Hands on with PSP's Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
The transition from console to handheld appears to be going to plan for Sony's odd couple
I'm getting all teary-eyed as I come (almost) to the end of my E3 Hands On series - partly because Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters was the final game I got my sweaty paws on before the infamous E3 end-of-day trumpet sounded and robot guards marched us out the convention centre at gunpoint. (Actually I made that last bit up.)
Anyhow, despite having played 86 games during the three days of E3, I was glad I pushed on through the pain barrier (!) and got my final five minutes with gun toting rodent-beastie Ratchet and his mechanical companion cum backpack Clank.
Well known for their smooth appearances on PlayStation 2, the R&C games are pretty simple affairs involving a lot of crazy weapons, which deconstruct anything they hit into a cloud of nuts and bolts you collect and use to unlock more crazy weapons.
With such warlike plans in mind, the key feature to check with Size Matters was how well its character and camera control method worked.
Thanks to a strafe movement (controlled on the d-pad), which locked the position of your gun to make sure it was pointing in the same direction as you moved left and right, I'm happy to report the game's basics were solid. The only issue concerned aiming at enemies which weren't on the same level as you, with the 3D control taking some getting used to.
Graphically however, the game was amazing, with colours bursting out from the screen and the expected high level of art styling which mixes 1950's era sci-fi with the cartoon capers not unlike the Futurama TV series
As for other game actions, pressing the triangle button bought up your weapons inventory for quick selection, while the 'X' provided a jump, which becomes Ratchet's traditional glide when double-tapped and held down. The other main action was the square butt, which got Ratchet to use his ratchet - required to open doors and interact with various mechanical contraptions dotted around the level.
So, all-in-all, it appears there would be plenty to look forward to, even though the game's not due for release until early 2007.
