Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Certainly the most ambitious installment in the series, but is it the best? Our verdict lies within.
Published: November 27, 2004
Reputation can be a tough thing to live up to, and as many can imagine, expectations are high for developer Insomniac Games in releasing Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, the third in its spectacular action platforming series. Granted, most gamers wouldn't have minded another fleshed out single player experience, chockfull of upgradeable weapons and tons of junk to blow to bits, the big "I" practically put themselves up to the test by thinking innovation and introducing online play into the series. As cruel reality would have it, though, the outcome many R&C fans retained in the back of their mind can be found here, as the addition of multiplayer has left the game's single-player experience with minor letdowns here and there that make for an unfortunately underwhelming run-through. This is undoubtedly the most robust installment in the Ratchet & Clank series and, needless to say, deserves to be in the homes of every PS2 owner out there, but for nitpickers such as myself who have those huge aforementioned expectations for developers such as Insomniac who never fail to deliver, Up Your Arsenal isn't the strive to perfection it could have, and really, should have been.
A lot has happened since Ratchet and sidekick Clank put a stop to the Protopet disaster in Going Commando. For one, Clank has gone "Holo-wood" by nabbing a starring role in his very own television show, Secret Agent Clank, leaving Ratchet with the discouraging role of chauffer and a hint of jealousy. In Up Your Arsenal, the galaxy is once again in peril, as a nefarious villain by the name of, er, Dr. Nefarious, has put into action his mad scheme of eliminating the "living" race (better known to him as "Squishies") and having robots rise in their place. With a gullible race of freaky-looking aliens known as the Tyhrranoids terrorizing planets at his every whim, Ratchet and Clank must once again step up to the challenge, but not without a little occasional help from a cowardly group of Galactic Rangers and a crackpot superhero team known as the Q-Force, led by Captain Qwark, the glory-stealing sham of a hero who apparently defeated Nefarious back in his prime. Yep, sounds like another adventure for our favorite duo.
For starters, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal delivers the core run 'n' shoot experience it's become known for. By now, the concept has been perfected, with nifty little add-ons such as locking-on that allow for strafing to make the gameplay all the more accessible and enjoyable. One of the nice renovations Insomniac has made is with leveling up weapons, as they'll now upgrade in versions, rewarding players with more power or scattering (as shooting one enemy may send shocks to his neighbors) to their blasts as they chalk up the usage. Seeing as so many imaginative concepts can advance from thought to paper to final product, there's a certainly a wealth of interesting, and often times, devastating weapons here to show for that canvas of potential. Additions such as the Rift Inducer, which creates a rift that sucks in nearby enemies and leaves only bolts behind, are worth getting giddy over, and remarkable upgrades to even gimmicky weapons like the Qwack-O-Ray (oh, you'll see) are certainly rewarding enough to put the required time into leveling them up. Speaking of which, Up Your Arsenal, although taking only about 10-15 hours to play through the first time (with optional quests as the varying factor), the nice little unlockables that come with completing the game and ability to finish off those optional quests practically demands giving it a second go.
While the gist of Up Your Arsenal, as was with its predecessors, lies in venturing from planet to planet and blowing up just about everything in your path, the game offers a few nice alternatives to main quest. First off, there are the nostalgia-inducing vid-comics, where players take the role of Captain Quark in an old-school, side-scrolling platfortmer, beating up enemies or giving them the taste of the ol' blast ray while collecting tokens and timing jumps from one platform to the next.
Also thrown into the mix are battle scenarios that are commonly initiated by hopping on board a dropship in a few of the game's levels and heading to where the trouble's at. They're laid out in a style where you can choose from a list of (at first, required) objectives (rewarded in bolts, no doubt), that normally involve taking down a Tyhrranoid invasion alongside the Galactic Rangers, or, more often than not, taking them on solo when the Rangers don't have the nuts (they're robots, guys) to help you out. With the inclusion of vehicles in some these missions, as you'll at times be manning a much more manageable aircraft in the flight combat objectives, plus a taste of the team-based action, this is about as close as some players will get to experiencing the game's multiplayer aspect if they lack the proper tools to go online.
