PlayStation 4 banger gets free update 8 years on

This is a delightful and yet unexpected surprise. PlayStation exclusive Ratchet and Clank just received a brand new update, eight years on from launch.

Yes, you heard me right. Ratchet and Clank, the 2016 release - not its successor Rift Apart. Ratchet and Clank may not be as polished as its sequel, but it’s still well worth playing.

The weapons, traversal techniques, and world designs excel, making it very easy to overlook Ratchet and Clank’s not-always-successful film tie-in segments.

It undoubtedly set the stage though for the fantastic Rift Apart which is, to this day, one of my favourite PlayStation 5 games. I urge you to give it a whirl if you haven’t already but I digress.

This month, Ratchet and Clank celebrated its eight anniversary and whilst we thought Insomniac Games might celebrate the game with a sweet social media post, they surprised players by launching a free update.

Take a look at Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart in action below.

The update is available to download now and introduces a new weapon into the game, the Bouncer.

It’s new to Ratchet and Clank (2016) for most players but if you were enjoying this franchise back in the PlayStation 2 era, you may recognise the Bouncer from Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal.

It also appears in the latest Rift Apart. The weapon’s gimmick is that it essentially fires a series of bouncing bombs.

If you already have the Bouncer in Ratchet and Clank, it was actually once available as a pre-order bonus but dev James Stevenson (community and marketing director at Insomniac) has since been campaigning to make it available to all players.

“Been trying to make this happen for like half a decade. I couldn’t get it done. Tim couldn't get it there. But @TheAgentOfDoom finally pulled it off with our partners at PlayStation,” he wrote.

That day has finally arrived so why not embark on a fresh Ratchet and Clank a fresh playthrough with this new weapon?