Okay, I am going to be honest here, I lied about the next game in the Ratchet and Clank Retrospective being the Playstation 3 sequel, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Believe me, I was ready to move onto the next group of Ratchet and Clank games. However, something was nagging at me. I was done with the main PS2 games, but something was telling me there was one more. I knew what game was nagging me, but it isn’t considered to be part of the main series. It is interesting since it does have references from the last game, but is radically different than the last 3 games. In my books, I think that’s a good thing! While I enjoyed the third game in the series on the PS2, I felt it was pretty safe. Like I said in that review, I enjoyed the third game, but felt it was safe. Now, we move onto this game, definitely the black she! ep of the games, but certainly a great game in the series. The game I am reviewing today is the 4th game in the series, Ratchet Deadlocked! The first thing you notice about this game is that Clank isn’t even in the title, which is odd since he was in the past games. This time however, you are ONLY Ratchet. What is even more odd is that this game is more combat-oriented, and has very little, if no puzzle-solving at all. Let’s dive into this odd experience, and review Ratchet Deadlocked! The main story is kind of like Gladiator. One day, Ratchet, Clank, and Al are on the space ship, the Phoenix, from the last game. They get a call about a well-known space hero who was killed in an illegal fighting show called Dread-Zone. As they are getting the news about the person behind the fighting show, they themselves get kidnapped to compete in Dread-Zone. Lucky for them, in a way, Ratchet is the only one made to fight. Clank is in charge of giving Ratchet advice and missions,! while Al upgrades Ratchet’s new robot friends. It is up to ! Ratchet to fight through multiple rounds and tournaments to move up the ranks and fight the number 1 Dread-Zone fighter and escape with all of the other heroes who have been kidnapped to fight in Dread-Zone. The story is definitely darker than usual and, well, I like that. I think the Ratchet and Clank series has needed a dark story, and while it isn’t Castlevania Lords of Shadow-dark, it is definitely not your normal Ratchet and Clank story.The gameplay is basically the normal stuff except with a lot missing to focus on one part of the gameplay, the running and gunning. The whole game is about traveling to different planets and blasting your way through hordes of enemies and bosses. There are no Clank levels, and barely ANY platforming, so that leaves room for you and your guns and blowing stuff up! You also get your weaponry sized down with only about 11 main weapons. The side weapons, like the grappling hook, return, but other inventions, like the hacking ray are only useable b! y this game’s secondary combat gimmick, the two robots. They act as the replacement for Clank, and actually help you out in battle. You can buy them upgrades to their weapons and armor so they can hit the enemies hard! They also help out with solving puzzles, which was always a tedious thing for me in the past games. In certain levels, the game will task you with getting into vehicles like a giant land walker, a jeep with a gun, and a ship to finish certain missions. Like I have said through this whole paragraph, this is basically the entire action parts of the past game put into one game. The graphics definitely look better than the past 3 games. It has a darker look to everything, while still having its cartoon-like art style. The music isn’t anything special with it still sounding like a small Daft Punk cover band who decided to make their own music that sounds nice, but isn’t memorable to me anyways. The voice acting is still very top notch with the usual cast of ! David Kaye as Clank, James Arnold Taylor as Ratchet, and Chris! Hatfiel d as Big Al returning as their original roles. We also get a new villain who is a slimy businessperson willing to make a dollar out of the death of actual heroes. His name is Gleeman Vox, who is voiced by Michael Bell. Michael Bell is famous for his role as Raziel from the Legacy of Kain series. This series might be touched upon in the future of my blog. He is also known for his roles in the Ratchet and Clank series as Dr. Nefarious’s butler, Lawrence, The Fear from Metal Gear Solid 3, and his back catalog of voice work is almost as big as Jim Cummings. Now, it is time for the bad parts of the game to be shown. At first, I was happy with this new direction with the darker tone and more action-oriented combat, but later in the game, it just becomes repetitious. I say this since you only get a limited amount of guns that can easily be upgraded due to all of the gameplay being action-oriented. This was the nice thing about the Clank sections of the past game. I mean, I loved ! blowing stuff up, but after awhile it just got boring. Again, the multiplayer seems tacked on, and not a lot of thought given to it, besides the norm back then. The game is also easier than the last game with better-executed boss fights, which is nice, but also a little boring. You can easily go through the boss fights with just using every weapon on him until his health bar decreases. All and all, Ratchet Deadlocked is definitely a good game, but it doesn’t have much to offer besides a lot of awesome run-and-gun moments, and a darker story with the same great humor. I would recommend it if you’re a fan of the series, and I would pay for about 10 dollars or so for it and not 20 or more. Now that I have all of the PS2 games done and out of the way, it is time to move onto the next gen console and a good progressive story. This game gets an 8 out of 10
Family Films
