Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One delivers an overall fun and entertaining experience that only slightly outstays its welcome. With a vast array of weapons and varied level design, plus a new focus on cooperative play, there is enough here to keep you amused for the majority of the game and also overcome its problems.

Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One is the epitome of a mixed bag. While there are many things to love about the game, there are also quite a few elements that are out-dated in the third person platforming genre. Take the camera, for instance: in a game where you are required to collect ‘Critters’ which can be found littered throughout the levels, it can be incredibly frustrating when you are unable to explore certain parts of the map because the fixed camera stops you from venturing further. It is a shame that the game employs a shoddy perspective in a world that is fun to explore because of its varied and pretty landscapes. However, in a game that offers a lot of fun moments, these few frustrations can be forgiven.
All 4 One begins with Ratchet and Clank, recently retired, forced back into action when a Dr. Nefarious’ plan to capture Captain Quark goes awry. This sees the four form an unlikely team to take on a new enemy and find a way home. The plot and combination of these characters creates some genuine laugh-out-loud moments, especially moments involving Quark and Dr. Nefarious. The only issue is the voice acting that occurs in-game, which can become excruciatingly repetitive, especially the annoying sound of Clank’s laughter.

As said before, the focus of this game is very much on co-op. During some of the intense fight sequences, having four players on-screen at the same time proved a little too chaotic, losing sight of which player was where amidst the explosions and gunfire. Two-player seems the most comfortable, providing the best approach to working through enemies and ability to compensate for the awkward fixed camera angle. The game performs excellently offline and online, with no signs of lag or problems finding lobbies. There is a competitive element too with the collection of bolts and Critters, and bonus bolts are awarded at the end of each level to whichever player collected the most, as well as for completing other objectives. When playing offline, the AI does a good job working with you in solving puzzles and taking on enemies, though the AI may die, but with the game’s infinite respawn it doesn’t prove to be a problem. While each character  has different looking melee attacks, they all pretty much play the same, and as they all unlock the same weapons, there is no real reason to play through as each character separately. There doesn’t appear to be any special function to the character level-up system.
One problem with the game is its save system. It’s shocking that a game with no definitive levels still uses a checkpoint save system, occasionally forcing you to play up to 30 minutes between saves. It should have been easy to implement a save system in this game, but frustratingly even the checkpoint system put in place is sporadic at best. I found myself having to play through 20 minutes worth of gameplay multiple times because the game didn’t save, despite the rotating bolt (indicating a game save) coming up before ending a play session.

The game’s levels are well designed too, brightly coloured, varied and vivid. Cut-scenes are far more detailed than actual gameplay, but the maps are still fun to explore. Enemies are diverse and change in each world, ranging from small and easy beasts to giant robots. Boss fights are entertaining and are a nice change of pace from the constant traversing of levels.
The variety of weapons is excellent, ranging from a simple pistol to huge rocket launchers and shields. You will soon find yourself having two or three favourites, but certain enemies are less susceptible to certain guns, and certain areas require special equipment to progress, meaning that no weapon is ignored throughout the course of the game. Sadly All 4 One employs a lock-on shooting mechanic, meaning that you will more often find yourself merely holding down the shoot button and jumping around instead of doing anything fun. Shooting can become tiresome quickly in the longer battles, especially as the lock-on mechanic is erratic at best, making it very difficult at best to switch between targets.
Between all of the bot-bashing and Critter-catching, there are some well thought out puzzles that require intuition and in most cases both players to solve. The variety of these puzzles keeps things fun and interesting between fights, and gives you more weapons to add to your arsenal that aren’t strictly used in combat. These puzzles also place further emphasis on the co-op element of the game, requiring players to fire their partner to a higher level, or across a wide chasm to access a switch, or pull levers at the same time.
The single player can last around 10-12 hours. While I had fun with the game, the story tended to drag towards the end. This is simply because of the type of game it is; the mechanics seem perfect for an 8-hour game, so playing through, the game mechanics can feel a little old by the end. While it offers good variety in its gameplay, the action can get a little tedious.
 
Closing Comments
Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One is a good game. The new focus on co-op makes it a great game to play with friends and family. While it is not essential to play with others, as the AI is more than capable of acting as your compatriot, the game is far more fun when playing with a person. The huge array of weapons means that there are loads of ways to fight through this game. Sadly the game’s lock-on system means that the shooting sections make you feel more like a bystander dodging the return fire than actually taking out enemies.
The fixed camera angle feels archaic, especially in a platformer, and it’s a shame that you are prevented from exploring a world that is so pretty. However, the genuinely funny cut-scenes, intuitive puzzles, variety in enemy and level design make this game an overall fun package (if a little too long).
Good in single player, great in multiplayer.
 
The Good:
+Lough-out-loud interactions between characters
+Varied level and enemy design
+Vast array of weapons at your disposal
 
The Bad
-Fixed camera angle is a nuisance
-Inconsistent save system
-Lock-on shooting makes you feel like a passive presence