As for multiplayer (aren't you loving these transitions?), possibly the single biggest incentive for gamers to pick up a copy of Up Your Arsenal will be to play online. And heck, why shouldn't it be? Granted, the online play doesn't rival the likes of Unreal or other top notch shooter titles that scour the Net, it certainly makes good use of the smorgasbord of weapons and select air and ground vehicles from the single player experience. Although the levels, at times, feel a bit improperly scaled for the 8-player online games (eight being the max), capturing the flag, seizing enemy bases or just blowing the crap out of every player you come across makes for a good time in real time (thanks, smooth framerate) that really can't be experienced offline. The fact that four-player multiplayer (four human players that is; why not CPU, Insomniac?) pretty much just plops you into a massive level to occasionally cross paths with other players dampers the fun quick.
But curse me for being familiar with the series, for expecting the entirely fulfilling experience that the last two Ratchet & Clank games left me with, back when I felt the absolute NEED to go back a pick up every last Gold/Platinum Bolt and pull off each and every Skill Point. Sure, Up Your Arsenal offers Titanium Bolts (and Trophies that, apparently, give access to the Insomniac Museum if you're got the patience to get 'em all), but why the hell would I want to collect every single one just to... buy new costumes? The last two games gave HUGE incentive to grab each of those oversized, glowing bolts, rewarding you with spankin' new weapons or devilish little mods that you couldn't get otherwise, but with the Titanium Bolts having as uneventful a usage as they do, the determination to go on the hunt for them just isn't there.
And such seems to be the case with a good portion of the game's items and collectables. Up Your Arsenal introduces witty concepts like the Tyhrraguise (disguising you as one of the aliens and allowing you to talk to them through a button-timing concept) and beam-redirecting Refractor, but gives you limited opportunities to actually put them to use over the course of the game. Same goes for the game's tedious hacking system, although I certainly don't mind, for when compared to the innovative concepts out there in games like Sly 2, UYA's doesn't stand a chance. And remember those Clank missions that we all would've loved to see more of? I'm proud to announce there are actually less objectives starring our favorite part-time backpack, even though the entire galaxy is apparently obsessed with his on-screen persona, though how he even landed the TV role is wholly underdeveloped as is. Same goes for Up Your Arsenal's weak story, which takes a few ridiculous twists and turns that not even the comical roles of Dr. Nefarious and his sarcastic butler Lawrence can fully make up for.
Aurally and graphically, Up Your Arsenal's accomplishments are as good as the series has seen. Characters new and returning have justice done to them through lively, entertaining performances by many an animated voice actor, with standout performances in particular done for Dr. Nefarious and Captain Qwark. The soundtrack is another crafty juxtaposition between techno beats and orchestral accompaniments that have by now become a trademark for the series. Worlds are once again brimming with detail, the lighting's down pat, and characters look about as sharp as they ever have.
Insomniac's choice to work with Naughty Dog to form a mutual Jak/Ratchet engine allows the game to keep up at a near flawless framerate, though in instances where there's a ton o' action on screen, consisting of flowing bolts and a relentless enemy swarm, the game does go slo-mo on you for a second or two, though undeniably cool looking. Splashed across all of Up Your Arsenal, as always, is a healthy heap of humor, mainly through the character dialogue and cutscenes, that is the saving grace for some of the game's other shortcomings.
