Up Your Arsenal: Old Thrills, New Thrills, Definitely Worth a Look!
User Rating: 9.2 | Ratchet & Clank 3 (Platinum) PS2
The Ratchet & Clank series of games burst onto the scene two years ago with the groundbreaking game of the same name. Built by the people responsible for the Spyro series of games, the game boasted interesting levels, excellent graphics, and some solid platforming action. But where the game strayed from the tried-and-true formula of 3D platform gaming is where it truly succeeded: Instead of forcing players to collect items from various exotic game world locales, they instead armed the player to the teeth with weapons and told them to blow stuff up. How successful was this formula? Successful enough to change Ratchet & Clank's competitor series (Jak & Daxter) from a game about hunting for orbs into a game about combat. And successful enough to spawn a second game (Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando) that built on the combat formula, introducing gameplay elements that encouraged the use of weapons. Which brings us to the third installment of the Ratchet & Clank series: The game doesn't venture too far away from the formula that has been established, and continues to build on its past success. Fans of the previous games will find this game familiar, with the new elements of gameplay easy to come to terms to and master. The story is a continuation of the story built upon in Ratchet & Clank and Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, with our dynamic duo once again resting on their laurels after saving yet another galaxy. However, just in time, another threat appears, and they made a big mistake: They've threatened Ratchet's home planet. You would think that the villains would have learned after the first game, but they haven't. And off our heroes fly. This is where things start to break down. Going Commando had a (sort of) plausible reason for you to lose all of the gear that you meticulously collected in the first game. But in Up Your Arsenal, no explanation is given. Instead, knowing you're heading for a war zone, Ratchet decided to leave all of his weapons at home, relying on his trusty wrench instead. The game quickly routes you through a couple of tutorial levels, in which the new features of the game are demonstrated. These new features are generally good, such as the battlefield missions in which you are tasked with specific mission objectives to help out the war, to the gameplay maps having more than one area per planet. Gladiator arenas and spherical worlds also return to the game, though the space combat scenes and grindboot rails are gone. The game also features a "home base" planet, a welcome change from past games. You are able to stop by this home base at nearly any time in the game to stock up. The weapon vendor on the home base has the ability to let you use the weapon in a VR simulation before you buy it, which is a WELCOME addition. Too many times in past Ratchet & Clank games a weapon has gone neglected because it seemed useless; only to find out it's the most powerful weapon available (think Bouncer). There's also an armor vendor now, and some VR arena training, which is some very easy gladiator combat. Additional collectibles are also available on planets, taking the form of trophies of characters within the game. While the core gameplay elements haven't changed, some things seem to have been improved in order to keep player interested throughout the game. Weapons and health now upgrade more often, with the weapons going through several power upgrades before their final form is realized. Gladiatorial combat now benefits your weapons with experience, unlike in Going Commando, and there are several "cash cow" quests and missions that you can undertake in order to keep your coffers full of cash at all times. The game's difficulty seems to be down a bit, too. Enemies are smarter but more easily dispatched, and bosses are a downright disappointment to fight. Improvements, however, have been made to the graphics system. While the Ratchet & Clank games have always had a spectacular graphics engine, this year's edition is the most robust yet. With giant robots, lizard-monsters, laser shots, and the requisite overabundance of background animation, I have yet to notice any slowdown. The colors are bright and vivid, and the character animations are unsurpassed in any other game of this genre. And this visual brilliance is even great in the online portion of the game. This brings us to the most significant addition to this year’s Ratchet & Clank game: Online play. For the first time, the game includes multiplayer options, including up to four players with a multitap -- No, you don't need a multitap to play with only two players -- and up to eight people online, with a maximum of two players per console for online play. The game sports Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Siege, and Capture the Flag play modes, all of which are executed with the style and panache that you'd expect from a Ratchet & Clank game. From the bright and colorful online play maps to the elevator/lounge music in the online lobby, it all fits right in. The game supports the USB Headset, which is a good thing, since there doesn't seem to be any other way to communicate with your teammates during online play otherwise. The good news about this is that the headsets feature no breakup or added lag when you're playing online, even with an 8-player Siege game, with everyone barking orders left and right. There is also integrated clan support, from online clan maintenance to reserving clan slots in the games you create. The online play continues to improve, and as more and more people venture online, it will further enhance the experience. Overall, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is more than just a good platformer or a good online shooter. It's an exercise in being more than the sum of your parts, a collection that exceeds the effort put into it. Fans of the previous two games should not miss this game, since the system improvements helps the playability, and it's hard to resist another galactic romp with the odd-couple of space warfare. Newcomers interested in a new platformer should also give it a look-see, as they might be interested in seeing what a platform game can do when freed from the shackles of collecting orbs or crates or whatever. Jaded gamers sick of games that spew blood and gore and portray atrocious acts can look here and see you don't need anything other than good level design and some big explosions to have fun. And anyone interested in a light-hearted online experience that doesn't require a big time or money investment should give this game a shot. I don't think you could possibly lose.
