Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Review - 7 Ups & 1 Down

1. Everything About Rivet

Almost two decades into the franchise's history, outside of some spin-offs letting you play as "Secret Agent Clank", it was about time we shook up the base formula of the franchise, at least character-wise.

I've mentioned how this comes through in the story, with our titular pair being split up, but it can't be understated just how much Insomniac knock it out the park with Rivet.

As Ratchet's "alternate-dimensional counterpart", her abilities and unlockables are exactly the same, however the mighty Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect's FemShep herself) brings the character to life in a genuinely loveable way.

Starting out as something of the archetypal "girlboss" character we've seen far too much in Hollywood, Rivet's go-it-alone nature fast gives way to a heart of gold, helped along by opening up to Clank about her own history with robots, and what happened with her arm.

From then on in, alternating between Ratchet and Rivet (5 worlds as Rivet, 4 as Ratchet) works perfectly, fairly heavily hinting throughout that we could have a future where Rivet gets her own series of games.

Point being: For a main character to come in so far into a franchise and be so fully formed, capable and confidently written, is a testament to Hale's voice work, the script and the animation team.