Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Insomniac Games |
Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
Designer(s) | Brian Allgeier |
Programmer(s) | Alexander Hastings Brian Hastings |
Artist(s) | John Fiorito [1] Dave Guertin Greg Baldwin |
Writer(s) | |
Composer(s) | David Bergeaud Niels Bye Nielsen (additional music) |
Series | Ratchet & Clank |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Third-person shooter, platformer |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando, known as Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded in Australia and most PAL countries, is a 2003 third-person shooter platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando is the second game in the Ratchet & Clank franchise, following Ratchet & Clank . David Kaye reprises his role as Clank while James Arnold Taylor replaces Mikey Kelley as Ratchet.
The game follows Ratchet and Clank, joined by newcomer Angela Cross, as they attempt to unravel a conspiracy in a new galaxy involving a mysterious "pet project" orchestrated by the shadowy MegaCorp.
The gameplay of Going Commando is similar to that of the original Ratchet & Clank. The player-controlled protagonists are seen from a third-person perspective. The player progresses through the story by using various weapons and gadgets to defeat enemies and solve puzzles, while exploring planets, completing platforming sections and minigames. The game features many improvements over the original game, such as the aesthetics and introduces many new gameplay aspects, such as weapon upgrading.
Going Commando was released roughly a year after the original game and received critical acclaim. It has frequently been listed as one of the best PlayStation 2 games. Most critics felt that the game was superior to its predecessor and praised the game's graphics, gameplay, story, characterization and sound. Some criticized its unforgiving difficulty and minigames.
The player controls Ratchet from a third-person perspective and uses various weapons to defeat enemies. The player can also use gadgets, such as the Gravity Boots and Dynamo, to explore certain areas. The player travels to planets in the "Bogon" Galaxy and completes main objectives as well as optional side quests. Bolts, the game world's currency, are primarily obtained by defeating enemies and breaking crates located throughout the game's levels. [3] Going Commando includes four types of "maxi-games", or minigames. These games include arena battles, spherical world battles, hover bike races, and space races/battles. [3] After completing the game, the player may enter challenge mode, which is more difficult, but the player starts with the weapons and health that they had when they finished the game the first time, and additional weapon upgrades are unlocked. [4]
Going Commando introduces eighteen weapons, including the Blitz Gun, Bouncer and Lava Gun. [5] Each weapon has a "growth bar", which increases when the weapon is used to defeat enemies. The weapon is upgraded once the bar is filled, increasing its power and changing the design of it. [5] Certain devices from the original Ratchet & Clank make a return, such as the Swingshot, while others are new to Going Commando. [6] The player can use a save file from the original Ratchet & Clank to get "retro" weapons from the first game for free, although these weapons do not upgrade. [3]
As with weapons, Ratchet gains experience with each enemy he defeats. When Ratchet's experience bar fills, he gains a new level of nanotech. This awards him with additional health bubbles, up to a maximum of 80 can be obtained. [7] [8] Ratchet's health can also be increased by finding nanotech upgrades. [9] The game introduces armor vendors, which are able to provide up to four additional levels of protection. [9]
After saving the Solana galaxy from the menace of Chairman Drek, Ratchet (James Arnold Taylor) and Clank (David Kaye) become celebrities, though their lives remain otherwise uneventful. [10] After giving an interview for the holovision show Behind the Hero, the pair suddenly find themselves teleported into a spaceship sent by Abercrombie Fizzwidget (Jim Ward), the founder and CEO of MegaCorp, the Bogon galaxy's largest maker of consumer goods and electronics, who requests Ratchet's help to recover a stolen biological experiment from a masked thief, while offering Clank employment in the company, both of whom agree to the opportunities offered. [11] Upon completing an extensive training regime en route to the galaxy, Ratchet is tasked with travelling to a flying laboratory on planet Aranos where the experiment was last seen, but before he can retrieve it, the thief manages to escape with it. [12] Reporting back to Fizzwidget, Ratchet soon begins pursuing the thief, only to receive a video message showing that the culprit has captured Clank in an attempt to deter Ratchet from his mission.
