Ratchet and Clank is a proper PS4 remake

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If the growing stack of remasters at this year’s E3 teaches us anything, it’s that most major video games are due for a comeback - even when they haven’t really gone anywhere. And though there are few characters as steadfast and reoccurring in PlayStation history as Ratchet and Clank, they too are getting a remake on PlayStation 4 early next year. The video above should give you a good sense of how much has changed in, oh, about 13 years.

2002’s Ratchet and Clank is being made again then – really made, not just updated – by a more experienced Insomniac, with 15 people from the first game working in a team of 60. Modern climbing and aiming mechanisms are in, newer weapons (including the sardonic bot Mr. Zurkon) are in, and completely new graphical effects are in. It looks like all of them, probably?

The new Ratchet and Clank is also being shaped by the upcoming film of the same name (also due in 2016), which retells the story of how the heroes first met and how they crossed paths with the universe’s big-chinned blooperhero, Captain Qwark.

The results far exceed the resolution bump and texture cleanup that most remasters offer, instead feeling like the revitalization and preservation of an old game. The wide-eyed utopia of “Metropolis,” which used to be an impressive sight in the original game, now sparkles with new challenges and areas, more frantic combat and a sense of skyscraping scale that you might remember from the original game. And trust me, you’re misremembering.

Ordinarily, a movie tie-in and remake combo would be a tough sell to the jaded customer, but there’s an undeniable amount of polish and fresh work, despite a nostalgic premise, coming through in the new Ratchet and Clank. That's fair to say even when "new" might not be entirely the right word, just like "remastered" is not the right word either. How about renewed?

Ludwig Kietzmann
Ludwig Kietzmann

Ludwig Kietzmann is a veteran video game journalist and former U.S. Editor-in-Chief for GamesRadar+. Before he held that position, Ludwig worked for sites like Engadget and Joystiq, helping to craft news and feature coverage. Ludwig left journalism behind in 2016 and is now an editorial director at Assembly Media, helping to oversee editorial strategy and media relations for Xbox.