Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

"Going Commando! What could be more fun?"

Yeah, that line's from the back of the box. So shoot me.

So, I was just walking around, and I saw RAC2 in the window. I was bored, so I bought it. Now, its my 2nd favorite game of all time. Let me explain.

1st: The Weapons.
There are over 100 different weapons and upgrades. The only weapons that are underwhelming are the Zodiac and the Lancer/Heavy Lancer. My favorite weapons are the Vaporizer(Sniper Rifle), Mini Nuke, the RYNO 2(A rapidfire gun that shoots ballistic missiles), Killinoids (Little robots that float over your shoulder, shooting everything on screen), the Tesla Shield(A shield that blocks all damage, and shocks enemies that come within its range), and the Plasma Storm (A little ball that bounces around the room and shocks everyone within 20 feet of it). Those are only my favorites, and there are many, many more to choose from. Almost every weapon has a use in different situations, making the weapons even more fun to use.

2nd: The RPG Elements
IMHO, this part of the game makes this game a 10 instead of a 7 or 8. Each weapon you buy has an experience meter. For each enemy you kill, your meter goes up a little bit. For weapons with lots of ammo the meter goes up slowly. For weapons with little ammo, the meter goes up faster, which is a nice balancing act. Sometimes, the upgrades are just more powerful versions of the original forms, but most of the time, they do all that and more, gaining new features, like splitting into two or shooting 4 times as many bullets as the original. You can also buy mega and ultra weapons in challenge mode, but I'll get to that later. Also, for every enemy you kill, your nano-tech meter goes up. When your meter goes up all the way, you get a new health block. You start out with four units, but by the time you've beaten the game 100%, you'll have the maximum amount of 80, making you a force to be reckoned with. Lastly, you can buy armor upgrades, that reduce damage by 33%, 50%, 66%, and 90%. Needless to say, when you have 80 nano-tech and the 90% armor, you're pretty much invincible.

3rd: Storyline

The storyline in this game is very funny, and seldom serious. The storyline made me LOL countless times. I won't spoil the story for you, but it involves Ratchet and Clank becoming commandos and going on a mission for the president of a large company, trying to recover a stolen experiment from a masked thief. However, the thief, the experiment, and the company president are not all they seem to be.

4th: Gameplay

The most important part of a game. The control is perfect, and the weapons are integrated perfectly, making you think about which one you're going to use in different situations. The gadgets, maxi-games, and backpacks are all perfectly implemented so they become second nature. Oh, and BTW, money is called bolts. If there's something wrong with the gameplay, it's news to me.

5th: Replay Value

This is where this game really shines. It gives you a reason to beat the game 3, 4, 5, or even 6 times. You see, once you beat the game in normal mode, you restart the game in challenge mode. In challenge mode, you have a bolt multiplier. When you kill enemies, your multiplier goes up. Your multiplier can go up to 20. The reason for this multiplier you ask? Well, I'll tell you. In challenge mode, you can buy mega weapons. Yes, mega weapons. Mega weapons are more powerful versions of your upgraded weapons. At the most, mega weapons cost 1,500,000 at the most, and 150,000 at the least. Also, you can upgrade these mega weapons into super powerful ultra weapons, which are at least 1.5 times as powerful as the mega weapons. See why you need the multiplier? Space ship fighting,hoverbike racing, and crystal collecting maxi-games all give you 10x as many bolts as in normal mode. Even with all this multiplying, it'll still take 3 or 4 runs through challenge mode to get enough bolts and experience to beat the game fully. Overall, it takes about 50 hours of gameplay to beat the game 100%.

6th: Secrets

There are many secrets in this game. The coolest one, IMO, is the insomniac museum. Once you've beaten the game 100%, you have access to the Insomniac Museum. This is a large room that catalogues things that were deleted from the final cut of the game. You can also test ratchet's vertical and horizontal jump ability, and his wall jump ability. Besides the Insomniac Museum, there are 30 skill points in the game, ranging from destroying everything in a store to getting under 2:10 in a hoverbike race. Every 5 skill points you get, you get a cheat. Just go to the codes section to see the cheats.

The Verdict:

My favorite game of all time, next to Legend of Legaia. Don't rent this game, because you'll be wasting money. Buy it, and buy it now.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/04