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[neogaf_cage_free]

Let's say that 1-3% of R&C3:UYA purchasers ended up playing the multiplayer game. Let's further say that some called its multiplayer the best online game on the PS2. Let's say that Deadlocked (and Size Matters though not done by Insomniac) followed a similar pattern.

If that were true would you continue to include multiplayer in the game? And if you reviewed it would you think it's fair to take points off for missing a huge and expensive feature (basically a 2nd game) that 1-3% of its potential audience will even notice? If you were making the game might you instead devote your resources toward things that more of your players will appreciate?

 

[G-Bus]

The single player experience for me in R&C games greatly out weighs those of the MP aspects they had in previous R&C titles. To focus solely on the SP this time around was the best thing. Especially for fans of the series. And for this, i thank you.

Epic Story and Adventure > Multi-player

 

[kaching]

Let's say that 1-3% of R&C3:UYA purchasers ended up playing the multiplayer game. Let's further say that some called its multiplayer the best online game on the PS2. Let's say that Deadlocked (and Size Matters though not done by Insomniac) followed a similar pattern.

If that were true would you continue to include multiplayer in the game? And if you reviewed it would you think it's fair to take points off for missing a huge and expensive feature (basically a 2nd game) that 1-3% of its potential audience will even notice? If you were making the game might you instead devote your resources toward things that more of your players will appreciate?

It's a shame players didn't give it more attention, esp. in UYA, because you guys did a fantastic job with it.

 

[Kittonwy]

Let's say that 1-3% of R&C3:UYA purchasers ended up playing the multiplayer game. Let's further say that some called its multiplayer the best online game on the PS2. Let's say that Deadlocked (and Size Matters though not done by Insomniac) followed a similar pattern.

If that were true would you continue to include multiplayer in the game? And if you reviewed it would you think it's fair to take points off for missing a huge and expensive feature (basically a 2nd game) that 1-3% of its potential audience will even notice? If you were making the game might you instead devote your resources toward things that more of your players will appreciate?

I remember beta-testing UYA's multiplayer and it was fun but quite frankly I really don't miss not having multiplayer in R&CFTOD, Resistance multiplayer online is where it's at anyway rawr.

 

[Agent X]

Like other users here, I also enjoyed online multiplayer in the Ratchet & Clank games that offered that feature. At the same time, I understand the team's desire to focus their efforts on a strong single-player game for this entry in the series.

I don't agree with the notion that reviewers should subtract points here, simply because it doesn't have online multiplayer. I've seen instances of games where online multiplayer was promised, only to have the feature ripped out late in development for some reason. In those cases, I can understand penalizing the game in the review. However, this isn't one of those cases. We were never promised that this game would have multiplayer, therefore this is not a missing feature. Just because a few of the previous games in the series had multiplayer doesn't mean they all have to.

 

[BadlyCookedTurkey]

I'm sure it would have been good, but hey, maybe next time.

 

[Snah]

So less than 24 hours until the reviews start pouring in?

 

[AgentOtaku]

So less than 24 hours until the reviews start pouring in?

yeah gametrailers advertised their review for later today I believe....maybe tommorow, but real soon

 

[freethought]

Surely Resistance came up in the R&C MP discussion as well. With such a strong community (a lot of whom are undoubtedly Insomniac/R&C fans) surely R&C MP would have either a)cannibalised the R:FoM player base or b)been completely ignored because of R:FoM. Seems like an awful risk to take to divert resources from the SP.

I've already read some concern over no MP in Uncharted too, what's the justification there? That it has guns? Screw anyone who thinks either game needs MP.

 

[Crisis]

ToD doesn't need multiplayer. I had both Deadlocked and UYA. Both had fun multiplayer but it really wasn't necessary and I didn't play it online as much as I played it in single player.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

If anything, I hope a Ratchet and Clank game has a killer Co-Op element in the future (same goes for Resistance). Competitive and adversarial MP games are just not as fun and exciting to me as playing alongside a buddy.

