Hands On With Ratchet And Clank: Size Matters

Now that Naughty Dog’s “Jak and Daxter” franchise spilled onto the PSP in the form of Daxter, it looks like Insomniac’s critically acclaimed adventure platforming shooter series “Ratchet and Clank” will also see a PSP iteration in Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters.

I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting the best from Size Matters after viewing the first screens, it didn’t help that I’d never heard of developer High Impact Games, and I didn’t really expect to see it at E3 having been announced barely a month before, but sometimes it’s good to be surprised.

       

Read my full impressions on Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, after the jump!

Now that Naughty Dog’s “Jak and Daxter” franchise spilled onto the PSP in the form of Daxter, it looks like Insomniac’s critically acclaimed adventure platforming shooter series “Ratchet and Clank” will also see a PSP iteration in Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters.

I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting the best from Size Matters after viewing the first screens, it didn’t help that I’d never heard of developer High Impact Games, and I didn’t really expect to see it at E3 having been announced barely a month before, but sometimes it’s good to be surprised.

       

Despite being excited about the PS3 at E3 this year my first stop at the PlayStation booth was the PSP Download Spot, I’ll have the demo’s thank you very much! There were options for demo’s of Every Extend Extra, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, Lemmings, The Getaway: Gangs of London, and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (isn’t this retail already?)

Having only recently picked and up the first three Ratchet games for PS2 (go get ’em, they’re cheap), I figured I’d see how well the PSP translation was faring. The first thing I noticed was that the game looks a lot better in motion than it does in screens, High Impact have got the animation nice and smooth. Control was pretty simple and seemed to work quite well despite the lack of a second analog stick . It helped that the frame rate was locked and silky smooth, with no noticeable dips even when there were numerous enemies on screen at once. That said the environments weren’t nearly as detailed as those in Daxter (pretty much the benchmark for PSP platformers), and they seemed to lack that extra bit of polish and charm that made Ready At Dawn’s premiere title so darn lovable.

       

Now I can’t be sure but I’m fairly certain most of the sound was only temporary, Ratchet clomped up and down with ridiculously loud booming footsteps that were pretty distracting, there was also no music to be heard and the environmental sound effects kicked in at odd places. The weapon sound effects were pretty satisfying though, guns boomed nicely, the giant wrench Ratchet uses for melee attacks clanged with a delicious metallic clink, and the little bolts you pick after killing enemies made  yummy popping noises.

       

The overall impression I got from my time with Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters was one of relief, the game does look to be on the right track to having a good chance of living up to its franchise name. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one here at QJ, so keep checking back.