Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a 2021 third-person shooter platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5. It is the ninth main installment in the Ratchet & Clank series, and serves as a sequel to Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus (2013) while also building on elements introduced in the 2016 remake of the first game. A port for Windows, developed by Nixxes Software, was released on July 26, 2023, marking the series' first release outside of a PlayStation console. The game received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise given to its gameplay, visuals, combat, humor, and technical advancements. It had sold over 3.97 million units by June 2023.
Gameplay
The game shares many gameplay similarities with Ratchet & Clank (2016) and other entries in the series. It retains elements of previous Ratchet & Clank games, such as strafing, gunplay, collection of bolts, automatic weapon and health upgrades, manual Raritanium weapon upgrading and gadgets. The main playable character is Ratchet. He is accompanied by his robotic friend and sidekick Clank, who is hung on his back. Additionally, the game has a playable female Lombax named Rivet, as well as a robot similar to Clank, Kit. The player navigates Ratchet and Rivet through diverse environments across a multitude of levels, defeating enemies with an array of varied weapons and gadgets, and traversing obstacles to complete key mission objectives.
The game introduces to the series the concept of real-time near instantaneous travel between different areas, planets and other worlds within gameplay scenes via a system of inter-dimensional portals. In order for the player to utilize this feature, a new mechanic dubbed the "Rift Tether" is introduced in Ratchet and Rivet's arsenal that pulls them from one side of a portal to another, allowing them to move quickly between points. The game features the return of planets explored in previous entries with a dimensional twist, through their alternate counterparts, alongside new planets not seen previously in the franchise. The game features enhanced mobility and traversal options with the addition of moves such as dashing and wall running. In addition, the game's arsenal features a mix of brand new weapons and returning classics from prior installments.
The game features an assortment of accessibility options, including a high contrast mode and toggles for simplified traversal, camera sensitivity, flight assistance, etc., to ensure that all players can enjoy the gameplay and complete the story.
Plot Ratchet and Clank are celebrated as galactic heroes during a parade hosted by Captain Quark, Skid McMarx, and Rusty Pete on Corson V. Clank reveals that he has repaired the Dimensionator, a device capable of opening rifts to other dimensions so that Ratchet can search for the Lombax race and his missing family. However, Doctor Nefarious attacks the parade and attempts to steal the Dimensionator. During the struggle, Ratchet unthinkingly shoots the Dimensionator, which causes dimensional rifts to begin opening randomly. Ratchet, Clank, and Dr. Nefarious are transported to an alternate universe, where the Dimensionator explodes, damaging the fabric of space and time and separating the three. Clank awakens to find himself alone and now missing his right arm from the blast. He is discovered and picked up by a female Lombax named Rivet. Meanwhile, Dr. Nefarious ends up in a throne room, where he is mistaken for Emperor Nefarious, an alternate version of himself who, unlike him, has never been defeated and rules over the galaxy. Ratchet, elsewhere, finds himself alone and starts his search for Clank. With the emperor currently absent on a conquest, Dr. Nefarious secretly assumes his identity and sends his new minions after Ratchet and Rivet.
While searching, Ratchet witnesses Rivet escaping the planet with Clank. Ratchet encounters Phantom (the alternate Skidd), a member of the resistance opposed to the emperor, which Rivet is a part of, who gifts him an electronic helper named Glitch to help him get a ship to follow her. Rivet takes Clank to her hideout on Sargasso to interrogate him, not believing his words about the dimensional rifts due to her distrust in robots. They discover a dimensional anomaly on the planet which Clank investigates, making contact with a prophet named Gary, who enlists his help in repairing other dimensional anomalies to prevent the Dimensional Cataclysm. Rivet learns the truth by looking into Clank's memories and repairs Clank's communicator so they are able to contact Ratchet and devise a plan to rebuild the Dimensionator.
Ratchet heads out to find the blueprint for the Dimensionator, and recruits one of Gary's robot apprentices, Kit, to be his partner. Kit warns Ratchet that she is a warbot built by the emperor and worries she might lose control of her programming and attack him, but Ratchet reassures her that they make a good team. They head to a secret lab on Cordelion to forge a new Dimensionator, while Rivet and Clank head out to Blizar Prime to gather the Phase Quartz needed to power it. After it is accidentally destroyed, the two search for the mythical Fixer on Torren IV who can repair anything and convince him to overcome his own self-doubt to repair the Phase Quartz. Ratchet and Rivet meet in the Scarstu Debris Field, and Kit becomes Rivet's partner. They complete the Dimensionator, only for Dr. Nefarious to arrive and steal it. Dr. Nefarious is defeated in battle, but the real Emperor Nefarious arrives, easily defeating Ratchet and Rivet and stealing the Dimensionator for himself, which he plans to use to eliminate Captain Quantum (the alternate Captain Qwark) and destroy the resistance.