 

[Stealth]

The node capture multiplayer was excellent in UYA, but considering that Resistance outdid even that excellent bit of MP with its Breach and human vs. chimera elements, well, I think I can forgive them for putting all of their development focus into single player. Especially when this fall is dominated by Warhawk, Halo 3, CoD4, Enemy Territory, TF2, and UT3 online play.

 

[tanod]

Halo 1 didn't have online, but it did have multiplayer. And an extensive multiplayer mode at that. I also found the single player to be longer. Halo 3 took me around 5 hours to beat on Heroic.

What's your GamerTag so I can go look that up on Bungie.net? It took me 7+ hours to beat it on Normal w/ 2 player Coop. I call BS.

 

[Wollan]

6 hours 8 min first time through Halo 3 on normal (alone). I have user videos of the first level and last level, the first playthroughs of those on fileshare. Didn't rush things (but didn't hunt for skulls either in the first play through).

 

[Snah]

What's your GamerTag so I can go look that up on Bungie.net? It took me 7+ hours to beat it on Normal w/ 2 player Coop. I call BS.

It was an estimate, but probably around 5.5 hours, maybe at most 6.5-7 hours. I also had a few co-op sessions where people dropped out and the game ended.

It was a really short game, and felt shorter than Heavenly Sword to me.

 

[drohne]

i don't know what this has to do with anything, but my first run through halo 3 took around 8 hours on heroic, and i died a lot. if you're good or you're playing on normal, 5 hours seems entirely realistic

 

[Systems_id]

I hope EB actually has this in tomorrow.

 

[Snah]

i don't know what this has to do with anything, but my first run through halo 3 took around 8 hours on heroic, and i died a lot. if you're good or you're playing on normal, 5 hours seems entirely realistic

I'm a halo veteran.

I died a lot on the second to last stage, Cortana I believe.

The rest of it, had almost no issues whatsoever, though.

I think in terms of single player campaigns for popular first person shooters, it most certainly was quite short. Resistance had a single player campaign that was probably nearly double that of Halo.

 

[Dark Octave]

Let's say that 1-3% of R&C3:UYA purchasers ended up playing the multiplayer game. Let's further say that some called its multiplayer the best online game on the PS2. Let's say that Deadlocked (and Size Matters though not done by Insomniac) followed a similar pattern.

If that were true would you continue to include multiplayer in the game? And if you reviewed it would you think it's fair to take points off for missing a huge and expensive feature (basically a 2nd game) that 1-3% of its potential audience will even notice? If you were making the game might you instead devote your resources toward things that more of your players will appreciate?

I totally forgot R&C had online. I'll be sure to try it out.

 

[tanod]

I totally forgot R&C had online. I'll be sure to try it out.

Does it work on PS3? I wonder if the servers are even still up?

We could have an UYA get-together tonight if it does.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

i don't know what this has to do with anything, but my first run through halo 3 took around 8 hours on heroic, and i died a lot. if you're good or you're playing on normal, 5 hours seems entirely realistic

Anyone can figure it out exactly on Bungie.net. My Normal run was 8:15:38, IIRC.

 

[Snah]

Anyone can figure it out exactly on Bungie.net. My Normal run was 8:15:38, IIRC.

how do you find it? do you have to log in?

 

[Firewire]

Why the Halo talk in a R&C thread? :lol

 

[Wollan]

Yeah, back on track.

Do anyone know if the US version of the game offers Norwegian language?

 

[Imperial Hot]

Why the Halo talk in a R&C thread? :lol

They were discussing whether the game was worth buying becaue it only has a singleplayer campaign and no multiplayer. People were saying that a lot of games have really awesome campaigns and could stand on their own. Then someone came out of the wood work and said that Halo had a short singleplayer and it would not be worht the $60, trying to draw a comparison to Ratchet. Then argument ensued about Halo's longevity.

