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The latter part of Sony's duo of great platformers arrives. Ratchet and Clank was a great platform title, one of the few that tried to do something different. Naughty Dog delivered two games in two years (the Jak series) and those turned out fine so I had high hopes that Insomniac could do the same. Luckily, they were able to.
The biggest draw of the Ratchet and Clank series has been its incredible weaponry. The first game had cool guns but you didn't really need them in order to progress. It had its challenging moments but for the most part, those cool guns weren't used to its full potential. I guess enough people complained about it since in Going Commando, those enemies are quite a bit tougher. This makes the game a bit more challenging but you have a few tricks up your sleeve as well.
There are tons of guns in the game. Most of them are new but the most popular ones from the originals can be purchased. If you have a Ratchet and Clank save on your memory card, you'll get a bonus or two. Best of all, all of these guns can be upgraded meaning that there are actually over forty weapons for you to attack everyone else with. To upgrade the guns you'll need to use them often, rewarding you for picking your favorites. Out of all the guns my favorite has to be the Lava Gun, it's quite a blast to use.
Ratchet is also stronger as you progress through the inclusion of hit points and armor. You're a bit on the weak side at the beginning of the game but do a good job and you'll get a bit stronger.
Besides all the gunplay and platforming you'll find a lot of things to do in the game. There are several battle arenas around the game, which are challenging and quite fun. One of the main additions to the game is the "mega-games" which are just well, mini-games. Here you'll race others in a cool hoverbike, dogfight with enemies in a space ship, and take control of a Giant Clank. They are really just minigames but the battle arenas and space ship segments are quite amusing. The much vaunted spherical worlds don't detract from the game but they seem more to show off the new graphics engine than anything else.
And boy are the graphics awesome. The game shares a graphics engine with the awesome looking Jak II (just as R&C did with Jak I) but seems a bit more detailed since it doesn't have to render Jak II's massive city. This means that the framerate runs at nearly 60FPS for the most part with very few drops. The levels are huge and very detailed and the characters look great. Ratchet and Clank looked awesome but this is probably the best looking platformer right now.
The audio of the game is surprisingly strong too. The tracks are technoish and fit the game very well. There are tons of sound effects to be found, too. The voice acting is crisp and Ratchet is less annoying than he was before.
Technically, the game supports widescreen and progressive scans in the visuals. Dolby Pro Logic II is supposed for the audio.
If you beat the game you'll unlock a new mode "New Game +" which lets you start over with all your stuff. The catch is that enemies are quite a bit harder in this mode. If you have the skills, you'll love it.
Ratchet and Clank was an awesome game. It was really pretty and played excellently. Going Commando makes the game even prettier while tweaking some of the complaints of the previous game. While I'm a fan of Jak II's GTA inspiration, Ratchet and Clank Going Commando is one of the year's best platformers. Without a doubt. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Nov 18, 2003
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