Developers leave installed base left behind, as a favourite franchise of mine mutates out of control.
1) Inspired cast: The attractive duo of charismatic Ratchet tech-nerdy Clank had superior jargon an overall a lot more pull than, for instance the cousins from Jak & Daxter. Moreover, the supporting cast was phenomenal.
2) Fun storyline: An appealing story was told through humorous cut scenes, and
3) Variety: Lastly, maybe the most important element. R&C introduced action oriented platforming. Run, jump and shoot. Solve puzzles as Ratchet, morph Clank into a giant transformer bot and take on cities, Fly, drive, grind your way to and through areas.
As the series evolved, the focus increasingly turned towards action and R&C3 also introduced multiplayer functionality. It did however stay true to the format by serving up full scoops of story, cast and variety.
R&C4 does away with the all of it. Clank has been cut, and with Ratchet concealed behind full body armor, the duo's presence in the game is non-existent. The linear story has been almost completely dropped and in it's place is a bunch of missions that makes R&C4 more of an expansion pack than anything else. Add to that the fact that the new "run & gun" gameplay is way easier than before, and you may appreciate just how much of a let down this game is.
So how does it earn the "fair" rating? Ratchet still handles like a dream and the sound and graphics still hold up.
Final words: I can't help but wondering why Insomniac, at the peak of the PS2's economic potential, chose to take the series so far down the "run & gun" direction.
Ratchet & Clank pioneered the action platformer, but as R&C4 drops the platforming altogether, my bet is that it will loose it's following, but still not appeal to the adventure action crowd. They'll continue playing Socom, and I hope that a fifth installment goes for the prequel approach. Preferably on the PS3.