G-pinions

I'll give you eight guesses who that is. Hint: It's not Master Chef, or Ms. Aran. Now, while you're racking your squishy brain for answers, I'll kill some time talking about how I'm not going to post about God of War until I'm farther into the game. I will say that the game is as good as I could have hoped for, probably better. Not the fifth best game of all time, mind you, but definitely one of the most enjoyable.

Anyhow, did you guess it yet? It's Ratchet. Ratchet: Deadlocked (for PS2 this fall) to be precise, shown in the new EGM for the first time alongside the new Jak and Sly games (which I'll get to in a second). I guess the rumors that Insomniac were working an a PS3 FPS for launch weren't entirely true, at least not yet (unless they've split up their team, which I suppose is possible). So what can I say about Deadlocked? It just seems entirely unnecessary. Up Your Arsenal was a perfect conclusion to an amazing series that could have been reborn is a much classier way next generation sometime. The game was more or less perfect, despite being the tiniest bit too similar to Going Commando. Regardless, two of my favorite games of all time. So why did Ratchet need to grow up? Why did he have to take Jak's lame path of dropping his lovable cohort's name and become all dark and moody? The series might have needed a stronger character direction, as he was the only rotten apple in the bushel, but this isn't the way to do it. 'Squad-based combat play in a combat-based reality show'? C'mon guys...this isn't Ratchet. Online co-op through the single-player obviously sounds enticing, but why not just give the series a rest? Spyro outstayed his welcome, and they're about to do the same here. Ugh.

On the other side of the coin, there's Jak X, a kart-racing combat game set in the Jak universe. While this may seem even more ridiculous and inappropriate, one thing gives me faith and excitement. Crash Team Racing. Specifically, that it was an amazing kart racer, right up there with the 3D Mario Karts. So, Naughty Dog knows what they're doing. It seems like a nice combo of GTA, Midnight Club and Twisted Metal from what I've read, exploring a sprawling city to find various challenges within. The Jak series kind of lost my interest when Going Commando trumped the focus-tested, unbalanced sequel, so I can't say I mind them doing something pretty different this time. Oh, and it's rumored X will have online multiplayer as well, which I can't imagine won't be fun.

There's also Sly 3; as much respect as the series deserves, I just can't get into the lame character designs. The sneaky gameplay is crazy tight though, and this one has co-op (online and off, I assume). So there's that. I just can't imagine third and fourth sequels in three different series will compete with an Xbox2 launch, no matter how good they are. Why not just give them a rest and really get a head start on the PS3 stuff?