After the introductory chapter, it becomes possible to travel to different planets – each with its own flora and fauna, as well as with its own level of industrial development. On some of the stars there are futuristic cities or some kind of industrial factories, while on others – arid deserts or green jungles. Everywhere there are secondary tasks, as well as various hidden caches or platform tests, by completing which you can get valuable items, new equipment and crystals necessary for pumping weapons. Exploring locations is fun, and environments are often designed for fast travel.
One of the new features is the ability to gravitate towards a spatial rift. The latter are often found at levels and allow you to instantly cover long distances. Usually, even in places where some kind of prize is hidden, which must be reached by winding paths, jumping on various platforms and quickly jumping from one wall to another, the return journey takes only a second thanks to this mechanic. It is also worth noting that the developers have tried to greatly speed up the movement across locations, so our furry heroes have acquired special jet boots that allow them to quickly slide over the surface. By pressing L2 and R2, which gently resist, the main character accelerates like a speed skater. As a result, exploring locations is fun and interesting, and you can always get something valuable as a reward.
Depending on the selected planet, you will play as Rivet or Ratchet. The heroes practically do not differ in terms of the gameplay, and even have a common arsenal, which they glimpsely try to justify the plot. By the way, various weapons have always been a strong point of the games from Insomniac Games, and the developers did not disappoint in Rift Apart. Various stun guns, homing drills and three-barreled pistols can be considered a kind of basic element that has not surprised anyone for a long time, but special grenades, from which poisonous and shooting mushrooms appear, or a watering can, turning enemies into flowering bushes, give a new adventure a unique and inimitable charm … At the same time, there are practically no unnecessary or uninteresting guns here. Of course, some barrels will appeal to you more than others, but in general, different types of enemies require a different approach. Some opponents attack in small groups, and from such it is better to keep at a distance, throwing grenades at them. Others attack one by one and dodge most of the projectiles, so it is better to hit these at close range. Some may hide behind shields or be inside some kind of machine, which also affects the strategy of the battle. Thus, almost the entire arsenal turns out to be useful in a given situation, and the combat system feels very diverse, which allows you to maintain a certain freshness even after a dozen hours of play.
From time to time, you come across segments where you need to solve various puzzles and puzzles, controlling the Clank. The riddles themselves are not difficult, but at the same time they sometimes make you think, distracting from the constant running and shooting. In addition, Ratchet has a new gadget – a mechanical spider named Glitchka, which infiltrates computers and terminals infected with a virus to clean them of malware. It looks like a separate location, similar to a kind of maze, where you need to move along the floor, walls and ceiling in order to find and destroy infected areas of the system, simultaneously shooting viruses similar to toy langoliers.
Rift Apart includes some mechanics aimed at developing characters and their arsenal. The more often the heroes use this or that weapon, the more opportunities open up for its development. For example, the initial plasma pistol at some point can start firing three shells at once, and then, if you pump the corresponding parameters, also narrow their spread. The heroes themselves also improve and increase their health. In addition, their characteristics are affected by equipment that can be found in various caches located on planets. Wearing a helmet, bib and pants are not only displayed in the frame, but also give certain bonuses. For example, if you put on a full pirate set, then the damage from this type of enemies will be reduced, which can make some parts of the game easier. Although I personally wore elements from different sets – to change the look and, again, to get some kind of variety.
Game designers have tried to saturate the gameplay with various solutions that the studio has accumulated over the years of creating other games. Here you can see some of the elements that were found in Sunset Overdrive and “Spider-Man”, and something even remotely resembles Resistance 2… At the same time, everything is implemented in such a way that it seems as if it has always been so.
