Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

"One of PS2's very best games!"

Ah, 'tis was a good year for platformers. Well, 2002 was. In 2002, we say incredible entries into the platforming genre, some good, like Maximo, Sly Cooper, and some bad, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (I bet you were expecting me to list Dr. Muto. I only played the demo though and I loved it). But out of all of 'em, Insomniac's (of Spyro the Dragon fame; the first three, not the awful multi-platform one by Check-Six Games)first PS2 game, Ratchet & Clank, was the greatest of them all, and one of the best platformer's on all three systems, besting the previous champ, Jak & Daxter by Naughty Dog. So of course, like Spyro, a sequel was inevitable. And hell, what a sequel this is!

Many people look at Going Commando and say ''meh, it doesn't look different. Jak II looks different though!'' and honostly, they're right, but could you imagine Ratchet and his robotic pal Clank in a different kind of game? Ratchet & Clank was a masterpiece, and Going Commando is way better: Bigtime. In fact, (like my Jak II review) here's the recipe for R&C:Going Commando: Take R&C, add deeper and more strategic gunplay with strafing; weapons that level-up with frequent use like something you'd find out of an RPG; remove the hoverboard and replace it with the awesome Hoverbike challenges; add Star Fox-esque shooting bits; gladiatorial fights;etc. Going Commando has so much substance it'd take me a long while to list it all.

The story starts off right where the original Ratchet' left off: Ratchet and Clank are now famous for defeating Drek, but they get bored, and when Mr. Fizzwidget of Megacorp sees it on TV, he teleports them to his galaxy immediately. He offers him to work for Megacorp (Gadgetron isn't around anymore; now it's Megacorp)as a commando (hence the title. No, Ratchet isn't ditching underwear). His assignment is to retrieve an experiment created by Megacorp that has been stolen by a thief. To stop you, he hires ''Thugs-4-Less'', a group of well, thugs, to stop you. So Ratchet starts his new journey. In my opinion, the story isn't as good as the original's plot, as it mostly relies on fetch quests, but it has some suprising twists after about 5 or 6 levels in.

The basic formula is the same. Head to levels, complete objectives ( there are always two or more paths for completing all of the objectives), get co-ordinates for other planets, buy guns along the way, etc; but Going Commando adds so much more. As you fight with a specific gun, per every enemy you kill, a meter in the corner goes up a bit, and once it reaches its maximum, it'll upgrade itself into a more powerful gun. As well, undernearth your health counter, a meter builds as you kill enemies and once it reaches its max, your total health increases by one. You can go up to 180 HP (I think) compared to the original's 8, which had to be bought. This adds a whole new layer of depth that makes it even more fun then just killing enemies and getting their bolts. This time, you're getting experience points as well.

Also, practically everything you got is customizable. Your ship, which has Star Fox shootouts, can be upgraded, your wrench, your commando suit, etc. It's very satisfying and adds lots of extra hours into it. The graphics engine has not been changed, but that's not a bad thing. In my opinion though, Jak II looks prettier, but Going Commando is still one heluva' looker. The attention to detail is astounding, just like all of Insomniac's games(hence the name. Get it?) and there's always lots of stuff to do. Always.

Also, Insomniac incorparated ''Maxi-Games'' into it. When you get to a maxi-game, you're given ''challenges'' and completing one unlocks another. There are gladiator fights, which while are really fun, are pretty easy in my opinion. Like I mentioned earlier, there are Star Fox-like shooting bits. These are allways really fun, but are the opposite of the gladiator bits; they can be downright menacing. Unlike other shooting games of this type (like Star Fox) you can slow down your ship so it moves at a snail's pace. This isn't in Going Commando, and there are some racing missions where you have to go through rings where you go fast after you boost. A minor gripe, but still. Another maxi-game are the hoverbike races. These are designed to replace the original's Hoverboard races, and are extremely fun. They never get too hard, and never get too easy. I'm convinced that Insomniac's next non-Ratchet game should be a futuristic racing game slightly using the Hoverbike engine.
There are lots of other things, but I'll stop and let you find them.

I covered almost all of Going Commando's gameplay details, but it's still fun right? Very. But Going Commando suffers from an originality problem. The music hardly seems different, some of the levels are similar to the original's levels (Metropolis is almost exactly like Metroplois from the original), and there aren't any major graphical updates, mainly minor ones, and compared to other games on PS2, like Jak II in particular, that up the ante a lot, Ratchet plays it safe and stays. That's not a bad thing, as the graphics are still mind blowingly good and some of the best on PS2. The music is also really good, with great voice acting. But I didn't find a lot of the music very catchy in this one. In the original R&C, I can't remember every single music track 'cause they're catchy and addictive. I can't remember barely any from Going Commando. This may not be a problem for some, but I like catchy music in my game's (I remember all of Jak II's music as well)

I also wish the weapon upgrade system could've included one thing. In this, you're relying on a meter to how close your gun is until it upgrades, but it's small, and you can't check how many more enemies must be killed or anything like that. A slight problem. As well, it seems that all the ammo you get from ammo crates look the same, unlike Ratchet & Clank's (the ammo here look's like the Blaster's ammo from R&C), and in R&C, whatever ammo you get when you smash it is whatever weapon you're equipped with. Not so here. Here, they just give you random ammo. Tjis became a pain in some parts of the game. Another problem that bothered me.

Overall though, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando is an astonding sequel. I really can't judge which is better, Jak II or this, but they're both masterpieces, and you owe it to yourself to get either one, or better yet: Both.

-SCORECHART:
-DIFFUCTLTY:6/10(1 easy;10 hard)
-BEST FEATURE:Upgradable weapons!
-WORST FEATURE: Feels too much like the original.
-VISUALS:9/10 -ORIGINALITY:6/10
-SOUND:8/10 -REPLAY:9/10
-CONTROLS:9/10 -OVERA::9/10
-THE VERDICT: BUY. It may still feel like the original, but this is still an unbelievably good game. Better the original, as good as Jak II, and one of the best platforming games in recent memory!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/16/03