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Reviewed by Ian Johnston
Byline: Ratchet and Clank are back, and they're in fine form.
Platformers are a dime a dozen these days, and most of them are pretty mediocre. At the same time, some of them are quite exceptional. The original Ratchet & Clank is definitely one of the latter. Not only was it a great platformer, it was a game that reinvented its genre to a certain degree. It managed to fuse RPG, action/adventure, and platforming elements seamlessly.
Here we are a year after Ratchet & Clank's release, and developer Insomniac Games has released its sequel, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. Going Commando has a lot of the same qualities that its predecessor does; cool gadgets, lots of unique weaponry, and huge stages. Only this time around the gadegets are cooler, the weapons are more plentiful, and the stages are bigger. The folks at Insomniac Games changed things up just enough to make Going Commando seem fresh while at the same time making sure it remained true to the original Ratchet & Clank.
In the first game Ratchet and his trusty robot pal Clank were out to stop the evil Chairman Drek from building a new planet from the best parts of other planets. This time around the story is quite a bit different. Ratchet and Clank have gone to work for Abercrombie Fizzwidget, the head of a company called Megacorp. Someone has stolen a top-secret experiment from Megacorp and Mr. Fizzwidget wants Ratchet and Clank to get it back for him.
Visually, Going Commando is stunning. The various stages, which are comprised of different planets, are all quite different from one another. Virtually every type of environment is represented; urban, desert, jungle, canyon, and frozen wasteland to name but a few. Most of the stages are a synthesis of high-tech looking buildings and one of the aforementioned environmental conditions. And, not only do they look great, but they also feel incredibly large and grandiose. There's always a lot of area to explore and plenty to do. A lot of the environmental accents can be destroyed as well, and they usually contain some bolts. The bolts are what you use to buy ammo and new weapons, so destroying everything you can is definitely advantageous.
One of the series' trademarks, the weapons and gadgets, are also back and better than ever. Ratchet 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 some modded weapons for free and others at a big discount. 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.
The weapons vary quite a bit, including a shotgun, razor-blade gun, bomb gun, remote-controlled spider bomb (a little spider that you can guide towards enemies and then detonate), machine gun, turret gun, and a sniper rifle to name but a few. Since certain weapons and gadgets are needed to get through certain portions of the game, there is a quick-select weapons system that lets you toggle quickly between a set number of weapons and or gadgets. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough slots, so you'll frequently have to go through the in-game options menu to select a gadget or weapon you didn't have room for.
The game's audio, like the graphics and gameplay, is excellent as well, though mostly due to the sound effects. Each weapon has its own unique sound effect, which is cool, but the best part of the audio is definitely the voiceovers. Hilarious cutscenes crop up intermittently featuring the game's eclectic cast of characters. They're just so well done and funny that they add a nice amount of levity to the game. As for the music, it consists entirely of composed tracks made specifically for the game (no licensed music). They all sound decent enough, but are largely forgettable.
As was the case in R&C 1, Ratchet starts out with four units of energy, which are known as nanotech in Going Commando. 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 acquire 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. Of course, Ratchet can acquire new armor as well, so he isn't totally outmatched. 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.
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. Each of them typically comprises a mission, so in order to complete all the game's missions you'll have to play each maxi-game once. Two of the more entertaining ones include a Starfox-esque space battle and a hoverbike race. If you decide to play any of the maxi-games more than once you simply earn extra bolts.
Highs:
Great graphics, huge stages, lots of cool upgradeable weapons and gadgets, lengthy quest
Lows:
Not enough quick-select slots for gadgets and weapons
Verdict:
The benchmark has been set. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando is one of the most enjoyable, finely crafted platformers ever made. It doesn't drastically deviate from the formula that made the original such a success, but then again, it doesn't really need to. It's one of the few platformers around that really requires strategy, and on a more basic level, it's just plain fun to play. Fans of the original Ratchet & Clank should consider Going Commando a must own game, as should any fan of expertly crafted platformers.
95%
Copyright © 2004 Ian Johnston
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