Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, titled as Ratchet & Clank 5: Gekitotsu! Dodeka Ginga no MiriMiri Gundan in Japan,is a platformer/shooter video game and the fifth game in the Ratchet & Clank series. at was originally designed for the PlayStation Portable, but was later released on the PlayStation 2 as well. It is the first Ratchet & Clank game on the PlayStation Portable. Size Matters was developed by High Impact Games, a company spawning from the original Ratchet & Clank developer, Insomniac Games. It is the first Ratchet & Clank game to get an E10+ rating by the ESRB and +7 by PEGI. The original PlayStation Portable version was released on February 14, 2007 in North America, and the PlayStation 2 port was released on March 11, 2008. It was also released for download to the PlayStation Portable through the PlayStation Store in April 2009.
Gameplay[]
As with Ratchet & Clank and Going Commando, space combat is present. However, this time, the player controls Giant Clank, rather than a ship. Also, there are arena battles, but this time, the player plays as Clank in a variety of vehicles. Clank returns as a playable character, and is again able to control a set of Gadgebots, smaller robots which can perform certain tasks for him, although this only occurs in one section of the game. But the player may still play with Gadgebots in Clank Challenges.
Similar to previous games in the series, this game contains a variety of weapons which can be upgraded. For example, the Lacerator is upgraded to the Dual Lacerators. Mods can be purchased for most weapons from Slim Cognito vendors. Some weapons and gadgets from previous games appear, such as the Hypershot, Bolt Grabber and R.Y.N.O. Nanotech (health) can also be upgraded. The main way to beat enemies is fire power, so bolts (which are used as currency) are an important criteria of the game. Although there is no way to access weapons, etc. from previous games, additional skins can be unlocked on Secret Agent Clank if the player has a Size Matters save.
There is also a new system for acquiring armor. Instead of buying armor from special vendors, as with games such as Going Commando, parts of armor are found in levels, and can be combined to make different suits, each with their own unique advantage, as well as additional protection.
When the player completes the game they can choose to enter "Challenge Mode". This is a harder version of the game, with tougher enemies. To counter this, all weapons, armor and bolts acquired so far are carried through. New sets of armor are available in Challenge Mode and there is a bolt multiplier feature included. Weapons can also be upgraded further by purchasing "Titan" versions.
There are a total of twenty-five Skill Points in the game, which are gained by performing certain tasks, the only clue to which is the name of the particular Skill Point. These will unlock cheats in the game. There are twenty Titanium Bolts to be found which can be used to buy skins for Ratchet.
Story and plot[]
After the events of Deadlocked, Ratchet decided to have a break and went on vacation to the tropical planet of Pokitaru. However, while they were relaxing, the duo met a little girl named Luna, who was writing a school report on heroes. Ratchet agreed to do some stuff for her, but shortly after, Luna was kidnapped by robots. After chasing and fighting robots, Clank then stumbled upon a mysterious Technomite Artifact from an ancient race. Ratchet denied a that the artifact was made from Technomites, but ignored it and continued. Ratchet and Clank then set out to save Luna. In the process, they discovered a forgotten race of smart, but diminutive, inventors known as the Technomites. They traced the artifact that Luna dropped when she was captured all the way to Ryllus. After some advice Qwark (who had followed them to Ryllus, wanting to find his lost family), they attacked their way through the enemies and reached the mysterious building. They found a Technomite map room there and find the coordinates to Kalidon. Meanwhile, Qwark had looked up his family tree on a suspicious website and decided to find his family. Ratchet on Metalis in Size Matters. Ratchet met a Skyboarder on Kalidon, who gave him a Shrink Ray for beating him at a race. They entered the building on Kalidon and defeated Mungo. The duo caught up with Luna, however to find out she had turned on them. Ratchet was knocked out by the robots, and sent to a space station, for testing, while Clank was sent to fight against other robots alone, on an arid planet, namely Metalis. Clank escaped and made his way to find Ratchet.
On the space station, Ratchet had a strange dream, after lying in a deep sleep. In the dream, he encountered past characters and events, including Giant Clank. Clank woke Ratchet up, and freed him. Ratchet went on to destroy the space station he was on, and found out that Luna was simply a robot the Technomites used (lead by Emperor Otto), to lure Ratchet into a trap. The duo arrived on Dayni Moon, and killed Luna in a boss-fight. Clank however, was disabled and Ratchet had to shrink himself to enter Clank's body and fix him. After this, they found Otto's goal, which was to create an army of Ratchet clones, through the DNA testing on the space station. Otto desired that the army would capture intelligent beings, so that he could transfer their knowledge to him. On Quodrona, Ratchet fought off the army of clones, and thanks to a confused Captain Qwark (who was set-up by Faux-Family.com into thinking Emperor Otto was his father), they neutralised Otto, and were able to reduce Otto's intelligence to a chimp, with Skrunch becoming super-intelligent. At the end, Qwark found out his real family were in fact great superheroes in their time, but were killed in an accident. Later, in Clank's apartment in Megapolis, Ratchet and Clank relax and watch a commercial about the Ratchet clones Otto created as a tiny Qwark tries to show off in front of miniature Ratchet clones.
Characters
- Clank
- Clank's security backup
- Cognito, Slim
- Destruct, Otto
- Luna
- Professor Sprout
- Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
- Ratchet
- Skrunch
- Skyboarder
Technology[]
Weapons[]
- OmniWrench 10K
- Lacerator
- Acid Bomb Glove
- Concussion Gun
- Agents of Doom
- Scorcher
- Bee Mine Glove
- Suck Cannon
- Sniper Mine
- Mootator
- Shock Rocket
- Static Barrier
- Laser Tracer
- RYNO
Gadgets[]
- Hypershot
- Sprout-O-Matic
- Polarizer
- PDA
- Shrink Ray
- Bolt Grabber
- Box Breaker
- Map-o-Matic
Skins[]
- Ratchet
- Tropical Vacation
- Plumbering Pirate Captain
- Ratchetzilla
- Snowman Skin
- Hot Bot
- Qwark
- Vacationing Robot
- Nurse Bot
- Otto Destruct
- Dan
Planets and locations[]
- Pokitaru - Jowai Resort
- Ryllus - Vetega Jungle
- Kalidon - Mechanoid Factory
- Metalis - Junkyard LXIV
- Dreamtime
- Medical Outpost Omega - Surgical Facility
- Challax - Technomite City
- Dayni Moon - Farming Cooperative
- Inside Clank
- Quodrona - Clone Factory
- California - HIG Treehouse
Reception[]
The PSP version of the game received overall positive reviews. Game Informer rated 9/10 and awarded it the "Handheld of the Month" for April 2007. IGN gave it 9.0/10.On the other hand, the PS2 port of the game received lukewarm scores, with IGN giving it a score of 6/10, citing its poor graphics, dull gameplay, and glitches.