Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

Ratchet & Clank aren't far off from being the quintessential co-op duo. They just need a few of the wrinkles ironed out.

Fans will definitely love Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, as it features everything they valued about it's predecessors: humor, characters and quirky ideas. Lots of variety, replay value and cool dialogues definitely make this a fun game.

A pretty and entertaining platform-actionadventure for 1-4 players. Get some friends with extra pads, it's much more fun that way. [Nov 2011]

Whether you choose to play this one with friends or by yourself, All 4 One is a pretty fun game.

With multiple players on board, the game is at its most colorful, but the puzzles and fights that require co-operation never feel as triumphant as they could have if they were designed so players couldn't complete them alone.

R&C: A4O almost delivers a great single player and multiplayer experience, but falls a little short. Neither mode is outstanding, but the multiplayer mode is a lot of fun (especially with local friends) and the single player mode is pretty cool on its own.

The biggest praise that All 4 One garners is the constant diversity of the level design and, even more impressively, the gameplay. The beautiful environments are a visual treat that tend to distract from the task at hand, while the little additions to gameplay throughout the campaign -- mini-games, water skiing, jet packing, rail grinding, and the list goes on-stop All 4 One from avoiding the pitfall of losing appeal after a few hours.

The amount of satisfaction you can get from this new Ratchet & Clank mainly depends on your expectations. This is not a direct sequel of the Future-series, but if you are looking for a cool party game with your favorite characters, you can't go wrong with this game. [Nov 2011, p.90]

Seasoned fans that stubbornly stick to solo play can look forward to making plenty of negative comparisons to All 4 One's superior predecessors. [Holiday 2011 ,p.76]

Although head to head All 4 One can't compete with its predecessors, what it can do is give gamers a new way to experience the franchise. All 4 One is a tightly packaged experience and one that may not look as good as previous Ratchet & Clank games but it's still a pure blast to play and for that reason alone is worth checking out.

One hell of a surprise. I thought I'd have fun playing it, but didn't think it would be this much fun. If you're looking for something a little lighter during this bumper release schedule and dig some fast paced intergalactic action, Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One has you covered.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time represents the pinnacle of the Ratchet & Clank series, so All 4 One feels like a step backwards. But the fun multiplayer components and laugh-out-loud story make Ratchet and Clank's latest journey a worthy one, and bring a distinct new experience to the franchise.

The great looking animations are still accompanied by well done voice acting, and environments consistently change for colorful and beautiful aesthetics even though most of the game is spent on planet Magnus.

Considering its excellent co-op and solid singleplayer experiences, All 4 One proves to be one of the best platforms of this generation. Too bad for the lack of a little innovation - it might have meant a significant boost in its final score.

The Ratchet formula is intact and the co-op elements are really fun. All 4 One is somewhat of a surprise that works really well.

With its weak plot, All 4 One is clearly a minor episode in the Ratchet & Clank franchise, but it can provide a great co-op experience with so many weapons and a its funny humour.

A significant twist in the Ratchet and Clank series that won't let any of its fans indifferent. Those who wanted a change will like it, but the ones who expected the same action and platforming mechanics might be dissapointed. As a cooperative game, it falls midway between styles. It has shooting, but there are many games better at this, and its platform sections are good, although maybe too simple.

Feels great in co-op, but it's hit and miss when playing alone. [Dec 2011, p.105]

Despite some technical issues and odd design decisions (namely the overly repetitious parts that elongated the game), if you have friends to play with all the better, as that's definitely the way to go.

The co-op action is some of the best I have experienced in a while, and the humor is just as fantastic as it has always been. Playing with others is the way to go, but I strongly recommend playing locally or finding gamers online with headsets.

But I have to say, despite a solid attempt at cooperative entertainment, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One seems to sacrifice a few too many elements for the sake of the multiplayer boom.

It's recommended as a good multi-player fun fest, but genuine fans might find it less satisfying than the last few iterations - which have been rip-snorters.

A decent attempt at a co-op experience in the Ratchet & Clank universe, All 4 One falls a bit short on providing a truly engaging and satisfying co-op offering.

As a game for older pre-teens, Ratchet & Clank succeeds by its vibrant artwork, humorous cutscenes and painless gameplay – for anyone needing a decent challenge or engaging co-op, however, it's all been done better elsewhere.

While the newest iteration in the Ratchet & Clank franchise is a little bit too childish for our tastes and at the same time fails to impress graphically, shooting up space monsters in four player co-op is a chaotic blast that will convince both fans and newcomers.

In the end, Ratchet & Clank All 4 One may not be the best game in the series but it does offer some unique and mostly entertaining multiplayer fun as you blast enemies away into the ether... more specifically spare parts.

Has a great foundation of fun co-op moments, marred by awkwardness, random deaths, and rough edges. It's certainly fun to bash crates and solve puzzles with friends, but the bustle of co-op play also multiplies its flaws.

It's hard to genuinely dislike a game like All 4 One. While it's obviously and quite severely flawed in a lot of ways, it's also possessed of a certain irreverent charm that – while derivative – is often enough to keep you playing irrespective of the fact that you're not really having a great deal of fun. [Dec 2011, p69]

Alluring platformer of classic shape offers 4-people in cooperative mode but it is not able to reach technical finesse. Fixed cameras and boss fights are among the features that need improvement. [Dec 2011]

All 4 One is a worthy addition to the Ratchet & Clank stable and, judging by the popularity of the drop-in/drop-out style of co-op gameplay that the Lego series has proven so popular, might just be where the future of the franchise lies.