On the whole, one can look at Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal as being another satisfying solo campaign that additionally sports a solid online mode for putting those weapon-wielding skills to work. Then you come to individuals such as myself, who have invested such trust into the developers, who've yet to do wrong, that with each additional installment of the series, it's expected that new concepts be implemented without the risk of others becoming neglected. With its single-player experience lacking the gratifying collectables to keep me coming back for more and the story elements to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout, I leave the game with an appetite not fully satisfied. I'm going to bite the bullet on this one and say that Up Your Arsenal does not top the standards set by Going Commando. Don't, I repeat, do not take this as a sign of UYA being a bad game, because by all means, it is not. As were all of its predecessors, it once again sets the genre-bending standards as an excellent action platformer and peaks as one of the year's finest in the genre. With that said, it's just a tad disappointing to know the game isn't everything it could've been.
A lot has happened since Ratchet and sidekick Clank put a stop to the Protopet disaster in Going Commando. For one, Clank has gone "Holo-wood" by nabbing a starring role in his very own television show, Secret Agent Clank, leaving Ratchet with the discouraging role of chauffer and a hint of jealousy. In Up Your Arsenal, the galaxy is once again in peril, as a nefarious villain by the name of, er, Dr. Nefarious, has put into action his mad scheme of eliminating the "living" race (better known to him as "Squishies") and having robots rise in their place. With a gullible race of freaky-looking aliens known as the Tyhrranoids terrorizing planets at his every whim, Ratchet and Clank must once again step up to the challenge, but not without a little occasional help from a cowardly group of Galactic Rangers and a crackpot superhero team known as the Q-Force, led by Captain Qwark, the glory-stealing sham of a hero who apparently defeated Nefarious back in his prime. Yep, sounds like another adventure for our favorite duo.
For starters, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal delivers the core run 'n' shoot experience it's become known for. By now, the concept has been perfected, with nifty little add-ons such as locking-on that allow for strafing to make the gameplay all the more accessible and enjoyable. One of the nice renovations Insomniac has made is with leveling up weapons, as they'll now upgrade in versions, rewarding players with more power or scattering (as shooting one enemy may send shocks to his neighbors) to their blasts as they chalk up the usage. Seeing as so many imaginative concepts can advance from thought to paper to final product, there's a certainly a wealth of interesting, and often times, devastating weapons here to show for that canvas of potential. Additions such as the Rift Inducer, which creates a rift that sucks in nearby enemies and leaves only bolts behind, are worth getting giddy over, and remarkable upgrades to even gimmicky weapons like the Qwack-O-Ray (oh, you'll see) are certainly rewarding enough to put the required time into leveling them up. Speaking of which, Up Your Arsenal, although taking only about 10-15 hours to play through the first time (with optional quests as the varying factor), the nice little unlockables that come with completing the game and ability to finish off those optional quests practically demands giving it a second go.
While the gist of Up Your Arsenal, as was with its predecessors, lies in venturing from planet to planet and blowing up just about everything in your path, the game offers a few nice alternatives to main quest. First off, there are the nostalgia-inducing vid-comics, where players take the role of Captain Quark in an old-school, side-scrolling platfortmer, beating up enemies or giving them the taste of the ol' blast ray while collecting tokens and timing jumps from one platform to the next.
Also thrown into the mix are battle scenarios that are commonly initiated by hopping on board a dropship in a few of the game's levels and heading to where the trouble's at. They're laid out in a style where you can choose from a list of (at first, required) objectives (rewarded in bolts, no doubt), that normally involve taking down a Tyhrranoid invasion alongside the Galactic Rangers, or, more often than not, taking them on solo when the Rangers don't have the nuts (they're robots, guys) to help you out. With the inclusion of vehicles in some these missions, as you'll at times be manning a much more manageable aircraft in the flight combat objectives, plus a taste of the team-based action, this is about as close as some players will get to experiencing the game's multiplayer aspect if they lack the proper tools to go online.
