Just when you thought that they could only make fifteen Ratchet & Clank games, we get a sixteenth, and this one is bigger and better than ever before. Developer Insomniac Games, with the support of their publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, have gone above and beyond with this latest title, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. I was extremely excited about this release and jumped at the chance to review it. You would think that sixteen games in, things would get stale. Not only is this not the case, but on the new-gen PS5 console, it shines even brighter.

It starts from what appears to be a few years after their last heroic adventure, as they mention throughout the start that it has been a while and they might be rusty. We begin at a celebration for Ratchet and Clank for the many times they have saved the day. This also acts as the tutorial as the festivities are cut short while Clank is giving Ratchet a gift, the Dimensionator so they can look for more Lombax. Interrupted by none other than Dr. Nefarious, a fight breaks out for possession of the Dimensionator, leading to it being damaged and causing temporal wormholes to other dimensions to break out, also known as rifts.

Getting thrown through a few dimensions, the Dimensionator is destroyed separating Ratchet, Clank, and Dr. Nefarious. Clank teams up with a newly found Lombox, Rivet, and Ratchet finds and teams up with a new warbot, Kit. Nefarious on the other hand takes on his temporarily absent dimensional counterpart’s title, Emperor Nefarious. With our old and new heroes teaming up, can they make a new Dimensionator and restore the dimensions, or will Nefarious finally win and conquer them all?

It has been a while since I have played a Ratchet & Clank game, but it is so easy to pick up, just like riding a bike. It flows so easily as you are jumping around dodging enemies’ fire, simultaneously unleashing your barrage back at them. I enjoy the combat and general movement of the game, as some third-person shooters/platformers can feel very stiff and clunky. This game ticks all the right boxes that you could want in a Ratchet & Clank game, with some new touches thanks to the new-gen console.

The most prominent feature is the weapons fire as it now makes use of the adaptive triggers. Half-holding the trigger uses a weapons first firing mode, and holding it down completely uses its full firing capability. Everything else works exactly how you’d expect a Ratchet & Clank title to handle.

Visually this game is in a league of its own. As with previous titles, it is not realistic in the slightest, as it uses a very vibrant and cartoon-like structure for its characters and worlds, and yet it still manages to look semi-real. The close-ups of Ratchet and Rivet almost looked as if it was real fur. They even made use of ray tracing, which was particularly impressive on Clank and Kit with all their shiny and reflective surfaces looking amazing. If I were to score each section of the game separately, the visuals would be a ten out of ten.

As for audio, all the in-game sounds around you, from the battle music, creature noises, and random NPC characters just chatting really bring the game to life.

Now I have given the game a lot of praise, so it is only fair to point out a couple of negative ones. It once crashed my entire system when I travelled through a rift stone, so yeah. That sucked. Every other time I did this, it was amazing, completely shifting from one area to a completely different one seamlessly is absolutely beautiful.

Another time I arrived in a new dimension and everything around me was white. When I tried to restart from the last checkpoint, the screen went blank I couldn’t even back out of the game. Eventually, I was able to hard reset and resume, but it did slightly concern me as nothing like that had happened before on my PS5.

Other than that one-off, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a brilliant game. With a story that is fantastic with its usual Ratchet & Clank comedy but also touches on some pretty heavy subjects like self-worth, regret, forgiveness, and redemption, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a game not just for kids, but for anyone looking for something great to play.

Written by: Adam Brasher