After saving Clank from the thief's clutches, the reunited duo work together to pursue the thief across several planets, dealing with mercenaries hired from Thugs-4-Less to protect the thief, leading to a confrontation on planet Siberius. Although the thief escapes from them after a fight, Ratchet and Clank secure the experiment, and arrange a meeting with Fizzwidget so that he can reclaim it. During the handover, Fizzwidget "accidentally" maroons the duo in a network of caves on the desert planet Tabora. After making their escape, the pair are confronted by the thief, who accidentally exposes "his" true identity: a female Lombax named Angela Cross (Kath Soucie), who used to work for MegaCorp as a scientist. Warning the pair that the experiment is a threat to the entire galaxy, Angela gives them the location of a testing facility on planet Dobbo where it was created, and advises them to seek out the evidence that confirms her story. [13] Following her lead, the duo infiltrate the facility and discover a video recording that reveals the experiment to be highly dangerous and capable of going into a murderous rampage. Shortly afterwards, Angela contacts the pair and reveals that MegaCorp has duplicated the experiment and intends to sell them as a new product called the "Protopet". [14]
Convinced that Fizzwidget is unaware of the Protopet's flaws, Ratchet and Clank go to warn him during a promotionary event being held on planet Boldan, only to discover it to be a trap by the Thugs-4-Less boss (Steven Blum), their contract with Angela having been bought out by MegaCorp. Captured, the pair find themselves transported to Aranos and aboard the same vessel, now being used as a remote prison, but manage to escape confinement. Discovering that Angela was captured by them as well, the pair track the mercenaries to their hideout on planet Snivelak, defeating their boss and saving Angela. Intent on stopping Fizzwidget, the group head for MegaCorp's Headquarters on planet Yeedil, only to discover that "Fizzwidget" is none other than disgraced hero Captain Qwark (also Ward). Having trapped the real Fizzwidget in a supply closet and stolen his identity, Qwark unleashed the Protopet upon the galaxy so that he can use a device created by Angela to defeat the creatures and restore his former reputation, while framing Ratchet, Clank, and Angela for his crimes. [15] When he demonstrates the device, however, it malfunctions and transforms the original Protopet into a gigantic beast that devours him. While Angela goes to rescue the real Fizzwidget, Ratchet subdues the Protopet, saving Qwark's life. With Clank's help, Angela fixes the device and broadcasts a signal through MegaCorp's TV transponders, neutralizing the Protopets and restoring peace to the Bogon galaxy.
In a mid-credits scene, Ratchet, Clank, and Angela hang out at Clank's apartment, where Angela informs them that Qwark has been assigned work as a test subject for the "Crotchetizer" at MegaCorp as punishment for his actions.
Going Commando was approved for development five months before the first game's release, after highly positive reviews from the original's playtesters. [16] In August 2002, Insomniac Games started designing the visual concepts for Going Commando, while still fixing bugs in the original game. [17] Brian Hastings, Insomniac's Vice President of Programming, said in a 2003 interview that the first step in the game's design was to "try to come up with a few 'Big Ideas'. These are the things we think will really grab people's attention and give the game that Wow-Factor. In the case of Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando the big ideas were RPG elements (like weapon upgrades and health upgrades), spherical planets and space combat." [17] Hastings said that the inspiration for the game's spherical worlds came in part from the cover of the 1943 novel The Little Prince . [18] Designing the spherical worlds required changing about 50,000 lines of the game's code, to account for the different handling of gravity. [18] Development took a total of ten months, during which time Insomniac's design team doubled from 40 to 80 members. [19]
One common criticism of the original Ratchet & Clank was the design and personality of Ratchet. [20] Ted Price, the game's producer, said that to fix this they made Ratchet "less cocky, he is much more friendly to Clank, and he's able to handle himself better in stressful situations without being impetuous, which is what he was in Ratchet 1." [20] In addition, James Arnold Taylor replaces Mikey Kelley as the character's voice actor, providing a more mature-sounding voice. The return of Captain Qwark was a late addition to the game. [16] The story was written by lead animators Oliver Wade and John Lally. [2]
Going Commando was released in North America on November 11, 2003, [21] Europe on November 21, 2003, [22] and Japan on December 11, 2003. [23] In 2004, Sony added Going Commando to their Greatest Hits series of games for the PlayStation 2, [24] and it was similarly added to the Platinum Range used in the PAL region on August 13, 2004, and to the Japanese list of The Best games on July 8, 2004. [23]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 90/100 [25] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | A [26] |
Eurogamer | 9/10 [7] |
Game Informer | 9.5/10 [8] |
GamePro | [27] |
GameSpot | 8.8/10 [28] |
GameSpy | [29] |
GameZone | 9.4/10 [30] |
IGN | 9.4/10 [31] |
Publication | Award |
---|---|
IGN | Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time (11th) [32] |
IGN | Game of the Month (November 2003) [33] |
Going Commando received critical acclaim. [25] 1UP.com said that "Everything that Ratchet & Clank did, Going Commando does better, and the tweaks and additions just push it further over the top." [26] Game Informer 's Andy McNamara said that the game has "the best and most compelling content [Insomniac] has put out to date." [8]
The game's arena combat and racing levels were praised by Andrew Reiner of Game Informer, [8] and Benjamin Turner of GameSpy similarly said that "it's surprising how fun it can be to play interstellar gladiator." [29] GamePro praised the game's pacing, saying that the first game felt like it didn't "really show its true colors until about halfway through", but that Going Commando had the same feeling by the end of the second level. [27] GameSpot mentioned that the "great sense of humor" of the original game is also noticeable in Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, [28] a statement echoed by GameZone when they said that the game's cut-scenes "represent some of the most thought-out and gut-wrenchingly funny sequences ever witnessed in a platforming game." [30]
