I love it when people attach review scores to opinions based on how a game "looks" to them. That sorta defeats the purpose of analytical criticism. Critics never seem to get it right.

Funny, I don't see any sevens in this thread, I see eights and nines. And critics are doing a worthless task it seems, if all it really takes to review a game is to watch a few videos and partake in bitchy criticism of game mechanics you haven't actually tried yourself.

Well, it's evident by the demo that this is gonna be one of my favourite action games. The subject matter and the different components are all things I love on their own, and the way they're surprisingly well combined here means it'll prolly be a "cult" favourite with me, personally.

The reviews have given me confidence in the overall staying quality of it as a franchise, though. Hopefully it'll sell well (what else are PS3 owners gonna buy though I wonder? :O) so it sees the inevitable sequels. Hopefully the framework is laid proper so we don't need to wait ages between games, and the linear nature of it should help keep development focused aswell.

Not to mention it not being in the clutches of an evil hype machine that deliberately spaces games so fans are like rabid dogs and pre-order the crap out of it.

Well, I have two games for it and I've had it since the european launch. I haven't exactly felt inclined to pick up Lair nor Heavenly sword, and on december 5th there's really nothing else gunning for the PS3 charts besides Un...er..... that's eerie.

I'm sure the name won't actually keep it off the charts though.....right..? :O

This game gets my stamp of approval, and thats ALL you should need to go by. I give this game one pair of pants down in excitement. The highest score I've ever given any game was two pairs of pants down, and that was when I forgot I was wearing two pair.

Well the sales of Ratchet were never that great to begin with, but on PS2 that didn't matter as much. I wonder where all those niché titles will end up now that everything costs a fortune to make. :|

I'm not saying they sold poorly, but they were long term sales rather than through the roof day one numbers a la Halo.

Also, they sold to a niché audience that was established during a long life cycle of the PS2. This is a year after the PS3 release, and the audience just isn't there yet.

Nah it's okay, it's good to clarify stuff. :D

I do still wonder though. I must say I'm surprised that there even is a Ratchet game this early on the PS3, and I certainly don't think it's a coincidence that Naughty Dog take this opportunity to break into a new demographic (hardcore gamers that have run off and got a PS3 already) and save the inevitable Jak stuff for later.

Yeah the PSP game was outsourced.. because... really who wants to spend time making a PSP game anyway? :P

There's actually... some seriousness in there. :)

Naughty Dog were making Jak X at the time, and no doubt doing prep work for Uncharted aswell.

As for Ratchet.. you know.. yeah.. I dunno how big Insomniac are, but they had Resistance at release.. and I don't care what people say about that, that game was big and really well produced, so when they threw around the concept of a Ratchet game only a year after (regardless of the fact that development had already started on it) I didn't really think they'd make it.

On top of that, Ratchet - while flirting with a hardcore audience too of course - is a very *family* friendly game (avoiding the dreadful "kiddy" term), and I dunno what kind of family has a PS3 at this point.

That's not to say you can't have a family and a PS3.. but.. aw dammit you know what I mean! :P

So yeah, I figure it's something of a gamble to put one out to what's sure to be a tiny audience. It doesn't seem lacking in production values either.

(If anyone is wondering how this is on topic, there's a lot of similarities between these two companies, what they used to do and what they're doing right now in terms of demographics and venturing into new areas.... Please buy this excuse.)