Akimbot Review (PS5) – I can never get enough Ratchet & Clank. I was hooked when I first played it as a demo at a local retailer. The third-person shooter/platformer was perfect for me as a child who grew up on Crash Bandicoot and Twisted Metal rather than Mario.
My only issue with Ratchet & Clank is that a brand-new game isn’t ready for me as soon as I complete one. As you can expect, this is why I was so excited when I first saw a trailer for Akimbot.
Akimbot doesn’t hold back on where it took inspiration. From the Lombax-looking main character to a tiny, talkative sidekick, Akimbot is a bright and fast-paced third-person shooter/platformer. However, can it compare to the juggernaut that is Ratchet and Clank?
Akimbot Review (PS5) – If You Need A Ratchet & Clank Fix, This Can Only Hold You Over, But Not Sustain
A Classic Story Of Two Unlikely Companions On An Adventure To Save Everything
Akimbot doesn’t do anything to reinvent the wheel with its story. As the game starts, we know nothing about our two new protagonists. Nevertheless, events thrust the two together, often reluctantly.
The main bot you control is the Ratchet-shaped mercenary bot named Exe. He is presented as someone who has no ties to anything except survival. Meanwhile, your small, camera-looking floating companion, Shipset, is the defenseless but pushy character that causes the team up and often gives you your next objective.
Throughout this review, I will keep comparing this game to Ratchet and Clank, not as a bar to hold it against, which would be unfair, but as a way to convey my message.
Akimbot is its own game and has its own goals. However, the game draws much inspiration from the Ratchet series. Not comparing the two would be impossible.
The dynamic between Shipset and Exe is similar to the first Ratchet and Clank game. Both use the other to escape their situations. However, their personalities couldn’t be more different.
I often got the vibe that Exe was voiced by Will Friedle using his Batman Beyond voice with a slight adjustment. Exe is brooding, cold, and a loner.
Meanwhile, Shipset feels like Claptrap from Borderlands and an old VHS camcorder had a child. Both work exceptionally well independently, making for an exciting duo.
Throughout the game, you see Exe and Shipshet’s relationship evolve, partly because they need each other to survive but mainly to defeat Evilwear—the game’s main antagonist.
The story isn’t complex, and it doesn’t need to be. Like other platformers, you have a goal and an enemy, all required to get to the next gameplay motion. Akimbot is no exception. While the story serves its purpose initially, the gameplay is the real hero.
Jump, Dash, Shoot, Melee, Heal, Repeat
Akimbot doesn’t try to invent or reinvent platformers. It does everything you’d expect from a third-person action platformer. Again, similar to Ratchet and Clank, the game focuses heavily on shooting and dodging out of the way of incoming attacks.
The guns acquired are slotted into an inventory tied to the directional buttons: The rifle is up, the sniper is right, the rocket launcher is down, and the machine gun is left. These are given out throughout the campaign and are often needed to defeat specific enemies.
Along with these gift weapons, you will have access to the Black Market, where you can purchase and equip a particular version of one of the four archetypes.
While the shooting is fun, my main issue with this design is the lack of options. You can only equip one specific weapon; that special weapon doesn’t acquire ammo from the world; it only comes from exploded enemies.
This means you often run out of ammo because the energy received is much less than the energy used, causing you to revert to a story-given weapon in most situations.
Luckily, I ended up enjoying all the weapons I spent time with. The gun-play is snappy and feels excellent. Dodge out of the shot, then mildly land on my feet to take out the enemy with either a gun or the laser sword that comes out of your arm. It was always satisfying and where the game shines.
Akimbot knows the players are here for the action and the gameplay, and you can tell they took time and effort to do it.
From the moment you start, they always keep you on your feet with space battles, car racing, mini-hacking games, and even a romp on the back of Grimlock from Transformers.
Not Perfect, But Something I Would Return To If There Is A Sequel
Rarely are games perfect, and even more rarely when they are the first in the game series. Akimbots’ most significant flaw is its great inspiration. Ratchet and Clank has had years to perfect its gameplay and universe and grow its fandom.
While Akimbot sometimes fails to capture the same level of fun or achieve the same level of polish as a Ratchet and Clank game, it is imposing. From the look of the world to the feeling of the gameplay, Akimbot was a joy to play.
The negatives, like how ammo works or the small number of weapons, feel as large as they do because of how great everything feels when clicking.
Akimbot is a great time and a fun game. I hope they give it another chance to explain all the systems they implement and tweak a few quality-of-life improvements.
Akimbot is now available on PS5.
Review code generously provided by publisher.