My $0.02 is that A)This discussion is not relevant in this thread B) A game can not be judged on value, it must be judged on quality. Halo 3's campaign is short, but I enjoy it so much that I have played through it several times on varying difficulties and with different skulls. I'd rather have an awesome campaign that was 5-8 hours long than a decent campaign that ran for 12-15 hours.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

how do you find it? do you have to log in?

Yeah. A long as you were online, it should be under your played games. Just add up the chapter times.

(Sorry. For the record, R&C looks awesome!)

 

[DenogginizerOS]

What is absolutely refreshing about R&C:FTOD is the fact I have a game I can play with my daughter watching that both she and I will will enjoy for different reasons. She loves watching me play the demo and she giggles every time Captain Quark screams right before the laser blast zips over his head. Thank you Insomniac for giving me something that isn't too kiddie but also isn't too mature.

 

[Firewire]

They were discussing whether the game was worth buying becaue it only has a singleplayer campaign and no multiplayer. People were saying that a lot of games have really awesome campaigns and could stand on their own. Then someone came out of the wood work and said that Halo had a short singleplayer and it would not be worht the $60, trying to draw a comparison to Ratchet. Then argument ensued about Halo's longevity.

My $0.02 is that A)This discussion is not relevant in this thread B) A game can not be judged on value, it must be judged on quality. Halo 3's campaign is short, but I enjoy it so much that I have played through it several times on varying difficulties and with different skulls. I'd rather have an awesome campaign that was 5-8 hours long than a decent campaign that ran for 12-15 hours.

Thanks. I was wondering what happened.

 

[M3Freak]

Does it work on PS3? I wonder if the servers are even still up?

We could have an UYA get-together tonight if it does.

I never got to play UYA online because I bought it really late, and only started playing it a few weeks (still not finished). If the online portion is still up, I'd love to check it out with someone.

 

[AgentOtaku]

What is absolutely refreshing about R&C:FTOD is the fact I have a game I can play with my daughter watching that both she and I will will enjoy for different reasons. She loves watching me play the demo and she giggles every time Captain Quark screams right before the laser blast zips over his head. Thank you Insomniac for giving me something that isn't too kiddie but also isn't too mature.

yeah my 4 year old son loves watching the demo as well...he's familiar with the characters cause he's seen me play through Ratchet1 and 2

can't wait for tommorow!

 

[VonGak!]

I wonder if those game reporters who have/are going to slam R&CF-ToD for lack of multi-player actually bothered to play the previous installments on-line.

^.^ Just got a feeling telling me that they didn't.

Personally I'm against multi-player spreading to too many games. It removes focus and resources from the single player development just to receive higher scores with the gaming press though the wast majority of console gamers still do not use the on-line portion, many/most actually stay away from multi-player on purpose.

Not forgetting that the multi-player porting often fail to capture the essence of the single-player and just end up like yet another UT/Quake clone.

In my perfect world SP and MP games would be kept apart like the way Kojima is doing it with MGS4.

Then we'll also avoid the dilemma with game reporters overlooking sub-par SP and throws 10's/A+/100% at games just because the MP is done well.
After all game reporters are here to guide people in their purchases and fact is that the majority who get thse games with the high scores only play the SP portions.

 

[AdmiralViscen]

I've never seen so much pre-emptive spin in my life. I really doubt that more than 2 or 3 reviewers (of dozens) will have the opinion that lack of multi is worth docking points for.

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

What is absolutely refreshing about R&C:FTOD is the fact I have a game I can play with my daughter watching that both she and I will will enjoy for different reasons. She loves watching me play the demo and she giggles every time Captain Quark screams right before the laser blast zips over his head. Thank you Insomniac for giving me something that isn't too kiddie but also isn't too mature.

Yeah, It really has that Pixar appeal of being entertaining for all ages. My kid hasn't exactly taken to Ratchet, but she does have a thing for the big minky (Quark) and da'bot (Clank), and I'm sure Ratchet will eventually become, er, accepted. It doesn't hurt that there are plenty of munstaahs.

