Developer Reactions to Press Reactions
Matt posted in My Work on February 13th, 2007

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters came out today or comes out tomorrow depending on who you ask. The press reactions so far have been pretty favorable, which has been really great to hear. Here are some links:

IGN – 90%
GamePro – 85%
Yahoo! Games – 100%
Games Radar – 80%
GameZone – 90%
Game Helper - 90%
1UP – 70% 

Now, perhaps the most noteworthy review is 1up’s. Now, I’m not complaining about a 7.0. On previous games I’ve worked on, a 7.0 was something to feel good about. What I’m complaining about is that the review is very poorly written in my opinion. If you read the review, you’ll notice that very little is about our actual game. It gives very little specifics. The large portion of it is about how it falls short of the PS2 games high standards. Now, I am a huge fan of the first three Ratchet and Clank games for the PS2. I’m well aware of how high they set the bar. If the author doesn’t think this game lives up to the legacy of the previous games, that’s understandable. That’s probably worth mentioning in the review. My complaint is although 7.0 according to 1up’s rating scale is “good”, very little of the article is spent backing that up. Most of the article is spent bashing it for not living up to its PS2 brethren. When I read a review, I’d like to know why it got the score it did, but unfortunately, this article only talks about the game in a negative light. On reading the text, I wouldn’t have guessed that they give it a 7.0. That, to me, is a sign of a bad review. The review should be supporting the score you gave. A review where the score is a surprise – completely incongruous to the article – is sloppy. Confusing the readers is not an admirable journalistic technique.

What makes it even more frustrating, is the reviewer who seems to put the previous Ratchet games on such a high pedestal is not even familiar with them. Here’s a quote: 

“Some of the gadgets are new and innovative (I’m thinking especially of the PDA, which lets you access the ammo vendor from anywhere…for a premium price).”

Now, as most Ratchet fans are aware, the PDA was in the original Ratchet & Clank as well as Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. So, it seems that the author who is quick to make comparisons to the original Ratchet & Clank series did not have familiarity with them.

Now, maybe you think that I’m being immature or overly-sensitive to call out this poor review. But, I’m upset. I’m upset because the author is telling me that I did a bad job. That’s fine. I like hearing all different opinions about my work, so I can improve it, but it’s irritating because (in my opinion) HE’S doing a bad job at his job with the inaccuracies and inconsistencies. Perhaps, someone should offer reviews of game reviews. I don’t think this one would rate all that highly. People on the gamefaqs boards seem to agree.