Customer Reviews

Ratchet & Clank Up Your Arsenal

5 star:		(187)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am a huge fan of the series, having played both the original and the sequel. The first game is a stand alone classic and the second was even better. This blows both of them away.

I liked the weapons upgrades in the second game and this greatly improves it. Instead of one level up, there are FOUR. Combine that with the upgrades on challenge mode and your weapons will never get stale.

The minigames in the game are really fun. It has arena matches like those in the second game and adds combat missions alongside the Galactic Rangers. These can prove challenging but reward you with many bolts.

The first game had lots of humor in it. The second had some but not as much. This game returns to its roots and gets you laughing throughout the cut scenes.

Final Review: This game is bigger, better, and more fun than either of the first two games. Fork out the money and get it. Its well worth it.

Difficulty: Medium

Gameplay: Really Fun

Duration: 15-25 hrs (over 25 hrs to get everything)

Recomended: Most Definitely

Wait to Get It: Are you kidding me?

Final Score: 10/10

The Ratchet and Clank series is one of the best all around gaming fun on the market. The games are long but interesting, you can replay them countless times, and now it's online too!

First, the game is fun for kids and adults. There's a fair amount of humor that will go right over kids' heads, that adults will laugh their heads off of. There are all sorts of references to Aliens, Halo, and other pop culture events. There are also many references to the previous two Ratchet and Clank games, so I highly recommend you get those and play through them.

The graphics are really great in a cartooney way. The characters seem quite lifelike - far more than in some pseudo-photorealistic games I've played recently. It's a testament to the talent of the animators of this game. You really do come to be quite fond of the various characters involved.

The weapons are simply BRILLIANT and now each one has four levels of upgrade, which makes them change in appearance and improve in functionality. You have lava guns, electric arcing guns, mini-turrets, and my favorites, the little doomie robots. Actually, each weapon is my favorite in certain situations. That's the brilliance here - every weapon can be really a lot of fun.

The levels are all plotted out with their own look, feel, music, indigenous monsters, you name it. It is truly amazing how much this affects game enjoyability. Other games I've played recently had music that was lovely, but just didn't fit the mood of the level. It really makes a huge difference to have that done well.

Because you can go back to levels and gain more bolts, look for secret bonusses, find the titanium bolts, use your magnetic shoes, etc. etc., there is always room for more fun. This isn't a game that you play through once and put on a shelf. It's just as much time the second or twentieth time through the game, blasting away with your zappy electric gun or setting loose hordes of doomies.

And let's not forget the plot, which is full of laugh out loud comments and great, sly comments. This game just has everything you could want.

But there's more! The brilliant addition with Up Your Arsenal is the online gameplay. If you become a super player, not only can you kick through the game with ease, but you can take your gameplay online and find out just how good you really are! All of the great weapons and graphics are there for your enjoyment!

A must-buy for PS2 fans, 5/5.

Ratchets back! This game, based on what I've seen, will definitly top the second Ratchet, though probably not the first one, 'cause you can't beat the classics now can you? Thought the graphics improved in Ratchet2? Wait till you see this! The enviroment is much more detailed, with bigger enviroments. You can get around 25 weapons and gadgets. And guess what? They can be upgraded FOUR times!! Returning weapons I've seen are the Lancer. The new weapons are AWESOME! There is this one called a Plasma Whip (self explainitory), one called a Rift Inducer that shoots out black holes that sucks enemies in, and (one of my favorite so far) the Infecto Gun, that infects an alien or monster and it makes it attack some of it's own kind.

The story starts out with Clank. Clank is living the good life and has his own t.v show where he's a secret agent. Ratchet isn't doing as well. He sometimes makes guest appearences on the show as Clank's butler. Well not all is well, in Ratchet and Clank land. Dr. Nefarious has made a plan to destroy all organic lifeforms in the universe with his Tyrannoids. They then join up with the only uhh "alien" to have defeated him before. I'll give you 3 guesses who that would be. Don't know? *cough* Captain Qwark *cough*. Well Ratchet and Clank join "The Q-Force" . The Force includes, Skid McMarx (R&C1) Helga the fitness trainer, and Big Al (robot repairman from R&C1).