KBR is thrilled to invite good friend and all-round lovely gal Angela Hall of Bug in a Book to tell us a little bit more about herself and her amazing kids' literature and literary site. Enjoy!What are your vital stats?Live in Logan (south Brisbane). Married with busy little miss (almost 3) Chelsea a.k.a. Bug, where our name Bug in a Book came from. Used to be an early childhood teacher (which is why I have so much respect for good teachers), and have pretty much done that since school with a few breaks in between to try new things. It is hard to beat the feeling of watching little ones learn from your efforts.Have you always been interested in books and literature?Yes, books were such a wonderful part of my childhood. I would read at least every night from the moment I could read... that is how I would fall asleep - book in h! and. Although I have always enjoyed reading and absolutely loved reading children's books to a rivited audience of kids, it didn't occur to me that I could make it my life until I had my own child. When did you start Bug in a Book and why?Bug in a Book started when I discovered a love for writing. I was originally using a little facebook page to share my projects and get feedback. Then I enlisted Danielle Bagshaw my (now) business partner who is an designer and interested in the illustrations side. We soon realised how big the book industry world was and how many interested people in the same boat as us there were . . . All looking for answers and keen to read about the world of children's books. We were then approached by the very lovely Hazel Edwards who in turn brought in Ford Street Publishing, and we grew from there.What is Bug in a Book about?Bug in a Book is now in the process of dividing the two areas (children's literacy and book industry resources) into sepe! rate websites. The actual Bug in a Book site is aiming to beco! me a Aus tralian and New Zealand children's literacy hub. As well as our own reviews and publisher promotions, we are here to promote other literacy organisations, websites and resources (for free). We hope to become a place where parents and teachers can go to locate the book, literacy information and resources appropriate to them by having access to the wide variety of great organisations that are available in one place. 
We invite people with literacy resources to contribute to Bug in a Book's various areas (Kids Club, BugED, etc), become a VIB (Very important Bug) and benefit from our free promotions such as our emagazine, newsletters and blog. The literacy community is such a great place to live!What do you hope the site imparts its readers?A love for reading, the joy of sharing and ways to help bring literacy to the home and classroom ! that make learning and reading fun.What are your other plans for the site?I am really hoping to develop our resources further for parents and teachers. It would be really great to have a printed magazine one day with our VIB's contributed articles and information going out to schools and libraries. That would me amazing.What is your favourite part of the site?At the moment I am really enjoying developing the Bug Kids Club. I have really wanted to turn that into something special for a long time and we are now going in the right direction . . . lots of things still on the to-do list but I love watching it grow. The new Bug Review Blog is also great. It is allowing the reviews to be presented better and easier to find in specific searches. What is most rewarding about Bug in a Book?For me personally, it is the fantastic people I have met. Being on the publicity side of the book industry has really broken down barriers and made it easy to connect with publishers, aut! hors, illustrators, etc. And gosh they are just the lovliest b! unch of people! I often say the book industry is not like other medias in the way that they are so approachable and friendly. When Hazel Edwards first contacted me I almost died of shock. She has been an endless source of help, inspiration and encouragement along the way. Watching our little organisation grow is such a joy. It gives me such a buzz to know that I am doing something that matters enough to other people that they are subscribing and reading my words. I have this passion which is what I do. I am so lucky.If you couldn’t be Queen Bug, what would you be? I would probably write 'til I had worn my fingers down. The only downside to Bug in a Book is that I don't have as much writing time now. If my writing goes anywhere, well that remains to be seen, but if I don't write there is a huge void in my life and I circle around endlessly looking for fullfillment. Rattle off some favourite authors and illustrators:Oh gee there are so many! Colleen McCullough is one of my absolute ! favourite authors of adult books - if ever I see her name on a book, I will pick it up! A few others who have caught my eye and captured my mind in children's books have been; Bruce Whatley (writing and illustrating), Karen Collum (love her new book Samuel's Kisses!), Craig Smith, Juliet Blair, Meg Cabot and Julie Fison. Of course the classic talents out there too Mem Fox, Lynley Dodd and Hazel Edwards (I could go on all day!).Illustrators I love: Jo Thompson, Heath McKenzie, Serena Geddes, Graeme Base and Katz Cowley.Name three books you’ve loved this year:Arlo and the Vortex Voyage by Juliet Blair (IP Kids)The Hazard River Series by J.E Fison (Ford Street Publishing) note: they are all good! reading Tiger Terror at the momentSamuel's Kisses by Karen Collum and Serena Geddes (New Frontier Publishing)Favourite ice cream flavour and why:Anything Caramel! You really don't get sweeter then caramel.Enjoy Angela's totally enriching literary site here, and d! on't forget to follow The Bug and his fans on Facebook!
