Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal

Ratchet and Clank: Up your Arsenal

Platform: PS2
Release date: 2004
Rated T
About $10 or $15 on Amazon

The Basics
Like the previous two games you play mainly as Ratchet, a catlike humanoid with mad weapon skills and good with his wrench. You're usually accompanied by your robotic buddy Clank who piggybacks it through most of the game but occasionally gets some action of his own. It's a plot driven game but basically you just get a major mission that involves heading to a new planet in your space ship and then blasting the crap out of all the baddies and collecting their 'bolts' which serve as a currency so you can buy more guns, ammo, and armor.
Storyline
Without giving anything major away the story is an entertaining tale that helps to move the missions along naturally. You're basically out to destroy Dr. Neferious, an evil human turned Robot who plans to turn all organic life into robots. So with the help of ego centric Captain Quark and the "Q-Force" made up of goofy and amusing stereotypes. Overall the plot is surprisingly captivating and very often will get you to chuckle anyway. It's just so nutty not at all serious you can't help but smile. I wouldn't go as far as to say hilarious but it keeps your interest in a fun way at the very least.
Gameplay
Something the R&C games have always been praised for. You can't really get tired of blasting your numerous and creative foes with crazy and overpowered weapons. The more you use them the more powerful they get with an automatic upgrade system. There's a massive variety of guns and weapons out there and you also get to hop into a dune buggy, a few turrets, a giant robot suit, and a hover craft along to way. There's no shortage of things to blow up and ways to do it. To aid you in your mass destruction you'll find Gagetron stations along the way which sell you new weapons and ammo for happy shooting. You can also fly back to the mothership to purchase armor.
It's not all running and gunning though. There's some light puzzle solving, plenty of platforming naturally, and a scad of clever mini games along the way. Some of which include the Leisure Suit Larry style hit the correct button as it pases though the hoop to say right things in conversation and a missle avoidance skydiving sequence now and then. You also have several gadgets you have to employ to traverse some obsticles such as your jet boots and jet pack. Good stuff.
And a nice little touch is a 2D side scrolling game that you play to find out about Captain Quarks past, pretty clever and down right addictive.
Control
Yeah it's pretty good. It's a third person game but it allows you to switch to 1st if you like. However you contol both the same way. Much like any 1st person game you contol either of the main characters using both analog sticks and L1 as jump and R1 as shoot. The d-pad isn't really used and X for example is a secondary jump button while square switches to wrench swing attack.
It's not hard to get the hang of it and within no time you'll be hopping and flipping around nailing baddies from the opposite side of the screen without a hitch. The camera is sometimes a bit of an annoyance but it's nothing to cry about. The control is certainly no slouch.
Sound
Nothing too revolutionary but you do notice it for sure. The voice acting is very well done, distinct and humorous. The weapons sound sweet and there's a good variety of sounds too. Though the music isn't incredable it complements the action and level design very well and makes for a fun romp.
Graphics
Very impressive. They're obvioulsy stylized and a bit cartoony but none the less amazing. The level design is well concieved and intuitive. The characters and enemies are well rendered and the animations are cute and smooth. The enviromental detail is quite astounding at times and the water effects seriously make you wonder how the 5+ year old console can keep up. Characters actually have individual fingers and a ton of things blow up nicely. Though the cut scenes are occasionally a little cheesy at times there are also some very impressive sequences. Particularly the dropship bits, it's extreamly well rendered and looks totally highend PC quality with great effects and few jaggies.
Difficulty
Fairly easy. There are some occasionally tricky platformer sequences and sometimes a boss can take a bit of getting used to but with the right artilary and upgraded health you'll probably be all set. The game is very forgiving and checkpoints are all over the place. When you die you don't loose lives or restart the whole level, you begin very close to where you died and can try it as often as you like. Your progress is always saved, even after you die you'll notice that you won't have to do some little puzzles over again. Very nice touch.
Multiplayer
Okay well being on dial-up I wouldn't know but from what I've been told it's nearly as cool as the game, though not exactly full of origional game types it should be a satasfying extension of the game for most.
Replay value and overall value
Quite high. You'll want to try it again to unlock the cheats and complete all the challenges. There are a bunch of Titanium bolts you can collect to unlock new skins and things like big head mode etc. And overall it's just too sweet of a game to want to be done with anyway.
For under $15 you can't really ask for more. It's satasfying, fresh, and very fun...for many ages too. It's rated teen but there's really nothing in it I would feel hesitant about showing an 8 year old to be honest. No blood swearing or sexual content to speak of just comical over the top blasting that isn't at all believable not even taking into account the cartoony vibe. Great fun and mighty addicting, highly reccommended!

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Screenies page:
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