It takes place in Ratchet's own galaxy, where, from what I'm told, you'll be going to some of the same planets in the first one, but different parts of said planet (I'm guessing you'll go to Veldin again). One new planet that attracts my attention is Florana, where the Q-Force's HQ is. This level is beautifly done, with detail in the plants and water.

See where we're going here? I can't wait for this game to come out. The story's great, the enviroment detailed, and many weapons and gadgets to be discovered! I would highly recomend this hit!

Ratchet and Clank was a suprisingly fun game. It's your typical 3-D third person shooter, like Destroy All Humans

Story

Up Your Arsenal is the 3rd in a series. I have not played the first two, but I am inclined to try them out. It follows the humorous story of Ratchet, a cute cat-like alien wielding a big gun, and Clank, his little robot sidekick. However, from the perspective of most people in the game world, the roles are reversed. Clank is a James Bond like secret agent, and Ratchet is his bumbling chaufer.

This leads into the the comical nature of the story. For the most part, it's not gut busting comedy, but there's enough dry wit to keep you smiling, and sometimes laughing through the cut scenes, and sometimes during the game play as well.

The story also features Captain Quark, "The best superhero the galaxy has ever seen," who though being a coward and moron, overshadows Ratchet as well.

The game is also chalk full of references to other games and movies. There's enough that I'm certain to have missed a lot of them, and those I caught I really enjoyed. A few examples: One of the cowardly troops in the game exclaims "We're all gonna die! Game over, man!" borrowing from the movie Alien. Also there are a number of mini-games that are very similar to some old-school Atari games.

Weapons

Unlike many shooter games, you don't start off with a lame weapon that becomes increasingly useless as the game progresses. I'm speaking of course about that stupid single-shot pistol.

Instead, you start off with a wrench (melee weapon) that can 1-shot groups of small enemies both in the beginning and end of the game, as well as having a powerful jump attack that can 1-shot large enemies in the beginning, and 2- or 3-shot large enemies in the end game. It's particularly useful in the end game to clean up groups of enemies to preserve ammo, or take out one or two enemies that have gotten too close.

The first ranged weapon you get in the 1st level is a shot-gun, a weapon powerful enough to be reserved for mid-game in similar games. The remaining weapons only get more powerful from there. The 2nd weapon you'll get is a ranged area-effect bomb that can groups of large enemies in a single shot.

To keep the weapons useful as the game progresses, they each become more powerful, the more you use them. Taking the shotgun for example, in the beginning it has a short range, but wide (cone) effect. When it gets to level 3, it gains a charge up ability increasing the depth of the cone, as well as damage done. At level 4, it can lock-on to enemies, so you can shoot easier while moving, and at level 5 (max) it gets a charge up ray effect with the power of the BFG in doom (no joke, it can level the playing field quite easily)

There are also a series of unique and very fun weapons, such as the Suck Cannon. A gun that vacuums up enemies, and then spits them out at other enemies. Also one of my favorites, the Duck Gun. A gun that just turns your enemies into harmless ducks! Strategically, I haven't found much of a use for it, but it's just fun turning things into ducks!

Difficulty

For the most part, I found the game relatively easy to play. There are about 20-30 different weapons to choose from, but the controls make it rather easy to swap weapons mid-combat. I've been able to use the rope gun to swing from one ledge to another, mid fall, switch to the remote turret launcher, and by the time I land have the laser whip in my hand to wreak havoc.

The game-play was easy enough to be relaxing and enjoyable, but not so easy that I got bored. I typically had to tried each level 1 to 3 times before I got passed it. For the most part each level is unique enough to keep me moving with out that "been there - done that" feeling (like what you get in Halo) The levels were easy enough that I didn't feel the levels were impeding my ability to enjoy the story.

The only exception would be some of the last 3 or 4 levels that were to the point of difficulty that I had to spend 3-4 hours trying and retrying to pass them.