And for Sales-Age and general Insomniac appreciation reasons, I'm hoping this is something that Sony can actually communicate to buyers, especially now that the platform needed to play the game is somewhat more reasonably priced. Use that genuine "something for everyone" appeal to its fullest.

 

[kaching]

I wonder if those game reporters who have/are going to slam R&CF-ToD for lack of multi-player actually bothered to play the previous installments on-line.

Eh, no reason to go overboard here. No idea how much they're going to dock the game for it and so far all the impressions coming in from reviewers playing through the review code are overwhelmingly positive. Like I said earlier, if some reviewers dock the game for lacking MP as much as they bumped the previous games up for having it, then this is much ado about nothing

 

[Jim]

Amazing game! I'm about 9 hours in and I don't feel the end coming on yet... I'm spending a moderate amount of time exploring the planets and have backtracked a tiny bit. This is the type of game that the next-gen is sorely missing.

If you spend just a few minutes going out of your way in each area, weapons get REALLY powerful. The game's a little on the easy side to be honest, but pretty lengthy so far and totally enjoyable to play. It's a comfortable mix of platforming and shooting (feels close to 50/50).

Best R&C weapons yet. The Shock Ravager (electric whip) is awesome. Great Sixaxis implementation for the instances where it's used.

I'd say 95% of the game is 60fps. The first level shows the most drops, strangely enough.

I understand the lack of multiplayer, but I really would have liked some type of online-aware features, like maybe leaderboards for challenges, bolts collected, skill points, completion time, etc. That would have been a fun addition. XBL games have me pretty spoiled with that type of functionality.

 

[Firewire]

Amazing game! I'm about 9 hours in and I don't feel the end coming on yet... I'm spending a moderate amount of time exploring the planets and have backtracked a tiny bit. This is the type of game that the next-gen is sorely missing.

If you spend just a few minutes going out of your way in each area, weapons get REALLY powerful. The game's a little on the easy side to be honest, but pretty lengthy so far and totally enjoyable to play. It's a comfortable mix of platforming and shooting (feels close to 50/50).

Best R&C weapons yet. The Shock Ravager (electric whip) is awesome. Great Sixaxis implementation for the instances where it's used.

I'd say 95% of the game is 60fps. The first level shows the most drops, strangely enough.

I understand the lack of multiplayer, but I really would have liked some type of online-aware features, like maybe leaderboards for challenges, bolts collected, skill points, completion time, etc. That would have been a fun addition. XBL games have me pretty spoiled with that type of functionality.

I think when we were playing Resistance last night someone mentioned they saw you on the xmb playing Ratchet. There was a collective groan of jealousy! :lol

 

[Snah]

Amazing game! I'm about 9 hours in and I don't feel the end coming on yet... I'm spending a moderate amount of time exploring the planets and have backtracked a tiny bit. This is the type of game that the next-gen is sorely missing.

If you spend just a few minutes going out of your way in each area, weapons get REALLY powerful. The game's a little on the easy side to be honest, but pretty lengthy so far and totally enjoyable to play. It's a comfortable mix of platforming and shooting (feels close to 50/50).

Best R&C weapons yet. The Shock Ravager (electric whip) is awesome. Great Sixaxis implementation for the instances where it's used.

I'd say 95% of the game is 60fps. The first level shows the most drops, strangely enough.

I understand the lack of multiplayer, but I really would have liked some type of online-aware features, like maybe leaderboards for challenges, bolts collected, skill points, completion time, etc. That would have been a fun addition. XBL games have me pretty spoiled with that type of functionality.

How do the other levels compare to the demo? The demo seemed a bit too small and confined. Does it get a lot better with subsequent levels?

 

[Madman]

I've never seen so much pre-emptive spin in my life. I really doubt that more than 2 or 3 reviewers (of dozens) will have the opinion that lack of multi is worth docking points for.