Going Commando's graphics were praised by reviewers, who specifically mentioned Ratchet's improved character design. [26] Game Informer said that "the graphical details will leave you speechless ..." [8] GameSpot considered the reuse of graphics for the menus and mission screens to be "a little lazy", but praised the graphics and sound effects of the game's weapons. [28] GameSpy mentioned that "Going Commando is easily the most graphically impressive platformer on the market". [29] GameZone reported that the game's sound was well-done, including the music, weapon effects, and dialogue. [30]
Criticism of the game was aimed at its level of difficulty, which is considerably higher than that of its predecessor; 1UP.com mentioned that this was most noticeable near the end of the game, where "there are levels that consist of nothing but wave after wave of difficult enemies thrown at you to deplete your ammo, and then more waves of enemies after that." [26] GameSpy, however, praised this aspect of the game, saying that it made Going Commando more interesting than the original. [29] Some reviewers also felt that the game's space combat was poorly done in comparison to the rest of the game, [8] and that the "Giant Clank" levels were "brainless and boring". [29]
The game was awarded 11th place on IGN's 2007 list of "The Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time". [32] IGN also awarded both Going Commando and Final Fantasy X-2 their Game of the Month award for November 2003 in their first "Game of the Month" feature to cover two games. [33]
While the first Ratchet and Clank suffered, in my opinion, because of its immensely generic homogenization of character and because of its relative ease, Ratchet and Clank Going Commando tries to solve these problems in typical Insomniac fashion. Ratchet too annoying? Let him grow up and take charge. Game too easy? Increase the quantity and kinds of weapons for Ratchet and for the enemies. But Insomniac didn't just fix problems. It looked at every detail of the first game and from the ground up improved everything wholesale. It upgraded everything, and then it added new stuff. ... Throughout its core fabric, Going Commando is improved in every way.
— Douglass C. Perry [31]
During the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Going Commando for "Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", "Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year", and outstanding achievements in "Animation", "Art Direction", "Character or Story Development", and "Visual Engineering". [34]
As of June 30, 2007, the game sold almost 3 million copies worldwide. [35]
Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and part of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is most known for developing several early PlayStation mascots, Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet and Clank, as well as the Resistance franchise, 2014's Sunset Overdrive and the Marvel's Spider-Man series with Marvel Games. In 2019, the studio was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment, becoming a part of SIE Worldwide Studios.
Ratchet & Clank is a third-person shooter platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2002. It is the first game in the Ratchet & Clank series.
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is a 2004 third-person shooter platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the third installment in the Ratchet & Clank series and was released in North America on November 2, 2004.
Ratchet and Clank are the protagonists of the Ratchet & Clank video game series developed by Insomniac Games, starting with the 2002 Ratchet & Clank. Ratchet is an anthropomorphic alien creature known as a Lombax, while Clank is an escaped robot who soon teams up with him.
Ratchet: Deadlocked is a 2005 third-person shooter platformer, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 as the fourth installment of the Ratchet & Clank series.
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is a 2007 platform game developed by High Impact Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2. A spin-off of the Ratchet & Clank series, it is its first title on the PlayStation Portable. Development company High Impact Games was spawned from the original Ratchet & Clank developer, Insomniac Games. The story follows Ratchet and Clank as they are interrupted from their vacation to search for a kidnapped girl and encounter a forgotten race known as the Technomites.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is a 2007 action-adventure platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the fifth main installment of the Ratchet & Clank series, following spin-off Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. The game was released on October 23, 2007 in North America and on November 9, 2007 in Europe. It is the first PlayStation 3 installment in the Ratchet & Clank franchise, as well as the first installment for the Future saga. It was also one of the first PlayStation 3 games to support DualShock 3 rumble without any accessories.
Ratchet & Clank is a series of action-adventure platform and third-person shooter video games created and developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation consoles, such as PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, with the exclusion of Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank, which were developed by High Impact Games for the PlayStation Portable. The series was exclusive to Sony platforms until Rift Apart received a Windows port in 2023. Despite this however, the intellectual property is still owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. An animated feature film adaptation was released on April 29, 2016.
Michael "Mike" Stout is an American video game designer best known for his work on Resistance: Fall of Man, as the lead multiplayer designer. Resistance: Fall of Man received significant critical praise, much of which focused on its multiplayer content. From November 2007 to July 2009, he was the Creative Director at Bionic Games working on Spyborgs, an action game for the Nintendo Wii. According to a post on his blog on November 13, 2009, he was employed by Activision in their Central Design group to design several games in the Skylanders franchise.
