Ratchet & Clank (2002 video game)

Ratchet & Clank is a 2002 third-person shooter platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2002. It is the first installment in the Ratchet & Clank series as well as the first game developed by Insomniac to not be owned by Universal Interactive.

The game follows a Lombax named Ratchet meeting the robot Clank on his home planet, Veldin. Clank discovers that the villainous Chairman Alonzo Drek of the Blarg race plans to create a new planet for his species, destroying other planets in the process. Clank convinces Ratchet to help him in his mission to secure the assistance of the famous superhero Captain Qwark.

The game offers a wide range of weapons and gadgets that the player must use to defeat numerous enemies and solve puzzles on a variety of different planets in the fictional Solana Galaxy. The game includes several minigames, such as racing or security hacking, which the player must complete to proceed. The game was very well received by critics, who praised the graphics, gameplay, voice acting, audio, soundtrack, and comedic approach to the story; some criticism was directed at the camera, the characterization (especially in regard to Ratchet's personality) and the low level of difficulty in early stages.

The game was followed by Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (2003). In April 2016, an animated film based on the game was released, preceded by a remake for PlayStation 4 based on that work.