t have two omega mods on a single weapon at once. The omega mods are mostly elemental: you have the ice mod, which temporarily freezes enemies; the lava mod, which burns them; the electrical mod, which hops from enemy to enemy, shocking all foes on the field; and so on. The mods don’t make up for the less amount of weaponry, but they do add some variety to the killing.

As the game is presented as a show, it progresses via planetary episodes. Each episode has both required and optional challenges; the former is linear and serves as the plot for each planet while the latter acts as a bonus, providing varied as well as additional gameplay. Challenges range from surviving waves of foes in the arena or taking out a particular contestant to saving the audience from certain doom or killing opponents with only the weapons the audience chooses. A few challenges involve vehicles, of which there are four: the landstalker (which moves like a spider), hoverbike, puma (which resembles a small jeep), and hovership. In these stages players have to shoot appropriate targets, defend ally characters, and race for checkpoints. This gameplay setup enables you to speed through the stages at your leisure as well as avoid the bonus challenges you’d rather not do, like the hoverbike “races”. Completing challenges also grants you skill points, rank points, and bolts (the only useful reward). You can check your rankings, pick up some new weapons, or hop a ship to the battledome (main arena) from your base/prison whenever you like.

Because each stage of every episode is littered with enemies, Al has acquired two bot allies to perform menial tasks for Ratchet and serve as his support. The bots provide additional humor and, though worthless in the beginning, soon become powerful via modifications at Al’s section of the base, where you can adjust their color scheme or head style, or even upgrade their armor or weaponry. The bots become indispensable on the field, as they activate nodes (turn screws into the ground), provide force shields, shoot stray enemies, hack into distant computer networks, activate EMPs (a disabling device), and hold out grind cables to get Ratchet to the next area. They also follow direct commands, like “gather on me” or “revive”, and have a special command called “ravager” that has them instantly destroying all foes on-screen, which is cool as well as convenient.

Platform elements are dispersed throughout certain stages, usually consisting of timed jumps, some minimal climbing, boot-grinding on rails, or swinging via the grappling hook. Ratchet has a few gadgets at his disposal in Deadlocked, but they’re significantly less (and less often used) than in any of its predecessors. To accommodate this almost complete switch to third-person shooting, the camera has been adjusted to stay centered on Ratchet, though it still spins a full 360 degrees if you need it to. Now when Ratchet backs away from foes, he retreats several steps instead of turning around and running for the hills, enabling players to continue to shoot opponents even while they’re backing up or flipping about. Furthermore, each gun (except the scorpion flail) features a targeting mechanism that is always on-screen, aiding in shooting without a first-person view.

For some much-needed replay value, Insomniac added several modes beside the standard single-player campaign, along with adjusted difficulty levels (which you can switch any time by re-loading a save and making a difficulty selection). There’s a fun co-op mode that enables two players to go through the Dreadzone tournament together, though gamers lose their bots in the process. The game’s key feature, however, is its online play, which houses five game types: conquest, king of the hill, juggernaut (tag), capture the flag, and deathmatch. Hopping online brings you to the lobby, where you can modify a buddy list, join/manage a clan, view the rankings, find a game, create a game, or select “quick play” to instantly join any game of your chosen type. While online I didn’t encounter any lag, and there were always a variety of games for me to flip through (often you pick up a PS2 title and find only 10 people online at a time); the game is also compatible with the SOCOM/PS2 headset, which is a plus for team play.

The Ratchet & Clank series has always been pretty, and Deadlocked is no exception. The game sports great visuals with fluidly moving and detailed characters as well as detailed (though smaller) environments. Ratchet’s controls are very responsive, and his maneuvers feel very natural. He flips through the air, cycles between giant guns that all have their own special effects, and grinds railings or clambers up walls with ease. Levels feature lava areas, acid pools, bright green, glowing grapple orbs, thousands of stars in the sky during hovership stages, and ferocious explosions. Enemy design isn’t too intricate, but it does strike a nice balance between swarms of smaller enemies (aptly termed “swarmers”) and the big, stocky foes that cause Ratchet the most trouble. Cutscenes use in-game graphics like the rest of the Ratchet & Clank games, and are all quite humorous, though quick.

The game’s soundtrack is as good as ever, with non-distracting background music that supplements the intense action on-screen. Most of the audio comes from either the solid voiceacting – always a strongpoint of the series – or the sound of heavy, powerful guns blowing stuff up. I’ve got no complaints.

Despite all of Ratchet: Deadlocked’s good aspects, it’s still got some strange hindrances. The game has a cut-and-pasted feel to it due to its short bursts of cutscenes that only carry the story along at key points, ignoring the smooth transitioning that fans are accustomed to. Most of the plot progresses via audio when Clank/Al messages Ratchet to inform him that a new planet is available or to return to base for upgrading/entering the battledome, which players easily figure out for themselves. Fans may also be unhappy that the Clank character isn’t playable, although an “Alpha Clank” look-alike is available in the co-op mode.

Even with additional modes and online play, the game is still quite short, as you can fly through it in two-three days on normal mode and then be done with it; however, it does include some gameplay bonuses (additional gun mods) for completing it. The weapon/gadget selections, while adequate, house significantly less items than Deadlocked’s predecessors, which is disappointing considering its heavier combat focus. The game also has only a minor emphasis on platform elements, so if that’s your major preference in the Ratchet & Clank franchise, you might be deterred from picking Deadlocked up.

Some of the sound bites heard during the episodes, while funny at first, quickly become tiring. There's enough variety to avoid a lot of replays until a few planets through, after which time you'll hear a lot of the old "look at that lombax go!" and "oh no, his bots are down!" Riveting.

Finally, Deadlocked’s online play – while a pleasant feature – offers nothing that we haven’t seen before. By now I’ve played through thousands of deathmatch rounds and hundreds of games of tag. It’s not terribly addictive either, which adds to the feeling that the game is nothing more than an aside for the franchise – a last spin on the PlayStation 2 before the PlayStation 3 launches.

I really only consider Ratchet: Deadlocked as a bonus game in the series, but it's a great bonus game with a heavy combat emphasis and the same style of televised humor that the franchise is known for. Fans should definitely give it a try, although it does place less importance on platform gameplay and offers a more limited amount of weapons/gadgets. It’s got customizable bots, however, which sort of balances the game out, and if you tire of single-player/co-op play, you can always hop online for a few deathmatch rounds. It’s win/win.

A quick experience with a rushed feel, but great action. Love the bots and guns.

Visuals on-par with the rest of the series. Dynamic lighting, fluid motions, detailed environs

Great sound effects and the same techno/jazzy music we’re used to. Strong voiceovers.

You’ll enjoy yourself. A full co-op mode is a plus for those who never game alone.

A full online mode on top of co-op, but standard offerings means you won’t be hooked.