This game is a short, undercooked, taste of a concept. It feels like an exceedingly polished piece of fanwork. As a product, it's a terrible deal for the price. As a played experience, it is far from the worst Ratchet & Clank game.
I don’t care much for the concept of tower defense games, and given this game’s general reception, it sounds like most Ratchet & Clank fans don’t either. Although I don’t know what makes a good tower defense game, I think complaints of this game’s length is proof that it starts to tap into a flavor of fun before it abruptly ends. Frontal Assault has poppy animation, a soundtrack approaching hummability, and has solid couch co-op multiplayer. Weapon variety is good, and levels are just complex enough to have a few hidden collectibles.
Gameplay overall errs on the easy side, which means the greatest danger is a lower score rather than a game over. Playing it solo can feel a bit restrictive and repetitive, as the nature of tower defense means running back to base and across the map often. When playing with a buddy, there’s just enough happening simultaneously to make delegating tasks feel like a strategic team effort. Though as a duo, the only thing you’re guaranteed to kill is the frame rate.
Trying to play this game online in 2022 was a hilarious exercise in futility. I actually found a single person looking to try a ranked match, which I think started without them confirming to participate. This resulted in my wandering around an empty field until I won by time-out. But I still got credit for the online achievement, so I’ll call it a wash.
In my rating system, 2 stars represents an average, C rank game. I can’t hate Frontal Assault, and think most of the ire directed towards it is a feeling of opportunity cost that effort wasn’t put into making a mainline Ratchet & Clank game. But seeing as I did not enjoy any mainline game released after Frontal Assault, I almost wish Ratchet would have gone the Kirby route and kept trying outlandish game ideas.
I don’t care much for the concept of tower defense games, and given this game’s general reception, it sounds like most Ratchet & Clank fans don’t either. Although I don’t know what makes a good tower defense game, I think complaints of this game’s length is proof that it starts to tap into a flavor of fun before it abruptly ends. Frontal Assault has poppy animation, a soundtrack approaching hummability, and has solid couch co-op multiplayer. Weapon variety is good, and levels are just complex enough to have a few hidden collectibles.
Gameplay overall errs on the easy side, which means the greatest danger is a lower score rather than a game over. Playing it solo can feel a bit restrictive and repetitive, as the nature of tower defense means running back to base and across the map often. When playing with a buddy, there’s just enough happening simultaneously to make delegating tasks feel like a strategic team effort. Though as a duo, the only thing you’re guaranteed to kill is the frame rate.
Trying to play this game online in 2022 was a hilarious exercise in futility. I actually found a single person looking to try a ranked match, which I think started without them confirming to participate. This resulted in my wandering around an empty field until I won by time-out. But I still got credit for the online achievement, so I’ll call it a wash.
In my rating system, 2 stars represents an average, C rank game. I can’t hate Frontal Assault, and think most of the ire directed towards it is a feeling of opportunity cost that effort wasn’t put into making a mainline Ratchet & Clank game. But seeing as I did not enjoy any mainline game released after Frontal Assault, I almost wish Ratchet would have gone the Kirby route and kept trying outlandish game ideas.