Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Reviews
This Star Wars-influenced action game about two furry aliens elevates the spectacle and fun to a new dimension
The capabilities of the PlayStation 5 enhance and improve a pre-existing game series, rather than give us something altogether new. This isn’t a bold reinvention for Ratchet & Clank, but the same relentless, varied, sometimes funny, always charming, fun action game, only with some fancy new tricks and a higher price tag.
Fortunately, Rift Apart has charm to burn, in its character design, lively combat mechanics, and explorable levels that feel large without seeming maze-like, busy without being cluttered. It’ll still be some time before PS5 supply catches up with demand, but for those early adopters, this is one of the best looks yet at what the new console generation has to offer. It’s big, it’s bright, and it’s almost impossible not to love.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is an exciting action title, that simply never gets boring. You can expect colorful characters, epic battles, and fun to explore worlds. On the tech side Rift Apart shows everything that PlayStation 5 has to offer, be it great visuals, surround sound, or DualSense features. It's the perfect benchmark for Sony's new gaming system.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the best game in the series since Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time, which franchise fans will recognise as high praise. The familiar combat is elevated by outstanding DualSense implementation, while Insomniac Games' imaginative gameplay design keeps each planet interesting and engaging. It's not a particularly challenging platformer, nor is it necessarily all that original – but it doesn't need to be. This is one of those games that's just really, really good.
Through outstanding storytelling, exquisite visuals, and gripping gameplay, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart proves to be an engaging, fun, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable return to the series. It also offers the introduction to two brand new characters that could arguably be the protagonists of their own spin-off, or at least return to future entries in the series. For fans and new players alike, this is a game I would recommend for everybody and a true showing of the sort of titles we should expect for the new generation.
Technically Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a PS5 showstopper, offering stunning graphics and set pieces that make use of the PS5's SSD, while also looking like the best animated movie we have ever seen. But, although combat is fun, the narrative of Rift Apart really drags down the experience, not treating its characters with respect and not meaningfully progressing the story for long time fans and leaving newcomers confused. Rift Apart is a fun ride, but ultimately not one you will be talking about for years to come.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart has something for almost everyone. Fast and satisfying combat and gameplay, absolutely jaw-dropping good looks, a fantastic score, and narrative design, writing, and acting that could be plugged right in as the next Pixar film.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a true showpiece of new-gen technology. Whilst the internet argues over the matter of cross-generation games, Rift Apart avoids any such controversy since what it's doing simply isn't possible on the older hardware. I was tempted to go ahead and award a perfect score, but a familiar formula and some lacklustre puzzling prevented me from doing so. On the whole, though, this is gaming's summer blockbuster in the same vein that Hollywood emphasises this season for its big releases. For those with a PS5, it's an absolute must-play as a showcase of what's possible beyond just prettier graphics and faster framerates.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is one of the best entries in the series to date.
Insomniac Games have once again delivered an astonishingly well-made adventure which undoubtedly offers plenty to Ratchet & Clank veterans while acting as a perfect stand-alone entry point for newbies. It doesn't really do anything revolutionary, but what it does do, it does with fantastic production values, attention to detail and a never-ending sense of fun. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a brilliant example of a classic formula refined to a point of near perfection.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a formidable standard-bearer for the PlayStation 5 and an episode not to be missed under any circumstances.
Review in French | Read full review
I'd like to fill the box with "buy it, it's beautiful!" as Jack Torrance with "morning has gold in his mouth." There would be nothing more to add but it would not be professional. So I'm going to talk about fast-paced and fun action, tons of enemies to eliminate in the most creative ways, intriguing story, no uploads, intuitive and responsive controls, properly exploited PS5 hardware, puzzles to solve, last hitpoint battles, planets to explore, mounts to ride, secrets to discover, weapons to upgrade, armor to collect, damn I ran out of space, then buy it, it's beautiful!
Review in Italian | Read full review
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is all we wanted from this long-awaited sequel: Fast and Entertaining Action, with a lot of nostalgia. This is action-packed, slightly brain-dead, platform entertainment at its best. We look forward to hearing a new generation of gamers running around playing Ratchet and Clank in the parks.
Review in Swedish | Read full review
It's a breezy, short and fun run through a series of bonkers planets, tense boss-fights, and heartfelt cutscenes. With Sony's exclusives like the upcoming God of War sequel being delayed further beyond 2022, we only have a few games to enjoy, but we think you'll cope if you've got Rift Apart to play.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart finds its fullest expression on the mid-end to high-end PC, delivering unmatched graphics quality that PS5 just couldn't achieve. It guarantees lot of fun thanks to fast-paced action, tons of enemies to eliminate in the most creative ways, intriguing story, intuitive and responsive controls, puzzles to solve, battles to the last hitpoint, planets to explore, mounts to ride, secrets to discover and weapons to upgrade. The Steam Deck version is a little miracle, properly handling such a hardware challenging game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Thanks to its gorgeous visuals and deeper narrative, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart arises the series to a new level. With many locations to enjoy, a lot of weapons to try out and many, many collectibles to find, everyone should find a good reason to embark on this bidimensional journey, even though the obvious collision bugs are still way too present.
Review in French | Read full review
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the first game I've played since the ninth-generation consoles launched that feels like a true next-gen title. Insomniac Games has done everything that it needed to do in making both a sequel to its longest-running franchise and a true next-gen exclusive. While it might not technically be a PlayStation 5 launch title, it feels like one-a real preview of the console's capabilities. But beyond that, Rift Apart is just an absolute blast to play.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is a great addition to any PS5 games library. The worlds, the characters, the cutscenes all look great and it’s one of those games that is just fun to play. Stepping through rifts into a completely separate world works seamlessly and it’s a technical marvel in that part.
