Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

"A great, if slightly rehashed sequel, to the futurisitc blast 'em up."

Insomniac games have had a good profile for making platform games, including making Croc in their early days, then went on to make Spyro the Dragon, arguably the best platform game for PlayStation, alongside the Crash Bandicoot series. The Spyro the Dragon trilogy was excellent, but the first Spyro game was probably the best Spyro game in the series. Having made the smart move of abandoning the Spyro series, as using the formula that made the PSone Spyro series popular would never have worked (Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, anyone?) they made the futuristic platforming blast ‘em up, Ratchet and Clank, right up in the ranks with Jak and Daxter.

Ratchet and Clank was released in late 2002. It was simply a new era to platforming, because not only was it about your standard kicking enemies dead, it was more to do with blasting enemies to their grave with a big selection of guns. But enough of that, Ratchet and Clank 2 is out, as good as it's previous outing.

Ratchet and Clank were enjoying their break after their first outing (I've never played it, so I have no idea what had happened), and suddenly the Thugs-4-less crew came in to gate-crash the party, and kidnapped Clank! For the first few levels Ratchet is on his own, then he goes to rescue Clank, in Megapolis. Having done that his instructor, the Megacorp owner Mr. Fizzwidget who is behind the Protopet tells Ratchet to destroy the Thugs-4-Less boss, but also later in the game Mr. Fizzwidgets protopets (pets to play with) seem to be running havoc! Therefore, can Ratchet and his robotic sidekick Clank, save the day?

One of the reasons Ratchet and Clank 2 is so good is because it's all very cartoony and comical, the way you get to blast stuff to bits with your Class S+++ Laser weapon and also the storyline is the type you would expect from a cartoon. The cut scenes are mildly funny enough to make you laugh and the graphics and soundtrack are none too serious. Not only that, the futuristic setting provides an original place to experience the gameplay, and a good excuse for absolutely insane weapons and gadgets. Why, I hear you ask? How about a weapon that shoots spinning disks that deflect off walls? Or a weapon that plants mini-turrets into the ground that shoot any enemies while they rotate, so you don't have to? Even a weapon that shoots a great big ball, that in turn separates into smaller balls and blast up the enemy? There are even gadgets from gravity boots, to tractor beams (beams to move heavy objects with the appropriate targets) or the thermanator, that can turn a pool of water from ice to liquid in a few seconds.

The genius idea behind Ratchet and Clank 2 is that there is a massive selection of completely bonkers weapons on offer, suited for different purposes. The game is by no means a walkover, as annihilating robotic junk with the blitz gun you used early on in the game or the heavy lancer machine gun proves useless as enemies have greater strength. With a wide choice of weapons the flexibility means you have to decide what weapons to use. Weapons also have limited ammo, so you can't always use the same weapon. Usage of your weapons can result in an upgrade for most of them, so make the most of them all!

Do you think that's it for gameplay? Think again! Any enemies that you defeat, boxes you bash earn you money, with the currency of the future that everyone can enjoy, bolts. You can cash in on the bolts you collected to buy weapons at vendors in all levels, as with ammo for them. New weapons are essential to winning the game. You can collect as many bolts you can, unlike on Spyro where you had a certain amount of gems in a level. There are many mini-games that you can enter to earn big bolts, there are the high-octane hovercar races or even the legendary arena. Platinum bolts are found in hard to find places, you can cash those in for weapon modifications, and raritanium is found at mines or in ship battles if you really want to bolster up your ship.

Not only do you have levels, but there are lots of mini-games slipped into the game here and there, and they're not made as blatant as on the Spyro series. The first mini-games are found at the Maktar Resort, where there is the awesome arena to battle. To be honest this is probably one of the coolest mini-games I have seen. Basically you have to blow up masses of enemies, but there are certain challenges to do, like win 15 rounds with only 300 heavy lancer machine gun shots or win in a time limit. A harder arena is found at the Megacorp games. There are also hoverbike races to win money from and also levels where you have to shoot down enemies with your ship, which is more than welcome, especially when you can purchase upgrades to your ship.

Some of the mini-games are mandatory to get through the game. There's the electrolyzer hacker that resembles a retro game in which you redirect the current through switches to finish the circuit, plus the mighty infiltrator that hacks locks like no other…as Megacorp like it that way, that's a matter of completing the circuit in a time limit, guiding the current the right way. Fun they can be, but they are prone to getting frustrating. A space invaders spoof can also be found somewhere in the game!

The best aspect of the game is the levels. They're a matter of testing your timing and solving puzzles. The gadgets you have are essentially what you use to solve puzzles. One puzzle to find a platinum bolt was a see saw, and ahead of you was the pathway, but the see-saw kept moving. How could you get the bolt? Then you remember, use the thermanator to freeze the water! Sounds easy? The puzzle there was that you had no idea the bolt was high behind you. The level's have lots of everything. Some are about jumping in time, you even have a dynamo to activate temprary platforms so you don't take all day, and plenty of going through frustrating passageways laden with enemies that reappear. Levels are quite straightforward to find yourself round in thanks to an in-game map that can easily be accessed from the R3 button. Not only that, there are hidden areas where you can find platinum bolts.

The games controls are great, you can use the shoulder buttons to strafe, and less emphasis has been put on targeting with shooting and more on the fun of blasting things to bits. Aiming is really easy, it mainly auto-locks for you but you can manually. You can assign gadgets and weapons to quick select, by L3.

Visually the games graphics are excellent. The cut scenes have been done really well, and the graphics feel bright and cartoony for real effect. The sound effects have been done so well you would just expect it, with your booms and blasts. The voiceovers are excellent, actually like watching a cartoon again. The games music suits well with the levels, it fits in well enough to importantly set the atmosphere.

Unfortunately it's time to look at the bad points. Fans of the original would notice that there are only a few innovations in this game that makes the game feel like a rehash of the original, and also the game can be a bit repetitive at times that in turn makes it feel boring towards the end of the game. If this is the first time you've played Ratchet and Clank you will probably think “Wow! This games great!” but it can lose it's appeal at times.

Overall, Ratchet and Clank 2 does feel a bit recycled and can get slightly tedious, but this is a top-notch platform game worth having, it's now available out on the Platinum series for less than £20, if you haven't got Ratchet and Clank 3 already… Anyway, suberp graphics, quality voice acting and crammed in with all sorts of puzzles and blasting, you have to play this.

Summary In a rush? Here's the quick way out!

Graphics Bright and cartoony graphics, great futuristic levels. 9/10
Audio Music fits in well with the levels, great voice-overs. 9/10
Gameplay Blasting things to smithereens and lots of puzzles, awesome 8/10
Length Plenty of levels to go through and other mini-games, but you're unlikely to bother completing the game to perfection. 8/10

Buy or Rent?

A good game to buy, but you're better off borrowing as you're unlikely to play it a second time.

Overall Superb platform action that's one worth playing. 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/17/05