Earlier last year Insomniac, the development house behind the Ratchet & Clank series, announced their decision to stop developing exclusively for Sony and start making games for multiple platforms, their first game in the pipeline being Fuse. Some of you who follow my reviews know how fond I am of the Ratchet & Clank franchise, and since Insomniac are working on a bigger project I was worried that the overall quality of the game would suffer. Never the less I still wanted to play Q-Force since it has been so long since a new installment in the series.
Audio and Video: As expected from any Ratchet & Clank title, the visuals are nothing short of stunning and the frame rate is very smooth, allowing the user to better enjoy the action sequences. The environments are well made with great detail, stunning textures, and fantastic lighting. The audio is in DTS 5.1, providing exceptional sound, although in some cut scenes I noticed some sharp peaks which in turn create very faint distortion. Voice acting is still as professional and well-made as the rest of the latter entries in the series.
Gameplay: Unfortunately this title is not a continuation of the adventure title formula which made this series such an amazing franchise. It is the amalgamation of some of the platform and action components of the original series with a new strategic 'tower defence'-like system. Disappointingly enough it lacks a lot of key components from the original series, and the game tends to focus a lot on trying to elongate the game play time by having you running back and forth through the maps, rather than challenging you with some puzzles or combat. The upgrade system is done in the familiar method of collecting nuts and bolts. As you progress through the game you’ll be awarded with more weapons to defend you generators, yet they use up so much funds that you’ll end up using low end turrets and mines, since they are destroyed in seconds. Each planet you try to take over you start off with no weapons, and again you need to scavenge around to find weapon pods. The gameplay tends to become more and more boring as you go along, and certain sequences demand a lot of running about which tends to became more of an inconvenience rather than a challenge.
Personal Experience: I know this game had nothing to do with the original series and was more of a spin off rather than a main entry in the series, but I can't help but feel cheated as a fan. I actually felt like Insomniac didn’t bother putting effort into the game. It actually feels like they are fed up of the franchise and have moved on. This game is best enjoyed online to blow some steam off or with your friends. Other than that the title doesn’t offer any kind of amazing entertainment value that previous installments in the series offered. I think it’s about time Sony finds a dedicated team who wish to take on development of the franchise and bring it back on its feet.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Written By Matthew C.