(Single Player, played as Qwark exclusively)
Full Frontal Assault continues Insomniac's recent infatuation with multiplayer but actually seems to draw most of its inspiration from the multiplayer/galactic ranger missions of Up Your Arsenal. The plot takes place after All 4 One and takes some guns and gameplay aspects along with it (unfortunately it takes the new character design as well), but is now back to the series traditional third person camera and adds the ability to purchase defense systems for your base.
/Review score is not determined by the addition of flaws and strengths/
Flaws
- Major Game only has five very quick and largely similar levels so if set aside time for the campaign you will be done in time to ponder what you're going to do with the other 13 or 14 hours of your day (assuming you are up 16 hours of course)
- Major Technically there's a story but you're only given a few short cutscenes to justify your new adventure and the only other plot device is the occasional taunt from your main enemy.
- Minor New character design from All 4 One is present here as well.
Strengths
- Major An utter joy to play, Full Frontal Assault perfectly brings back the thrills of Up Your Arsenal's multiplayer/ranger missions and adds to it with its new base development and defense features.
- MajorRetains all of the charm of past Ratchet & Clanks, though there aren't many, each cutscene is a lot of fun to watch and any dialogue exudes humor.
- Major The series is still one of the best looking out there and the eccentric art style is still a wonder to behold.
- Major Voice acting is the best out there and all other sounds are done very well.
- Major All weapons are satisfying to use and none are castoffs,combuster like weapons became obsolete as you progressed through the previous entries, but now it will remain one of your best tools throughout the game. After playing the mundane combat of All 4 One I'm surprised how fun their guns could be if implemented right.
- Moderate Though the story is gone in a flash, the premise is interesting and fits the series perfectly.
- Moderate Leveling and unlockables effectively add to your incentive to replay.
If you read everything above this sentence you can probably tell I had a absolute blast playing this game, but alas that blast was gone in a second and the game had just enough story to claim that it did indeed have one, and even though the game goes for $20 or less Insomniac could have given us a much longer and ultimately more fulfilling experience as evident through their equally priced Quest for Booty expansion, which probably more than quadrupled Full Frontal Assault's campaign in terms of scope, but on the flip side Full Frontal Assault quadruples the replayability of Quest for Booty not only considering single player but the well reviewed multiplayer modes as well. So, if you are die hard fan of Ratchet & Clank or crazy online multiplayer this is a great purchase, but those not enamored with Ratchet & Clank and only are interested in a deep single player experience will do well to avoid this game.
P.S. This is the third time in a row I've reviewed a multiplayer focused game, so to some my scores may be lower than what they deserve once multiplayer is considered, but as I've said unless I specifically state otherwise my rating of a game is solely based on the quality of its single player story, campaign, etc. mode.