One thing to note, is the save style in the game. It uses save points and continue points (similar to Halo). Save points are places where you can start after turning off your Playstation. Continue points are places where you can start over from in the event of death, so you don't have to start over from the beginning, so long as you don't turn off the Playstation. For the most part this wasn't too bad, but there were a couple places where I was forced to repeat a boring (easy) part that took 5 minutes, just to get to die at the hard part, over and over and over again. That got frustrating, but at least there weren't too many such places.

Play Time

Ratchet and Crank is a quick game. With out any prior experience with the game or others in the series, I was able to beat it in about 20 hours of game play. If I tried again (which I'm certain to do soon), I could probably beat it in about 14 to 15 hours play time. Someone who knew it inside and out could probably beat it in about 10 hours.

Replayability

The game is loaded with hidden location, and unlockable features. Even after the 20 hours of play time, I'll be going back to levels I've already beaten to find those secret locations, so I can unlock more skins, cheats, etc. Similar to Rogue Squadron, there are places in earlier levels that are inaccessible with out tools or weapons that are earned later in the game, encouraging the player to go back and replay some levels to unlock various secrets.

It's also a fast enough game, with enough humor that I wouldn't be surprised to find myself playing it through from beginning to end again with in the year.

Without doubt, the Ratchet & Clank series has my favorite PS2 games. This installment of the series has the solid foundation of the first two and thus it's still a good game. However, this game simply didn't deliver the entertainment of the first two.

Pros:

1) The game writers retain their sense of humor, which I believe is CRITICAL in a Ratchet & Clank game.

2) The major new feature of this game is a mini-platform-game. It's a Super Mario Bros. type game with Cpt. Quark and it's really fun.

3) They replaced the rocket ship battles with hovercraft battles and they are almost all optional.

Cons:

1) The game was too short. I completed the single player in 20 hours and I usually complete Ratchet & Clank in 40.

2) Multiplayer mode doesn't make up for a lacking single player game. Unreal 2004 is much better for this type of multiplayer game.

3) The diversity of monsters is disappointing. The first three worlds show the usual Ratchet & Clank gameplay of each world having its own monsters and the best weapons to kill them. The following worlds see the same monsters over and over - so combat gets repetitive.

4) The many ways weapons upgrade is pretty fun, but if you use a weapon infrequently, it'll become useless later because it doesn't have the power you need.

5) The laser-allignment puzzles to open doors have changed to speed challenges requiring minimal intelligence and fast reflexes. There are no intellectual puzzles anymore.

6) Nearly all of the acrobatic challenges are restricted to the arena - and they aren't very challenging. There is only one significant swingshot and powered platform challenge. The skating and rail-grinding challenges are completely gone.

7) There's only one 'asteroid' world.

Overall, this version of Ratchet & Clank is much more focused on combat and far less on puzzles and acrobatics - and the combat isn't as varied as it used to be.

I've loved all three of the games in the Ratchet and Clank series, this one no less. I'm not an active Online gamer, epecially where Shooter games are concerned, so that wasn't a big deal. Unfortunately, it seems that the Online mode caused the One-player mode to come up a little short in this installment. There just seem to be fewer levels. That could only be a perception, however. As I've not counted the number of levels/missions, I can't back that up with statistics. It just seems that I flew through the main story more quickly than I did the first two (or at least the second, Going Commando).

Pros:

1. New weapons (the Rift Inducer is really cool), with more levels of upgrades than before.

2. Freebies from saved games of R&C 1&2

3. Online capable

4. New mini-games

5. Acquiring bolts is much easier

Cons:

1. One-player mode seems to lack size in comparison to Going Commando (fewer worlds?)

2. You don't have the 'dogfight' missions in your spacecraft. Sure, there are hovercraft missions, but they aren't as cool.