It doesn't achieve the rollarcoaster pace of the main series, or feel as polished, but Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a worthwhile excuse to get together with a group of mates and cause havoc as some of your favourite characters.

Despite the unstable camera, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a hilarious action-adventure with a lot of variety between the platforming, environmental puzzles and hack-and-blast action, but unless you're a hardcore Ratchet & Clank fan, you won't get the full experience playing it by yourself.

I can't help but feel slightly disappointed in Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. Everything sounds like a great experience on paper, but the execution of the online side seems poor.

An entertaining multiplayer title that can be played online or local with its greatest power when played by two people. However, the game appeals unfinished here and there and when it's played in three or more people, it becomes quite a mess.

A good challenge in terms of multiplayer, adding a number of challenges to the spirit of the original series. However, it's a more linear experience.

The weapons are still awesome and it's a very big adventure; it's easy to overlook some of the missing features when it's this much fun and it'll keep you coming back again and again for more.

There's fun to be had with this one, especially for the great characters and enjoyable storyline. Sadly, there's some lack of polish in the annoying in-game camera and the bad lock on enemies, and graphics don't stand out as they did in the past titles.

It's still worth the time for aficionados and platform nuts, but All 4 One is much less likely to pull casual fans away from the season's other heavyweight fare.

Change is not always for the better, but Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One provides enough delightful moments to offset its shortcomings.

All 4 one is a good co-op game with a few blemishes, but a disappointing Ratchet game for fans hoping for the full package. If you're looking for a co-op platform laugh that encourages competition, greed and a dash of cooperation, this is for you. But if you were hoping for a Ratchet adventure that would be fun on your own, you're better off with the previous games.

This probably would have been better suited to the PSP, considering its minimal cutscenes and a story not as gripping as previous entries.

Insomniac's biggest problem is that All 4 One feels like it's stuck somewhere in No Man's Land. The family-friendly gameplay is done better in Traveller's Tales' LEGO games, and the action platforming is handled more successfully by Insomniac's own A Crack in Time and Tools of Destruction.

Blandness and boredom combine when played alone, but throw in three friends and it becomes a minor hoot. [Issue#211, p.94]

What isn't so brilliant is the simplistic gameplay, gunplay and puzzle solving - it definitely won't pose much of a challenge for veterans of the series. [Christmas 2011, p.87]

All 4 One doesn't totally feel like a "real" Ratchet and Clank game, but most of the time this action-packed experiment works out quite well.

All 4 One provides some fleeting co-op fun with characters you know and love, though it's not necessarily the kind of Ratchet & Clank game that fans like us were looking for.

This new Ratchet & Clank-adventure uses funny weapons, happy science fiction and lots of shooting and jumping to present the first cooperative adventure of the couple. But it lacks the magic, inspiration and creativity of the previous games.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a good game but not in the same league as it's predecessors. I believe it wasn't supposed to be like that but it seems that Insomniac put less effort into it. Perhaps making two big games at the same time is too much for this team?

A decided stop backwards for the series, and a disappointment for long-time fans. Be very sure to look closely at what you are getting when you jump into this one, and keep your expectations low. Sometimes trying a new approach just doesn't work.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One has one big problem: the expectations are way too high. For most gamers, All 4 One will be quite disappointing. It's just a co-op game, nothing more than that. However, the typical Ratchet & Clank jokes are present. Thank god.

Probably the weakest and surely the shortest and most simplified addition to the long running and very successful franchise from Insomniac. We hope that this is not the end of the beloved Lombax.

It's a detour into new territory that will satisfy co-op players as it maintains, rather than distills, the essence of its ancestry. [Dec 2011, p.122]

With this new episode, the saga comes back with a new multiplayer formula. Whether it's played by two, three, or four players at the same time, the gameplay combining cooperation and competition delivers fun... but despite some nice efforts, it remains a little redundant, and less inspired overall than the old solo episodes.

The cooperative multiplayer provides some fun moments, but it's obvious that All 4 One represents a step back for the Ratchet & Clank franchise.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a mostly unremarkable entry into the hallowed platforming series.

All this adds up to a game that feels somehow stuck between being a full blown new Ratchet and Clank title, and a smaller co-operatively focused side story, and as such it doesn't quite satisfy as either.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is in essence a fun game, but it's hard to overlook the fact that the game is a bit too repetitive and shouldn't really be a full-price title. But if you have three friends standing by you'll still have a lot of fun.

Ratchet & Clank All 4 One presents great weapons (as usual) and a four player co-op mode, but this time around the game just feel stupid. There is no diverging from the predetermined path and the game lacks finesse and creative thinking.

Despite some trademark Insomniac humour in the mix, it feels like the reins have been put on a undoubtedly talented studio in order to make this kind of game.

If players walk into this game wanting a simple multiplayer game with Ratchet qualities, and not a Ratchet game with co-op, they will get exactly what Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One is trying to deliver. It's a standard, linear action game with high production values.

Enemies don't require much strategy in All 4 One. Especially towards the end, crowd control demands the game boil down to endlessly cycling between rockets and grenades. Yawn.

At the most fundamental level there's nothing tragically wrong with the game, it just displays a lack of imagination that chafes against the legacy of a series that has never been short of ideas. For a game with that sort of pedigree, average simply isn't good enough.

An inoffensive way to waste a few hours with friends or family, particularly younger ones, but a waste of both Insomniac and Ratchet & Clank's talents.