Upon returning home for the summer, I realized that I wanted to play my old PS2 games again in between job hunting and the occasional odd job around the house. Going by sheer nostalgia for my late middle school/early high school years, I chose Ratchet and Clank 2: Going Commando to be my first game of the summer. I remembered having a great deal of fun playing it back then, and I wanted to see if it'd still hold up today. The answer is a resounding "hell yes."
For those who are unfamiliar with the Ratchet and Clank series, it's a platformer with a heavy emphasis on guns and combat, featuring Ratchet, a mechanic who ends up saving the galaxy, and Clank, a logical yet lovable robot. This installment is a huge departure from its predecessor, which focused more on platforming and let the fighting be secondary. Gameplay is pretty straightforward; most of the time, you'll start out at a landing pad with two or three mostly linear paths leading off it, and you can explore any path in any order you choose (though to win, you'll need to explore all of them anyway). Killing enemies and breaking boxes (as well as plants, windows, etc.) will give you bolts, which can be used to buy new guns and armor.
Sounds like a pretty basic formula, doesn't it? The bottom line is it WORKS. While the controls may not have been perfected by this entry in the series, they definitely aren't unusable. Once you get used to them, you'll be pulling off backflips while dodging mines and missiles while returning fire without even thinking about it.
Speaking of combat, it's a blast. There's a frankly embarrassing number of weapons, ranging in usefulness from "file away and never use again" to "this is the last boomstick you'll ever need". Every time you kill an enemy, you'll gain some experience for both your life bar and the weapon you used. When you get enough experience for your health, your life bar will increase by one (from an initial 4 up to 80(!)). When you get enough experience for your weapons, the weapon will change name, shape, size, power, and sometimes even function (which is never too bothersome). Every change makes the weapon more useful, and makes you think differently (usually less) about how you use it. For example, the weapon that throws remote spider-tank bombs gives the tanks turrets, making them more than just kamikaze fighters. Clank has his own style of gameplay that centers around commanding small robots to kill tougher enemies and open doors for him. It's not as entertaining as Ratchet's gameplay, but they're few and far between and they break up the monotony enough to be tolerable for the length of time they take up.
The game's more than just platforming, though. You get a chance to fly your starship in dogfights, collect crystals for bolts in both a desert and an ice field, participate in hoverbike races, fight in arena-style gladiator events (a precursor to Deadlocked, I'm sure), and ride on the shoulders of a giant Clank while smashing up a city Godzilla style. While these add-ons may seem like pointless, arbitrary sidequests, they're actually quite well-done. The racing bit has some great courses, the Giant Clank sections can be pretty challenging, and the arena is a downright joy all-around. The only thing I don't quite care for are the dogfights, but hey, you only need to do any of these sidequests once or twice, then you're done. Of course, there may be more challenges available to you there, but they're 100% optional, and you only need to do the ones required by the story to advance.
The story, speak of the devil, picks up right after the events of the first game, with Ratchet being hired by Megacorp, a large corporation in a different galaxy, to track down a thief who has stolen a top secret experiment. It's a strong story, with a sense of humor and a surprisingly good plotline, complete with twists that change the game significantly. While the game shows its age in the abrupt endings to cutscenes and weird dramatic timing, it never gets in the way of the story (at least not too much).
The best part of the game, to me at least, is the end. Once you beat it, you're given the option to go back to the start with all your weapons and armor, and play through again in Mega mode, which gives each weapon an additional experience bar (which you have to buy), and it gives you a bolt multiplier, which increases up to 20 as you kill enemies, but drops back to 1 after you get hit. The new upgrades are a must, because this "New Game +" option makes the game harder. Enemies have more armor, arena fights are harder, and everything is more expensive (which is offset by the bolt multiplier). I always love when games include this kind of option, and to see it done so well is a treat indeed.
Also, this game is long. It's not a 73-hour grindfest, but it's not a 12-hour snorefest, either. It lasts just long enough to make you wonder when it'll end, and then does so before you get too annoyed waiting to see if the next planet really is the last one. Add the length of the game to its amazing replay value, and you have a serious time sink here.
