It is authentic Ratchet & Clank; ergo it is great.
been carried forward.
For almost the entire game the game-play between Ratchet & Clank is kept separate, but you do get alternating playtime between both characters. Your time with Ratchet is as expected: platforming mixed with plenty of gun-play. The guns are fun to use and don't take too long before they level up and become more powerful. And since ammo is cheap and usually readily available, you won't mind getting as much use of the guns as possible. Some weapons can also be modded to change how it fires which can prove effective when decided the best strategy for your attack.
A couple new gadgets make their way into Ratchet's tool belt. One includes a gun that will suck up water or oil so that you can put it on seeds and rusty gears respectively. It doesn't really add any serious puzzle element as much as it just gives you something to do. You'll also get a pair of jet boots which basically adds some speed to the platforming aspects and helps to make getting around familiar areas a little quicker.
There's plenty of cookie-cutter side missions to add to the experience & get the most out of the game. This is especially true since the story missions alone shouldn't take most players too long to get through. A good chunk of the side missions available take place on small planetoids and will usually either require you kill X number of enemies or navigate some tricky terrain. They are repetitive in nature, but if you enjoy them like I did you'll appreciate that there's quite a few to complete. They also serve as a nice way to rack up some experience points to your weapons so they'll level up even faster.
Space missions have returned so that when you're not running on the ground you can find yourself flying in a sleek little space ship. In addition to being your primary conveyance between planets you can also take part in missions that have you blasting away other ships. Your vessel can also be upgraded by collecting Zoni creatures spread throughout the world's you'll be visiting.
Of course we can't forget all there is to do with Clank! Clank's missions are more about platforming and less driven by combat (which is melee based with punching and staff-swinging). The best parts of Clank's missions are the Time Puzzles. These will require you to record multiple versions of yourself to help each other navigate platforms and activate switches. They're very creative, cleaver, and provide some of most enjoyable problem solving in a game I've experienced in a while.
Controls over-all have really been perfected by this point. The characters are easy to manage and respond well. It's also easy to switch between weapons and items on the fly. Gold bolts are of course available to collect. These will provide extra cash & can be used to unlock various features. And of course, what would be a Ratchet & Clank game without the standard humourous dialogue intact?!
Without the time puzzles, the game is mostly more of the same that I remember from the PS2 era. But what I remember was great and so is this. A definite recommendation to lovers of action platformers, and of fun in general.