Gameplay: 9.2/10
Graphics: 9.2/10
Sound: 8.9/10
Longevity: 9.1/10
Insomniac made the terrific original Spyro trilogy and they proved their talent again with Ratchet & Clank back in 2002. Great gameplay, nice graphics and humor made it an instant hit. I bet they were under great pressure when making this sequel, but I can assure you, it is definitely worth buying. Going Commando is a great platforming game.
A lombax guy named Ratchet and his robot friend Clank are spending their time just lying around bored after saving the galaxy, when suddenly they are contacted by a silly man called Mr. Fizzwidget. Fizzwidget needs their help in an important mission. An unknown masked thief has stolen an experiment called Protopet. Fizzwidget desperately wants it back, so he offers high-technology gadgets to Ratchet & Clank if they decide to accept the mission. They accept it and head off to retrieve the Protopet and stop the unknown thief.
Going Commando isn't pure platforming, like for example Crash Bandicoot and Spyro are. The gameplay also consists of shooting. Most of the game is played as Ratchet, who acquires quite many weapons during the game. Throughout the game, you collect bolts and with them you can buy weapons, ammo and armor upgrades. The price of the weapons range from 1000 bolts to over 200 000 bolts. The weapon arsenal is versatile and futuristic: there is a lightning-spitting shotgun, a bomb throwing glove, a destructive rocket launcher and a laser ray-shooting rifle. When you use a weapon constantly, it upgrades into a more effective version.
The enemies are defeated by shooting, but platforming is the main thing here. Ratchet doesn't only run and jump, he uses gadgets to get through difficult places, for example big pits. With Dynamo, you activate shining platforms, Tractor Beam is used to move large objects around, Thermanator is used to melt ice and freeze water and with Swingshot you can swing over large pits. The controls are great and they can be learned quickly. One con in the game is that there are too few checkpoints, or continue points as the game calls them. Usually you have to go through same sections over and over again, especially later in the game, and that's not nice for anyone, it's frustrating.
The biggest cons are the very annoying spaceship fights. Controlling the ship isn't that bad, but the starship sections are always dull, boring, difficult and seem out of place in the otherwise great rhythm of the game. The enemy collection is impressive. The opponents range from very weak to very powerful. You have to defeat blade balls, mutant fireflies, cleaning bots, huge sand dune monsters, chainsaw robots and grumpy chickenbots, for example. As usual, the flying enemies are the most annoying.
Going Commando looks good, really good. The environments look imaginative and sharp and the character models aren't too bad either, except for Ratchet having quite silly expressions in several cutscenes. The environments range from a depressing swamp to a futuristic megacity and endless desert. The humor is funny and clever. The Megacorp commercial cutscenes are especially hilarious. The dialogs are great all-around in this game. Musics aren't the most memorable, but they fit in the background well. Voice acting is very well done, even Ratchet manages to be unannoying. The sound effects are good from bolts clinging to crates exploding.
The main story is easily over 10 hours long and offers a lot of excitement. Going Commando is definitely worth buying. It was worth the wait and offers satisfying "cartoon shooting" and great platforming. And it offers a lot of challenge, too, so be prepared to be frustrated while playing this one. Anyway, I can easily recommend it to any player who has a bit of platforming game experience and doesn't get angered easily.
+ Combines platforming and shooting in a great way, nice graphics, good sounds, hilarious humor
- Very dull spaceship fights, lack of checkpoints, frustrating at times
REAL SCORE: 9.2