I'm with the majority here. Online is not a requirement. I'm sick and fucking tired of games having a shitty single player campaign (I would name names, but I don't want to derail the thread) and just using the multiplayer excuse to make up for it.

Those 2 or 3 or however many reviewers can kiss my ass if they dock this game for a lack of multi. Was the game great? Yes? Then who gives a shit about multiplayer? This is one of the worst things to come out of this gen. I have no problem with people wanting it, but it should not be docked points for not having it. Games should be judged on what they have, not theoretical stuff.

All that said, Ratchet looks amazing and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[Raist]

Yeah, back on track.

Do anyone know if the US version of the game offers Norwegian language?

I second this. What languages are available in the US version ? :x

 

[dammitmattt]

Ratchet doesn't need multiplayer. It's a better decision to focus on single-player and let Resistance be the multiplayer game.

Someone keep us updated when this comes into stock at EBs around the country!!!

 

[SaitoH]

How do the other levels compare to the demo? The demo seemed a bit too small and confined. Does it get a lot better with subsequent levels?

It's where the game starts and you can't go back there, hence the linear level.

 

[artful_dodger]

AV, I think you're right in the points that you're trying to express, and I certainly agree that if the majority of the gaming press and public feels that the game should have had an online component (meaning they would have played it often) they should say it. Likewise, if they think solely focusing on the SP campaign for the sake of breadth and polish is a good trade off for having an online MP component, they should express that as well.

Just to play devil's advocate, look at Lost Planet. Do you think having MP helped or hurt the core game, keeping in mind that 99% of games out there, with very few exceptions, must abide by the holy triumvirate of time, cost, and resources? As previously stated, a multiplayer component is no easy task to add, allocating designers, lobby coders, net coders, testers, etc. If that MP team could have been allocated to polishing the SP campaign, fixing bugs, adding features, etc -- would that game have reviewed more favorably?

Hypothetically speaking, should Lost Planet 2 get docked points if and when it comes out if it is an unbelievably good (9-10) SP campaign but lacks multi? Would it recieve better critical reception?

 

[Jim]

It's where the game starts and you can't go back there, hence the linear level.

Correct. There are no other levels like that so far. They are all more or less open to be explored and revisited as in previous games in the series.

 

[Snah]

Correct. There are no other levels like that so far. They are all more or less open to be explored and revisited as in previous games in the series.

Good news. I've never played a Ratchet title so I wouldn't know.

Can't wait for this game to get released. How are the boss battles so far, fun?

 

[tanod]

I've never seen so much pre-emptive spin in my life. I really doubt that more than 2 or 3 reviewers (of dozens) will have the opinion that lack of multi is worth docking points for.

Personally, I was speaking generally about reviews. Not every game needs a MP component and they shouldn't be docked for it in reviews whether the reviewer thinks it "could" have been good.

EDIT: LP would have definitely been a better game experience (with the same budget) if they had dropped MP altogether, and tightened up the damn controls. So many other third person action/shooter games know how to do controls. I guess that was Capcom though and they love their clumsy mechanics and control schemes.

 

[Thrakier]

Found th e Bugfix for all of you with Image-Problems. DEactivate 1080i in the PS3-Menu!

 

[MiamiWesker]

Lets get to the topic that really matters guys, finding this game early, start searching everyone.

 

[brandonh83]

I think I'll be hitting up Best Buy tomorrow.

 

[Darji]

First german magazine review from Playzone (Playstation only)

It got 87% (game of the month)

+great visuals
+almost perfect control
- bad respawnpoints

control: 85%
graphic: 89%
sound: 84%

And again they criticize that there is no MP modus andsomething about the ending that i dont want to say^^

Damn i cant understand this MP shit. also "almost perfect control" and it only got a 85 for the controls?^^

 

[steve]

Do you actually have the mag or is this second hand info?