Ratchet Gladiator (I don't care what you yanks call it)
As this is the case the gameplay is a bit different and less platform orientated. That's right they took the best bit about Ratchet and Clank games and reduced it for a more trigger happy alternative. Not to say it isn't good but the platform bits were always the best and without these it doesn't stand out for me as much as the others.
Ok the story, Ratchet gets kidnapped and taken to the Shadow Sector and forced to play a game called DreadZone, which is a popular holovision show. Bet you're thinking, "why doesn't he just not play and leave", not that easy unfortunately as he has been fitted with a DreadLock collar which detonates if he strays into restricted areas, stops participating or becomes boring for viewer.
If you have ever seen the film Battle Royale then you know what type of collar I'm talking about, by the way I recommend this film. It is about 40 odd Japanese school kids killing each other. Some American decided to remake this even though it didn't need to be done stray away from this version called The Condemned. They replaced all the cool things. Why do yanks ruin everything I mean they ruined the Office and now going to ruin Life on Mars but I could go on for hours about what they have done wrong. Before any of you yanks send me hate mail or whatever you need to realise where I'm coming form so watch the Office (English version not the bad one) and Battle Royale.
Ok well you play through all of these levels or missions in order to progress while Clank and Al on the sidelines of things send you Intel and try and figure a way to escape. The ending and plot become obvious as you progress about 5 minutes into the game making the whole game centred around the gameplay.
To break the game down into categories the graphics hadn't really improved on Ratchet and Clank 3 (mainly due to the fact that they were milking a cash cow and tried to reduce cost by piecing it together really quickly).
The gameplay is also exactly the same with alterations made to the quick select menu (bad choice) and the previous mentioned no Clank. Whereas the only new addition to the franchise are teammate bots who are able to be controlled by the player.
The sound is as stunning as always with even subtle background commentators piping in brilliant laughs resulting in brilliant laughs along with other voice actors who are perfect for the roles. The explosion sounds are again spot on but they are the same as previous games but then again why fix something that works well.
The value of this game is staggering like all of the Ratchet games and contains several reasons for replay. These are the fact that the entire game can be played Co-op with a split screen friend. This comes along with then classic skill points, increased in number to incorporate the fact Giant Bolts (Gold or whatever) were taken out, and a lot of difficulties that earn stars the higher it gets set. All in all this should take a normal person plenty of time for their money's worth to complete. Also if you do manage to do this then you are clearly not normal as you probably have to stay inside for fear of socialness and or sunlight. I however am the exception to this rule and spend my time avoiding sunlight with friends who are also exceptions (that made sense to me so shut it).
Ok if you get that sudden feeling to play a Ratchet game then don't start with this one even if it is the cheapest one you can find. Alternatively if you get the obsession to buy all previous Ratchet games after liking a newer one then only a retarded Ratchet and Clank fan would disembowel you for giving this a miss as it is not that big a deal compared to others (I said compared to others, oh what are you doing, aaah I'm being disembowelled somebody stop themmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...