Removing a few old mechanics for some new tricks keeps the gameplay fresh, and easily rivals the other Ratchet titles.
Life after saving a galaxy on their second adventure proved to be much more eventful than after their first. Clank became the star of the TV show "Secret Agent Clank" and seemed to be living much more comfortable lives. That is, until Ratchet's home planet is attacked by an alien race known as the Tyhrranoids. Behind it all is the Dr. Nefarious, a robot with rather, well, nefarious schemes. After repelling the initial attack, Ratchet and Clank must recruit the help of the only person who has ever defeated Dr. Nefarious - Captain Qwark himself. Hilarity ensues.
Up Your Arsenal retains the same wonderful blend of platforming and shooting, which is the perfect foundation to build the game around. Most of the planets follow the same general principle, with two or three different paths to their own objectives. Some of the objectives open up a new planet through a story cutscene, others lead you to new gadgets or other items that are required to move on in the immediate future. In other words, if you have played a previous game in the series, then just about everything will be immediately familiar. Of course, each path shows some new ideas in terms of layout and enemy placements, which makes for a big factor in the success of the formula.
However, not all is exactly as it once was. A few aspects of the previous title, like the starship battles and rail grinding, were dropped completely to focus on other aspects of the game. While initially disappointing, the overall quality in the rest of the game certainly shows. What was added are new mission-based planets, or missions available after clearing a planet through traditional means. These missions tend to happen on a relatively small and wide-open map, and tend to have 4 or 5 different objectives in a series of missions and focuses on primarily shooting. Some require you to hold a spot against an enemy onslaught, some have you seek out enemy leaders, some have you neutralize a base's defenses, and so forth. The series of missions tend to have some logical progression to them, from gaining a foothold, setting up defenses, repealing an attack, then going on a counterstrike. Some of these have you use a hovership, which essentially replaces the space combat in the previous game. While it takes a little bit of getting used to for the controls, it does perform pretty well once you get the hang of it. The mission format in general will certainly be familiar to anyone who played Ratchet: Deadlocked, the sequel that created an entire game around the mission structure. Also of note is a simple Captain Qwark 2D platformer that is played a couple of times in the game, which does a good job of giving a change of pace without overstaying its welcome.
As usual, there is a new assortment of gadgets and weapons to choose from. The swingshot, a grappling hook that lets you swing over certain points, is the most noteworthy that makes its return. The water-based gadgets from the previous two games are gone, but the disguise gadget makes a return in the form of a Tyhrranoid disguise. The most interesting new addition is the Refractor, which lets you redirect energy beams to use as an offensive weapon and as a way to open doors for puzzles. Clank, in his playable segments, no longer has the little-used bridge or hammer bots from the previous game, but he does gain a banana gun. Qwark's cyclopean monkey pal cannot resist a banana, so lobbing a banana at a critical position and having him chase it will enable Clank to overcome a number of puzzles.
On the weapon side of things, the weapon experience system was greatly expanded upon. This time, weapons can gain experience to grow up to level five. At each new level, they can become more powerful, gain new abilities, or other modifications like auto-target and acid. A few old favorites from the original like the Suck Cannon make their return, along with several new weapons like a gun that creates a rift in space or one that can shoot lightning at multiple enemies. Those with a save from the first Ratchet game can receive a small discount on all new weapons, while those with one from the second can receive a select number of old weapons for free if you bought them in that game. Some of the returning weapons are among the most powerful in the game, including the Bouncer and the Plasma Coil.
Graphically the game maintains its signature art style, and made small improvements to the engine and environments as well. Action takes place on a variety of planets, from an aquatic base to a dense jungle, large cities to tiny moons, and of course the required secret hideouts. Characters still animate smoothly and are in great detail, the weapons are still big and unique, and the particle effects are still very good. The music is as upbeat and whimsical as in previous games, and fits with the overall mood of the game and the planets themselves well. The voice acting is wonderful, and brings the characters to life with their own over-the-top personalities, particularly with the villains and a few returning side characters.
The single player campaign is about the average length for a game in the series, taking a good 12 to 15 hours to complete. When you factor in optional content like battles at Annihilation Nation, obtaining all 30 challenging skill points, finding all hidden titanium bolts and so forth, things will obviously take even longer. After finishing the game you can play through in a challenge mode, where enemies are tougher but you can upgrade your weapons beyond their level five cap. Another big feature upon the release (though largely unused by players at the time of this writing) is an online multiplayer mode. The combat is excellent, even though the game boiled down to strafing sideways and leaping over oncoming fire. Standard modes like deathmatch and capture the flag is present, along with a siege mode that had teams capture points on the map in an attempt to overrun the enemy's base.
In the end, despite (or due to) various mechanics being dropped and replaced with new ones, Up Your Arsenal not only stands up with the high standards of the previous games in the series but perhaps surpasses them as well. Anyone who has enjoyed a game in the series, or platformers or third-person shooters in general, will undoubtedly love Up Your Arsenal. Those that have never played a Ratchet & Clank title before will certainly want to give this title a try, as there is an awful lot to love about it.