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From the time you put the game
in your PS2 and start up a new game, you are in for a treat.
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal, created by Insomniac,
is the third installment of the Ratchet and Clank series,
and it doesn’t disappoint. Let’s check out the
features.
The game starts off at the
end of the second game, Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando,
where our heroes, Ratchet and Clank, are relaxing at home
when they see Ratchet’s home planet, Veldin, being
invaded by a race of aliens called the Tyhrranoids. They
both rush to the planet to stop the alien invasion. What
ensues is a hilarious journey all over the galaxy to stop
and evil robot named Dr. Nefarious from turning everyone
into robots. A hilarious amount of tongue in cheek antics
follows throughout the game (such as when one of the robots
says “ I don’t wanna die, sarge!”.
Like most action platformers,
this game has lots of running and jumping and collecting
items. But, one of the innovative parts of the game that
keeps it apart from the crowd is the vast array of weapons
you can use tol; destroy, smash, blast and vaporize your
enemies. Such weapons, like the Shock Cannon and the Plasma
Rifle, are a blast to play with. One of the newest additions
to the weapon library is the Plasma Whip. Each weapon can
be upgraded with continuous use, adding a role-playing element
to the game. Not only that, playing through the previous
games will give you the option of getting free weapons from
the previous games. You can also upgrade your armor during
the game as you kill your enemies and gain the currency
in this game, bolts. And speaking of enemies, there will
be times that there will be many enemies on the screen and
there will be absolutely no slowdown.
The game has some great graphics
and level design. From lush jungle, complex cities, to giant
war zones, the game never just gives you the usual “ice
level” or “lava stage”. They have changed
from their usual formula of platforming by having some of
the worlds being comprised of Battle Missions, which have
different objectives for each mission. The AI doesn’t
let up on the difficulty, for there will be some times that
the enemies will have you down for the count. The boss battles
are huge and over the top, with giant robots and giant monsters
to give you a challenge. One of the best features making
a return is the battle arena, which you can complete various
times of challenges for Bolts, such as obstacle courses,
fighting with one weapon, and many different scenarios,
which adds a load of replayability. There are also some
3D side scrolling element in the form of Vid-Comics, which
are comic books that you can play in the form of a game,
which is a nice extra built into the game.
The best part of the game is
the on-line play, where you can play against other players
on the maps available. There clan that is a statistics counter
that measures your wins and losses and you can even start
or join a game that lets you play with all your friends.
The modes range from capture the flag and the usual death
match.
RNC: UYA is a finely created
game with only a few problems. The only gripe I have with
this game is the color of the menu screen. Insomniac has
once again given us a great gaming experience that will
be an example of platforming genius.
I give this a 4.5 our of
5.
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