As for multiplayer (aren't you loving these transitions?), possibly the single biggest incentive for gamers to pick up a copy of Up Your Arsenal will be to play online. And heck, why shouldn't it be? Granted, the online play doesn't rival the likes of Unreal or other top notch shooter titles that scour the Net, it certainly makes good use of the smorgasbord of weapons and select air and ground vehicles from the single player experience. Although the levels, at times, feel a bit improperly scaled for the 8-player online games (eight being the max), capturing the flag, seizing enemy bases or just blowing the crap out of every player you come across makes for a good time in real time (thanks, smooth framerate) that really can't be experienced offline. The fact that four-player multiplayer (four human players that is; why not CPU, Insomniac?) pretty much just plops you into a massive level to occasionally cross paths with other players dampers the fun quick.
But curse me for being familiar with the series, for expecting the entirely fulfilling experience that the last two Ratchet & Clank games left me with, back when I felt the absolute NEED to go back a pick up every last Gold/Platinum Bolt and pull off each and every Skill Point. Sure, Up Your Arsenal offers Titanium Bolts (and Trophies that, apparently, give access to the Insomniac Museum if you're got the patience to get 'em all), but why the hell would I want to collect every single one just to... buy new costumes? The last two games gave HUGE incentive to grab each of those oversized, glowing bolts, rewarding you with spankin' new weapons or devilish little mods that you couldn't get otherwise, but with the Titanium Bolts having as uneventful a usage as they do, the determination to go on the hunt for them just isn't there.
And such seems to be the case with a good portion of the game's items and collectables. Up Your Arsenal introduces witty concepts like the Tyhrraguise (disguising you as one of the aliens and allowing you to talk to them through a button-timing concept) and beam-redirecting Refractor, but gives you limited opportunities to actually put them to use over the course of the game. Same goes for the game's tedious hacking system, although I certainly don't mind, for when compared to the innovative concepts out there in games like Sly 2, UYA's doesn't stand a chance. And remember those Clank missions that we all would've loved to see more of? I'm proud to announce there are actually less objectives starring our favorite part-time backpack, even though the entire galaxy is apparently obsessed with his on-screen persona, though how he even landed the TV role is wholly underdeveloped as is. Same goes for Up Your Arsenal's weak story, which takes a few ridiculous twists and turns that not even the comical roles of Dr. Nefarious and his sarcastic butler Lawrence can fully make up for.
Aurally and graphically, Up Your Arsenal's accomplishments are as good as the series has seen. Characters new and returning have justice done to them through lively, entertaining performances by many an animated voice actor, with standout performances in particular done for Dr. Nefarious and Captain Qwark. The soundtrack is another crafty juxtaposition between techno beats and orchestral accompaniments that have by now become a trademark for the series. Worlds are once again brimming with detail, the lighting's down pat, and characters look about as sharp as they ever have.
Insomniac's choice to work with Naughty Dog to form a mutual Jak/Ratchet engine allows the game to keep up at a near flawless framerate, though in instances where there's a ton o' action on screen, consisting of flowing bolts and a relentless enemy swarm, the game does go slo-mo on you for a second or two, though undeniably cool looking. Splashed across all of Up Your Arsenal, as always, is a healthy heap of humor, mainly through the character dialogue and cutscenes, that is the saving grace for some of the game's other shortcomings.
On the whole, one can look at Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal as being another satisfying solo campaign that additionally sports a solid online mode for putting those weapon-wielding skills to work. Then you come to individuals such as myself, who have invested such trust into the developers, who've yet to do wrong, that with each additional installment of the series, it's expected that new concepts be implemented without the risk of others becoming neglected. With its single-player experience lacking the gratifying collectables to keep me coming back for more and the story elements to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout, I leave the game with an appetite not fully satisfied. I'm going to bite the bullet on this one and say that Up Your Arsenal does not top the standards set by Going Commando. Don't, I repeat, do not take this as a sign of UYA being a bad game, because by all means, it is not. As were all of its predecessors, it once again sets the genre-bending standards as an excellent action platformer and peaks as one of the year's finest in the genre. With that said, it's just a tad disappointing to know the game isn't everything it could've been.
