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Written by Ian Johnston
Key Points
- Enemy AI is vastly better than it was in R&C
- Enemy hitpoints have increased dramatically
- New maxi-games, which are essentially deeper, replayable mini-games
- Improved lighting and multi-pass rendering
- Progressive scan and 16:9 support
- Better animation
- Weapons can be modified
- Completed levels can be returned to for the purpose of upgrading weaponry
- Ratchet & Clank 1 save can be used to acquire free weapon mod
- Ratchet can obtain four different types of armor
Widely regarded as one of the best platformers ever made, Ratchet & Clank successfully amalgamated elements from a number of different genres, the end result of which was an extremely compelling gameplay experience. It was awarded five platformer of the year awards and became the first American made game to be bundled with the PlayStation 2 in Japan. To date, the game has shipped 1.7 million units worldwide. With success like that a sequel is a certainty, and the folks at Insomniac Games have indeed been working on a sequel for quite some time now.
Thankfully, rather than release a rehashed sequel with a few forgettable additions, Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando will have a slew of improvements that should make it an even better game than its predecessor was and is. One of the first big changes is the amount of energy Ratchet can have. As was the case in R&C 1, Ratchet starts out with four units of energy, which are known as nanotech in R&C 2. As Ratchet destroys enemies and acquires bolts, a bar located beneath his units of nanotech will slowly fill up. Once the bar has been completely filled, Ratchet gets an additional unit of nanotech. He can get up to eighty units.
This increase in energy is necessary to compensate for the increased energy of the game's various bad guys. There are now four different energy ranges for Ratchet's opposition; minor enemies have between one and five hitpoints, midrange enemies have between two and twenty hitpoints, upper level enemies have between two and sixty hitpoints, and the boss level characters have between five and one-hundred and twenty hitpoints. The enemies in R&C 2 can also inflict up to thirty-five points of damage per attack, whereas in R&C 1 each enemy could only do one point of damage per attack.
As the game progresses, the enemies Ratchet will encounter become more armored, and therefore more difficult to defeat. In addition, the enemy AI has been drastically improved. Enemies are now always doing something rather than just standing around idly. They know that Ratchet is present, even if leaves or tries to hide. They will even work as a team, if need be, in an effort to take Ratchet out.
Like his enemies, Ratchet too can acquire armor - up to four different types. He also has twenty new weapons at his disposal, eighteen of which can be upgraded at special mod shops. However, if you have a memory card with a R&C 1 save file on it, you can get modded weapons for free. Should you find that your weapons aren't powerful enough to get you through a particular point in the game, you have the option of returning to a previous level to destroy enemies until said weapons are sufficiently upgraded.
Also of note are the new maxi-games. In R&C 1 there were some mini-games, but once you had played them that was it, they were over and done with. R&C 2 features maxi-games, which are deeper, more complex self-contained games that can be played over and over again. All told, there are three maxi-games that can be unlocked.
From what we've seen of Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando, fans of the original - and fans of platformers - are in for a real treat this November. The thought, care, and effort that the people at Insomniac Games have put into making R&C 2 better than R&C 1 really shows.
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