"Heroes never die, they keep coming back as re-runs!"

Mindless gonzo combat as an analog for scathing potshots at manufactured celebrity - a much more resonant theme now than on release - they made you, and will turn on you in an instant for being exactly what they created you to be. Unquestionably a downgrade from the previous games though, Ratchet is barely an entity in this and you can't even play as Clank - but boy does this do the whole forced 2000s grit cringe WAY better than Jak II and III. In fact this whole thing feels like a predictor of the gaming generation to come - with an emphasis on fleeting short-attention-span gameplay over depth, so you can crank out these missions (in dull, empty environments) as fast as possible without having to really think about it. But it's also reasonably fun at doing that, plus the story is loaded with searing social satire and is absolutely fucking hilarious to boot (Dallas and Juanita ftw). PS3 port is rife with visual glitches and framerate drops. Grindrail sections are HOT ass. Had a good time with it no doubt, but also really glad they got this out of their system.

At first glance, Deadlocked is a full game of the tournaments from other Ratchet games.

And, yeah it's pretty much that. But what it really ends up being is a Ratchet game with a focus on pure chaos. You can upgrade your weapons and modify them more than ever before. You're fighting more enemies on screen than ever before. More bolts. Etc.

Deadlocked nails the core Ratchet gameplay loop so well that even with the lack of platforming, I consider it to be a top tier Ratchet game.

This is actually the only Ratchet PS2 game I didn't own growing up, but I did borrow it from a friend so I have beaten it about a million years ago (or, you know, 2005/2006). Remember it being pretty fun and at least a decent multiplayer game, though even then I didn't really enjoy it as much as the previous three games. Playing it now, I can't say I enjoyed it all that much. It's still Ratchet & Clank so the gameplay feels very good and the weapons are fun to use (love the Scorpion Flail), but everything else feels lacking to me. The plot's decent, but the satire falls a bit flat for me (which it honestly always did in previous games as well since it felt a bit too... light, maybe?) so it's mainly just background noise that occasionally shows up throughout the journey.

The level design has taken a step even further beyond how it was in 3, going from at least some semblance of an action platformer, to an almost pure arena shooter where you play in the same arena over and over again since planets only have one real stage that you do different missions in. That lack of variety would be one thing if the levels were at least a bit interesting, but they all seem to be designed to just be as boring as possible, from the eternally brown look to most stages, to how they all feel like they're just a bit too big for their own good while also focusing way too much on just running to the correct spot in order to spawn enemies (that have way too much health and deal too much damage (especially since they love attacking from off-screen) on higher difficulties) or having your annoying robot side-kicks turn screws while Ratchet protects them. On that note, mission variety is also a big issue, with most of them being recycled over and over, making it feel ike I've beaten the same mission several times, just with different backdrops. God, what a tedious experience this was, and don't even get me started on the awful vehicular missions!!! Good boss fights, though.

Seems like Gladiator is pretty well-beloved by R&C fans these days, but despite the gameplay still feeling as good as you'd expect, everything surrounding it just makes me too bored to be able to really enjoy it as much as I do the other games. It's fine, really, but maybe just not what I personally want out of the franchise, or maybe any franchise for that matter. Still got every skillpoint, though, so it obviously wasn't the worst game I've played and maybe okay when I just wanted to completely shut off my brain for a couple of hours. Also have to say that, as disliked as the HD remaster is, I don't think there was a single point where it really affected the experience? Sure, cutscenes can be a little jittery, but I didn't notice any issues with slowdown or graphical glitches while playing.