All in all, Ratchet and Clank 2: Going Commando is a must-have for any PS2 owner. It's just too fun to pass up.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Ratchet and Clank series, it's a platformer with a heavy emphasis on guns and combat, featuring Ratchet, a mechanic who ends up saving the galaxy, and Clank, a logical yet lovable robot. This installment is a huge departure from its predecessor, which focused more on platforming and let the fighting be secondary. Gameplay is pretty straightforward; most of the time, you'll start out at a landing pad with two or three mostly linear paths leading off it, and you can explore any path in any order you choose (though to win, you'll need to explore all of them anyway). Killing enemies and breaking boxes (as well as plants, windows, etc.) will give you bolts, which can be used to buy new guns and armor.
Sounds like a pretty basic formula, doesn't it? The bottom line is it WORKS. While the controls may not have been perfected by this entry in the series, they definitely aren't unusable. Once you get used to them, you'll be pulling off backflips while dodging mines and missiles while returning fire without even thinking about it.
Speaking of combat, it's a blast. There's a frankly embarrassing number of weapons, ranging in usefulness from "file away and never use again" to "this is the last boomstick you'll ever need". Every time you kill an enemy, you'll gain some experience for both your life bar and the weapon you used. When you get enough experience for your health, your life bar will increase by one (from an initial 4 up to 80(!)). When you get enough experience for your weapons, the weapon will change name, shape, size, power, and sometimes even function (which is never too bothersome). Every change makes the weapon more useful, and makes you think differently (usually less) about how you use it. For example, the weapon that throws remote spider-tank bombs gives the tanks turrets, making them more than just kamikaze fighters. Clank has his own style of gameplay that centers around commanding small robots to kill tougher enemies and open doors for him. It's not as entertaining as Ratchet's gameplay, but they're few and far between and they break up the monotony enough to be tolerable for the length of time they take up.
The game's more than just platforming, though. You get a chance to fly your starship in dogfights, collect crystals for bolts in both a desert and an ice field, participate in hoverbike races, fight in arena-style gladiator events (a precursor to Deadlocked, I'm sure), and ride on the shoulders of a giant Clank while smashing up a city Godzilla style. While these add-ons may seem like pointless, arbitrary sidequests, they're actually quite well-done. The racing bit has some great courses, the Giant Clank sections can be pretty challenging, and the arena is a downright joy all-around. The only thing I don't quite care for are the dogfights, but hey, you only need to do any of these sidequests once or twice, then you're done. Of course, there may be more challenges available to you there, but they're 100% optional, and you only need to do the ones required by the story to advance.
The story, speak of the devil, picks up right after the events of the first game, with Ratchet being hired by Megacorp, a large corporation in a different galaxy, to track down a thief who has stolen a top secret experiment. It's a strong story, with a sense of humor and a surprisingly good plotline, complete with twists that change the game significantly. While the game shows its age in the abrupt endings to cutscenes and weird dramatic timing, it never gets in the way of the story (at least not too much).
The best part of the game, to me at least, is the end. Once you beat it, you're given the option to go back to the start with all your weapons and armor, and play through again in Mega mode, which gives each weapon an additional experience bar (which you have to buy), and it gives you a bolt multiplier, which increases up to 20 as you kill enemies, but drops back to 1 after you get hit. The new upgrades are a must, because this "New Game +" option makes the game harder. Enemies have more armor, arena fights are harder, and everything is more expensive (which is offset by the bolt multiplier). I always love when games include this kind of option, and to see it done so well is a treat indeed.
Also, this game is long. It's not a 73-hour grindfest, but it's not a 12-hour snorefest, either. It lasts just long enough to make you wonder when it'll end, and then does so before you get too annoyed waiting to see if the next planet really is the last one. Add the length of the game to its amazing replay value, and you have a serious time sink here.
All in all, Ratchet and Clank 2: Going Commando is a must-have for any PS2 owner. It's just too fun to pass up.
