Roughly one year after their first adventure, Ratchet & Clank are back in Going Commando. Following their triumph over Chairman Drek and the infamously inept Captain Quark, Going Commando begins with the heroic duo having achieved their 15 minutes of fame. Appearing on the television series "Behind the Hero," Ratchet & Clank explain to the audience how their lives have slowed down a bit in the past few months. It seems like no one needs a hero anymore...

But at that very moment, in a nearby galaxy, as Abercrombie Fizzwidget (Chairman of the technological conglomerate, MegaCorp) watches the broadcast, he realizes that Ratchet is just the heroic adventurer to solve his problem. MegaCorp's latest fantabulous invention, the Proto-Pet, has been stolen by a mysterious terrorist. And it's up to Ratchet, as a soon-to-be-newly-trained MegaCorp commando, to recover it at all cost.

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando is as much of an evolution in platforming gameplay as it's predecessor. Although where the original Ratchet & Clank was roughly 70% platformer and 30% action, that ratio has been flipped on it's head for Going Commando.

While it was possible to play through the original game using nothing but Ratchet's ubiquitous Omniwrench 8000, the action in Going Commando has been cranked up to the boiling point. Not only will you be using weapons more often, you will constantly be switching between the variety of weapons at your disposal, depending on your current situation. A subtle but much welcomed change that allows you to do so is the fact that the Quick Select Menu now pauses gameplay until you make your selection.

Although at the beginning of the game, Ratchet's arsenal includes a meager two weapons (and the Omniwrench). Soon enough, you will be running, jumping, and smashing your way through levels with more than 30 different weapons, gadgets, and armor. That's right, this time around Ratchet will be able to acquire body armor to reduce the amount of damage he takes in battle, along with a significantly larger health bar. And not only that, but by using each of the weapons you purchase from the MegaCorp vendors, they will upgrade themselves to much more powerful versions, effectively doubling the available weapons in the game.

Beyond the typical platforming levels of the genre, Going Commando expands the gameplay experience by including combat heavy Arena battles, hoverbike races, spacecraft dogfights, and more Clank-only missions than in the first game. The numerous Arena battles and space dogfights can be played through multiple times to collect more and more bolts, in order to afford the more costly items in the game. Which is nice, because everything is a lot more expensive this time around. While the hoverbike races and Clank missions are typically one-shot affairs that drive the main story line. It's possible to play through the hoverbike races multiple times as well, but I can't imagine that anyone would want to do so.

On it's face, there doesn't appear to be a drastic improvement in the graphics of the Ratchet & Clank engine. Although a side-by-side comparison of the two games would no doubt show subtle improvements for Going Commando. And as in the original, all of the game's characters and enemies are exceptionally well-designed, with excellent textures and animations. And the environments, although not departing from the platformer cliché, are all colorful and vibrant.

Much like in the original game, the writing in Going Commando is very well done, providing an entertaining story filled with quirky characters and fairly witty dialogue. The voice-acting is once again superb as well, as are the game's musical score and sound effects. The music of the Ratchet & Clank games is always very fitting to each level it represents, while the sound effects for the weapons are always satisfying in their design, whether it be the sci-fi laser beam of the Sheepinator or the controller-shaking explosion of the Gravity Bomb.

Going Commando is easily twice the game that Ratchet & Clank was. Where in the original game, playing through again on "Challenge Mode" was mainly just an effort to try and collect the many Platinum Bolts and Skill Points, in Going Commando, playing through a second time allows you to continue buying all of the weapons and armor you couldn't afford on the first attempt. Which is made significantly easier with the ability to gain copious amounts of bolts just by avoiding taking any damage.

From the first cut-scene to the last, I was able to finish Going Commando in roughly 28 hours, with the Challenge Mode taking another 8 hours or so. In all, Going Commando could offer upwards of 40 hours of gameplay without losing any of its appeal. Although my score for Going Commando is the same as for the original Ratchet & Clank (based on the technical categories of the game), I would say that Going Commando is the more satisfying and fun game of the two, but I probably enjoyed the story of the original more. In the end, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando is an immensely fun and action-packed platforming adventure that anyone would enjoy.