It’s been less than a year since we first met up with Ratchet and Clank in the PlayStation 2 title of the same name and yet the changes they’re about to undergo are immense. Insomniac Games, the creative force behind the original Ratchet and Clank, and now Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, has decided to do a bit more than just pump out another sequel with their upcoming game. Instead, they’ve practically rebuilt the game from the ground up, adding a heaping helping of new gameplay mechanics, gadgets, weapons and worlds to ensure that the galaxy’s two most unlikely heroes have plenty to do with their adventuring time.
The story for R&C:GC starts off with the two heroes kicking back and enjoying life on the talk-show circuit. They’re heroes for hire now, but the problem is, there’s no hero work to be had. If something doesn’t happen soon, Ratchet and Clank will be set for a life of "Where are they now?" obscurity. Of course, something does happen, as Abercombie Fitzwidget, CEO of MegaCorp, hires them to recapture a stolen experiment. It’s at this point the heroes take off for a series of new adventures.
Whereas the original Ratchet & Clank was your standard platformer with lots of crazy gadgets and cool weapons mixed together to make it stand out in the genre, the new R&C:GC ups the ante by mixing in bits of role-playing. If, for example, you keep on using the same weapon throughout the levels, it’ll slowly upgrade itself to something more powerful. So a simple laser handgun can become a powerful hand cannon through time and use. Your characters will also grow through combat, as enemies release a new nanotech when killed, and this nanotech increases your total hit points. Both the boost in hit points and the upgraded weaponry become necessary in the later levels of the game, as the opposition becomes more powerful in its own right. Unlike the original R&C, where you could leave behind bolts and other items you felt you didn’t need you’ll have to collect every bolt and bit of nano you can find in Going Commando. Skip something, and it may come back to haunt you later.
If the main game isn’t enough for you, Insomniac has chosen to add what they call "maxi-games" to the mix. After you unlock these maxi-games, you can go back and play them at any time just for fun. We got to play quite a bit of the three demo maxi’s, including the Hoverbike Challenge, Battle Sphere and Gladiator Arena and they are all a blast. Hoverbike Challenge will be a joyful sight for fans of Wipeout on the PS1, as it takes all the great gameplay of that title and stuffs it into the world of Ratchet and Clank. Battle Sphere is an eye-popping 3D adventure which forces you to bounce, float and fly around a small moon in a quest to destroy several communications arrays. While it sounds simplistic, the gameplay of Battle Sphere is enhanced by the unique 3D nature of the level design (it’s a small moon with visible horizons) that has to be seen to be believed.
While we only had a few levels available to us for testing, it became immediately obvious that the AI of the opposition has been beefed up. Bad guys now work together to take down our fearless heroes, and there’s no more taking a shot at a guard then running away so that he’ll reset his position back to his guard post. Once you engage the enemy, they are going to do whatever it takes to bring you down.
And of course there are the new weapons and gadgets. While we didn’t get a peek at the new gadgets, we take a gander at one or two of the 18 new weapons, such as the slasher and the tractor beam. For those who unlocked all the weapons in the original title, pull out that memory card, since R&C:GC will automatically unlock several of the weapons from the old game into the new if you still have your save file from handy. And who can’t use a few free weapons? If 18 seems like a paltry number compared to the 35 weapons in the original, don’t forget that each of those 18 guns gets upgraded into completely unique new weapons the more you use them.
As far as the graphics and sound go, R&C:GC is a mild improvement over the already eye-popping original title. If you liked the razor-sharp cartoon graphics and happy/groovy soundtrack of the first title, then R&C:GC won’t disappoint.
November looks to be a great month for the PS2, with both R&C:GC and Jak II coming out at the same time along with a slew of other holiday releases. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on R&C:GC being the best game released for the holiday season.