Rivet pursues the emperor, but he uses the Dimensionator to halt her tracks. Rivet tells Kit about how she lost her arm to a warbot attack, with Kit realizing she was the one responsible. Meanwhile, Ratchet heads out to Ardolis to try and warn Quantum, but fails to stop the emperor from banishing Quantum through a rift. The emperor celebrates conquering the universe but doesn't feel fulfilled until he realizes he can use the Dimensionator to conquer every dimension. Spying on the emperor using a device that Quantum bugged on him, Ratchet and Rivet realize the emperor will need the Dimensional Map and head out to intercept him. Rivet and Kit board the emperor's flagship and rescue Gary, who reveals he hid the map inside an anomaly. Ratchet and Clank recover the map but are banished through a rift by the emperor. Kit transforms into her warbot form to try and stop the emperor, shocking Rivet, but Kit ends up being banished as well.
Left alone, Rivet heads to Viceron for the prison facility the emperor has banished all of his enemies to and stages a prison break, freeing Ratchet and Clank as well as the rest of the resistance. However, still feeling guilty over causing the loss of Rivet's arm, Kit decides to leave the group. As the resistance regroups, the emperor begins invading other dimensions, starting with Ratchet and Clank's home dimension. Ratchet, Clank, Rivet, and the resistance pursue the emperor through the rifts. Ratchet and Clank destroy the emperor's power suit, and Kit returns to hold his forces at bay while Rivet confronts the emperor. Working together, everybody, including Dr. Nefarious, who grew irritated over how his alternate self treated him, defeat and send the emperor to his demise through a rift. Clank recovers the Dimensionator and uses it to repair the dimensions. Rivet and Kit repair their relationship, and before they return to their dimension, Ratchet asks them if they would like to make "one stop" first.
During the credits, citizens of Nefarious City are seen dismantling the regime's legacy, Dr. Nefarious reunites with Lawrence, who is now a father, and Gary shares his findings with his father, the Plumber. With reality saved and the Dimensionator in their possession, Ratchet, Clank, Rivet, and Kit take the opportunity to hang out together, repair the damage the emperor caused, build a new arm for Clank, and go on further adventures.
Development Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was developed by Insomniac Games as a PlayStation 5 exclusive title. Unlike past games in the Ratchet & Clank series where development was helmed by the secondary team in North Carolina, Rift Apart was developed by the entire team from both studios. It features a full-length, stand-alone storyline that is intended to appeal to veterans and newcomers of the series, serving as a follow-up to both the 2013 game Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus and the 2016 remake of the first game. The game was directed by creative director Marcus Smith and game director Mike Daly.
Insomniac Games received PlayStation 5 development kits early on in the console's development cycle and the team promptly started work on conceptualization. Creative director Marcus Smith stated that, initially, they were confronted with the quandary of how to make the game appealing to both long-running series fans and new players who may have not even been born when the last full-length game in the series was released. Initial ideas for Rift Apart came about after the team had multiple discussions about the possibilities offered by improvements made in next-gen hardware. Game director, Mike Daly said that they knew from the start the game would be a PS5 exclusive and they wanted to take advantage of that fact. He added that "we wanted to make a game that was new and took the experience further than it had before. When we were thinking about what we could do, knowing what we could never do before, it became clear that so much of the structure of games is informed by how you're able to load things into memory." Regarding the ease up of workflows due to the PS5's custom-designed SSD, Smith stated that the "game utilizes dimensions and dimensional rifts, and that would not have been possible without the solid state drive of the PlayStation 5," further adding that it is "screamingly fast. It allows us to build worlds and project players from one place to another in near instantaneous speeds. It is an unbelievable game-changer in terms of, we can now do gameplay where you're in one world and the next moment you're in another." Smith recalled that the team had an idea on leveraging dimensional travel into parallel worlds, citing the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life as inspiration for the game's direction. Smith stated that the team's curiosity was piqued by the question, "What would a different dimension of Ratchet and Clank be like? And in particular, what would Ratchet's life be like if he didn't have a Clank?".
On building the game's traversal mechanics, there was a learning opportunity for Insomniac Games to leverage their experiences from past titles they have developed, to improve upon and expand on the traversal mechanics in Rift Apart. Smith stated that "I think the lessons that we learned from Sunset Overdrive and Spider-Man whereas we might've just had a hook shot somewhere, now we're having areas where you can Hook Shot and then use Phantom Dash and then wall run and then rift tether and it flows together really nicely".