Ratchet and Clank was the series that basicly made me want a PS2. When I heard about the 3rd installment, I was SOOO EXCITED!!! This was a very good game that people will enjoy playing again and again. In the beginning, Ratchet and Clank have saved the Bogon galaxy, and are just kickin' back, when they learn that Ratchet's home planet is being attacked by an alien race called the Tyrrhanoids. Later on, we learn that the true villan, Dr. Nefarious, is plotting to destroy all organic lifeforms, or "Squishees." It's up to Ratchet and Clank and the newly assembled Q-Force to eliminate Dr. Nefarious and save the Solana galaxy once again. Apart from that, this installment features the (in my opinion) long awaited Multiplayer mode! Grab a multi-tap and some buddies to play local, or hook up to the Internet to duke it out online. Even though the online universe of the game is scarcely populated due to the recent release of Ratchet: Deadlocked, you can still find some people online. With a wide array of weapons, a thrillingly funny storyline, and multiplayer capability, this is a very great game sutible for ages 10+ even though it's T. The main reason it's T is the guns you use to destroy enimies. Still, it rocks- Agent 001/7.

I picked this game up on 11/3. Once again Insomniac has out done themselves! The graphics are superb, the story line excellent, the voice acting top notch, the additional characters are hilarious and helpful and the game play is flawless! This game is outstanding! I couldn't stop playing it. I played for 5 hours straight and it was hard to stop and go to sleep. I'm addicted and proud of it!

I also played the multi-player mode and it is just as good as single player. I'm looking forward to trying the online play as well.

If you have the first 2 games, this is a must have. If you don't have the first 2 games and get this one. You will end up wanting the first 2 games.

Thanks Insomniac.

Here's some stuff I found about Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal...
There are 18(ish) new weapons, most have 4 levels of upgrade(that's just the FIRST time around...) and the chaos has reached an entirely new level!!! The weapons include the
SEARING PLASMA WHIP-which upgrades to expand its melee range.
RIFT INDUCER-which sends out a mini black hole, very useful when the odds are against you.
INFECTOR-causes enemies to attack one another, upgrades into the Infoecto-Bomb
N60 STORM-sends out a storm, upgrades into a hurricane
by what it looks like, the Zodiac, Lancer, Glove of Doom, and probably the RYNO are back.
There will be just 5 weapons in multiplayer mode to control the (BROADBAND ONLY *_*) chaos.
Characters coming back: Skid McMarxx, Helga the fitness trainer, Big Al, maybe the plumber, and, of course, Captain Qwark.

The Ratchet and Clank series continues in this action-packed installment! This game is an amazing third installment of the Ratchet and Clank series, and is filled with what a Ratchet and Clank game always has; mayhem, destruction, guns, humor, more guns, adventure, and lastly, guns.

This game has amazing graphics and gameplay, along with enough shooting to last you a year! This game has awesome upgradable guns, and a lot of humor! This is the kind of game that you don't get bored of after beating it, for it is a shooting game, and third-person shooting never gets boring! If you somehow do get bored of beating the computer over and over again, and want to test your skills against others, play online and put your skills to the test!

Apart from having good graphics, gameplay, and humor, this game is extremely challenging. The bosses really challenge your skills and put them to the test, and as you progress through the game, the bosses get harder and harder. This game is also an adventure game, unlike it's sequel, Ratchet: Deadlocked, which is NOT an adventure game, but a gladiator game, meaning all you do is play gladiator fights, and there is barely any adventure. Ratchet and Clank has the gladiator fights, but they are not as good as the ones in Ratchet: Deadlocked, for the game does not concentrate in gladiator fights.

Now you might ask "Which Ratchet and Clank game should I buy, the third or fourth installment?" That depends completely on the person who is making the decision. If you like plain old shooting games, with mindless blasting and shooting your opponents throughout the whole game, then go ahead and buy Ratchet: Deadlocked. On the other hand, if you are the kind of person who likes mind challenges, as well as some shooting, then buy Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. They are both very good, and I personally recommend both of them, but that completely depends on the person

Rating: 9.5/10

Recommendation: I don't have an exact recommendation, but just to let you know, Ratchet: Deadlocked is currently $40.00, while Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal is only $20.00, so I just wanted to point that out.