It's been five years since the last Ratchet & Clank game, but the classic 3D platforming franchise from Insomniac Games is poised to make a comeback soon. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is set to launch on June 11, exclusively for the PlayStation 5, and so it stands to reason that there are those who may be looking to revisit the previous games in the series in anticipation of the new title. A good portion of the Ratchet & Clank games can be played on PS4 and PS5 through PlayStation Now, but some games in the series will require players to track down hardware like a PSP, PS Vita, or PS3. So is the case with Ratchet: Deadlocked.
Anyone interested in playing Ratchet: Deadlocked while they wait for the Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart release date to roll along have a couple of options. The first option is to track down a PlayStation 2 and play the game off a disc that way, but the easier route is to play the PS3 version of the game. Ratchet: Deadlocked on PS3 ups the resolution a bit and promotes itself as the "HD" version of the game, though it too is seriously showing its age.
While many games in the Ratchet & Clank series have aged quite well, Ratchet: Deadlocked is one exception. But it doesn't have to be this way. A Ratchet: Deadlocked remaster could go a long way in bringing the game up to the standard of other entries in the series, while also allowing players to more easily experience the entire Ratchet & Clank franchise.
Premise
For those who may not be aware, Ratchet: Deadlocked is the fourth game in the series, taking place after the events of Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. However, it's quite a bit different than the original trilogy of games. In Ratchet: Deadlocked, Clank is no longer a playable character, taking on a supporting role as Ratchet battles it out in gladiator-style arenas against hordes of enemies.
Essentially, Ratchet: Deadlocked strips away much of the platforming found in other games in the series to focus almost exclusively on the combat. There are basic objectives that players have to complete repeatedly throughout the story mode, like capturing X number of nodes or surviving against endless waves of enemies. Those that enjoy the combat in the Ratchet & Clank games will have a blast with Ratchet: Deadlocked, though it is admittedly a more barebones approach to the franchise.
Co-Op
Something that helps Ratchet: Deadlocked stand apart from other games in the series is its support of co-op play. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One also has co-op, but otherwise Ratchet: Deadlocked is pretty much all there is when it comes to co-op play in the series. Players are able to play through the entire campaign together in 2-player split-screen, giving fans the opportunity to experience the franchise's over-the-top action with a friend.
For the most part, Ratchet: Deadlocked is a lot of fun in co-op, but it has a big flaw: lag. Nearly every stage in the game suffers from lagging and a variety of other issues directly related to the split-screen co-op. So while it's appreciated that co-op is in the game as well, it's clear that the hardware simply can't support it all that well. With modern consoles, it seems as though a Ratchet: Deadlocked remaster would be able to implement the split-screen co-op mode in a way where it works significantly better than it did in the PS2 and PS3 versions of the game.
Graphics
Ratchet: Deadlocked looks fine enough on PS2 and PS3, with visuals that mostly match the original trilogy of games. Unfortunately, Ratchet: Deadlocked is clearly less polished than the original three Ratchet & Clank games in terms of its graphics. Clipping is a bigger issue, and there are multiple cutscenes where the camera is zoomed in on a character and players can literally see inside of their head.
Ratchet: Deadlocked deserves a makeover that addresses these blemishes, allowing the game to be more on par with its predecessors from a graphics standpoint. With modern consoles supporting up to 4k resolution and higher, it may become a serious undertaking to bring Ratchet: Deadlocked to modern standards, but it's already been done with a variety of PS2-era games. While Sony stopped doing it for whatever reason, there was a time when Sony was re-releasing classic PS2 games on PS4, with all of those titles available to play on the PlayStation 5 console as well.
None of the PS2-era Ratchet & Clank games are currently available to play on PS4 or PS5, but hopefully that changes in future.
Multiplayer
The Ratchet & Clank games are primarily known for being single-player experiences, but Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal introduced competitive multiplayer to the mix. Ratchet: Deadlocked may be best remembered for its cooperative campaign, but it too has competitive multiplayer as well. It supports up to four players in split-screen, but it also supported online multiplayer back in the day, letting fans play a variety of different online game modes.
Support for Ratchet: Deadlocked's multiplayer component has since been shut down, and so fans of the game can't properly experience the multiplayer. This would be yet another reason to remaster Ratchet: Deadlocked, as it would give its multiplayer mode some extra time in the spotlight.
Ratchet: Deadlocked is out now for PS2 and PS3.