Secret Agent Clank is a platform game developed by High Impact Games for the PlayStation Portable and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released in North America on June 17, 2008. A PlayStation 2 version was ported by Sanzaru Games and was released on May 26, 2009, in North America and in Europe on June 19, 2009. It is the second game in the Ratchet & Clank series released for the PlayStation Portable and the sixth in the Ratchet & Clank series released for the PlayStation 2.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty is a 2008 platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. The game is the sixth main installment in the Ratchet & Clank series and the second installment in its Future saga. It was released on PlayStation Network in North America and Europe on August 21, 2008 and on Blu-ray Disc in Europe on September 12, 2008 and in Asia on September 25, 2008. The game continues from where Tools of Destruction left off, where Clank was taken by the Zoni, and follows Ratchet's quest to find him. Due to its length of approximately three to four hours of playtime, it was released at a lower price point than most standard retail games.
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a 2009 platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the seventh main installment in the Ratchet & Clank series and the third in its Future saga. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 in North America on October 27, 2009, in Australia on November 5, 2009 and in Europe on November 6, 2009.
PlayStation Move Heroes, known in Japan as Gachinko Heroes, is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 video game console utilizing the PlayStation Move. It is a crossover of the Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper franchises to form a total of six main characters.
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a platform video game for the PlayStation 3 developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment in October 2011. It is the third spin-off from the Ratchet & Clank series.
Ratchet & Clank Collection is a high-definition remastered collection. The collection includes the original 3 PlayStation 2 games: the first game, Going Commando/Locked and Loaded, and Up Your Arsenal, all at 720p in 60 frames per second, and includes stereoscopic 3D support at 30 frames per second. It also includes the multiplayer of Up Your Arsenal over the PlayStation Network. The PlayStation 3 Multiplayer Servers were terminated on February 15, 2018. It includes a Trophy set for each game. All of the games in this collection have been re-rated E10+ by the ESRB; they were originally rated T since the E10+ rating didn't exist at the time these games were released on the PlayStation 2.
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault is a 2012 platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. Part of the Ratchet & Clank series, it was produced in commemoration of the original game's 10th anniversary. Like the previous downloadable game in the series, Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, it was released on Blu-ray Disc as well as the PlayStation Store. The release of the PlayStation Vita version was delayed to May 21, 2013, when it became available for free with the PlayStation 3 version.
Ratchet & Clank is a 2016 Canadian-American-Hong Kong animated science fiction comedy film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment and distributed by Gramercy Pictures. Based on Insomniac Games' video game series of the same name, the film was directed by Kevin Munroe, co-directed by Jericca Cleland, and stars the voices of Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Bella Thorne, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Tong, Andrew Cownden and Sylvester Stallone. James Arnold Taylor and David Kaye reprise their roles as the titular characters alongside Jim Ward and Armin Shimerman as their respective characters.
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus is a 2013 third-person shooter platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 in November 2013. The game is the eighth main installment in the Ratchet & Clank series and the fourth and final installment in its Future Saga. The series is noted for the inclusion of exotic and unique locations and over-the-top gadgets, elements of the traditional Ratchet & Clank experience that return in this game.
Ratchet & Clank is a 2016 third-person shooter platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The game is a tie-in of the 2016 film of the same name, as well as a remake of the first game in the series. The game was originally planned to be released in 2015, but was delayed, along with the film, to April 2016 in order to give the film a better marketing campaign and the game additional polish time.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a 2021 third-person shooter platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game is a sequel to Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus and the ninth main installment in the Ratchet & Clank series. It was released for the PlayStation 5 on June 11, 2021. A Windows port, developed by Nixxes Software, was released on July 26, 2023.
Ratchet: Well, as you can imagine we've been pretty busy. After Drek's defeat, there were parades, press conferences, fancy dress balls ... / Clank: ... and the weiner roast at Al's. / Ratchet: Oh yeah – that. And then things started to slow down a bit.
Fizzwidget: Welcome! / Ratchet: What the ... ?! / Fizzwidget: I'm Abercrombie Fizzwidget, founder of the MegaCorp company in the Bogon Galaxy. ... I'm sorry to incapacitate you but our entire galaxy is in a very precocious situation. I must humbly request your sustenance on a mission of dire urgitude ... A few days ago this, top secret, biological Experiment was stolen from our testing lavatory, by this dupliferous criminal mastermind and I need you to get The Experiment back.
Ratchet: Woah woah, hey now! I'm just here to fix the ... 'Transfluxer Coil'.
Angela: This changes nothing! Where is the experiment? / Clank: We have returned it to Mr. Fizzwidget. / Angela: Ugh. You've just put the whole galaxy in imminent danger.
Ratchet: Mr. Fizzwidget, do you copy? Anyone handling the experiment must exercise the utmost caution.
Qwark: Allow me to explain, I'm about to save the galaxy from the Protopets and you are about to become public enemy number one!
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)