Image Credit: Playstation Store
Playtime: ~14 hours
Completion: Main Story Finished
Platform: PC
Played / Reviewed: 2023 / 2025
Genre: Action-Adventure / Platformer
Final Score: ★★★☆☆ (7/10)
🧠 First Impressions
The intergalactic adventurers are back with a bang in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart! This time, they’re hopping dimensions, blasting robots, and landing on PC for the very first time. As someone who has played all the Ratchet & Clank games, I can confidently say this is more of the same fun style—fast, flashy, and charming. It works fine on my machine and feels instantly familiar.
⚙️ Gameplay & Progression
At its core, Rift Apart sticks to the classic formula: explore a planet, shoot enemies, and upgrade weapons. The dimension-hopping gimmick is neat, though not groundbreaking. Gameplay isn’t particularly difficult and offers a fair challenge.
Image Credit: Steam Store Page
That said, gameplay variety runs thin after a while. Enemy encounters start to feel repetitive, and outside of some challenge modes and rift mechanics, there isn’t much else to do once the story is over.
🎵 Music, Art, and Atmosphere
Visually, this game is stunning. Rift Apart was originally one of the first PS5 showcases, and even on PC it still feels like a technical demo meant to impress. The worlds pop with color, character animations are full of life, and the sheer spectacle of rift transitions makes everything feel smooth and flashy.
But beneath the gloss, I ran into several bugs and glitches, particularly with the PC port settings. The game looks amazing, but performance issues and technical hiccups drag down what should have been a flawless presentation.
✍️ Story & Dialogue
Story-wise, Rift Apart has its heart in the right place: Ratchet wrestles with being the last of his species, Clank plays supportive buddy, and Rivet—the new Lombax—joins the team as a refreshing addition. The setup is good, but the humor falls flat more often than not. Compared to something like Psychonauts 2 (which I consider a peer in the same genre), Rift Apart’s comedy just doesn’t land as hard.
The villain? A squidward-lookalike robot doctor with delusions of grandeur. Fun at first, but not particularly memorable.
🎮 Combat & Difficulty
Combat is flashy and enjoyable, but it doesn’t evolve much beyond the outrageous weapon sandbox. For a while, the sheer variety of weapons keeps things exciting—but eventually, it starts feeling shallow. The difficulty curve is mild, making it accessible but not particularly rewarding for players craving a challenge.
📝 Category Breakdown
- Gameplay: 7/10 — Fun but repetitive, carried by weapons and visuals.
- Story: 6/10 — Decent setup but weak humor and predictable villain.
- Combat: 7/10 — Flashy arsenal, but lacks real depth.
- Graphics & Tech: 9/10 — Gorgeous visuals, but buggy PC port.
✅ Final Verdict
Rift Apart is good, but not great. It plays like a polished tech demo with flashy visuals and fun mechanics, but lacks the heart, humor, and variety of the best Ratchet & Clank titles. As someone who’s played all of them, I still enjoyed the ride—it’s more of the same fun style I know and love—but I expected more.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but only on a deep discount. Otherwise, you’re paying full price for something that doesn’t quite deliver the knockout punch it promises.
🔥 Clay’s Take
This game is like a flashy rollercoaster—you’ll have fun on the ride, but once it ends, you realize there wasn’t much substance. I laughed hardest when the Big Head cheat turned every emotional cutscene into a meme. It’s enjoyable, sure, but definitely not top-tier Ratchet & Clank.
Final Score: ★★★☆☆ (7/10)
Recommendation: Play it if you’re a fan of the series or can snag it cheap.
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