This game is one of my 3 games of all time, right behind Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask and Sonic Generations. Have to say this right away, as this will be a biased thread with me just gushing over how amazing this game is, so if you are not a big fan, I'm sorry if I might gloss over issues you may have with the game.
Okay, so now that little preface is out of the way, this game is part of the Ratchet and Clank Retrospective and man, this is THE best game in the series for me.
Like Ratchet 2, development on this title started not long after Ratchet 2 went gold and most of Insomniac moved on to the next project, Ratchet 3. I remember reading the Game Informer issue covering this and Jak 3 when I was little; ah, the days of reading good ol' gaming magazines......such great times.
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Anyway, Insomniac commented on wanting the weapons to have more RPG like elements (citing the Infector weapons, with it being able to poison foes and have them attack others) and make things more streamlined from Ratchet 2.
More weapon wheels, more weapons, small little things (like full-ammo refills at weapon vendors) and ensuring that the new elements they wanted to bring into the series fit.
They also wanted to bring some of the tension between Ratchet & Clank back that was in the first game, with them citing making Clank the 'star' of his own show being something Ratchet was annoyed by. Not to mention bring in a new villain for the duo to fight. The last addition was online and local multiplayer, with that being a big thing they highlighted on. With the amount of weapons in the series, an online shooter was a good move I feel.....and this gets further expanded upon with a game after Ratchet 3.
Insomniac were saying all the right things and when the game finally hit in Fall 2004 and.......it was perfect. Very few critics gave it under a 9 and many called this one of the greatest platformers of all time. Critics even commented on Ratchet Dreadlock/Gladiator, where they said 'How can they top perfection?' when reviewing the game.
The story in this game.....where do I even begin!
It starts out with Clank and Ratchet playing halo-chess and Clank sees his own TV show going on, 'Secret Agent Clank'. He is a James Bond-like hero in the show and Ratchet is his butler. Ratchet turns the TV off after a bit, annoyed with the show, as Clank is a bit puzzled.
Then they hear a distress call from Ratchet's homeworld; Velden. Ratchet is ready to go and Clank soon follows, with both fighting off a new force, aliens called the Teranoids. Ratchet and Clank soon learn that a old super villain from the past is back and wants to turn all 'Squishes' into Robots.
Ratchet and Clank planet hop across the galaxy with members of Starship Phenox providing support along the way.
This story.....is amazing. Love the dynamic between Ratchet & Clank as they are really close buddies now; they bounce off each other perfectly and are in-sync with each other. Ratchet shows a lot of concern over Clank with a later scene showing how sorry he is for not realizing something sooner or how Clank cracks more jokes this time out.
Both shine here and I love how great the voice acting both offer is spot on. This extends to everybody, and I love how Quark sounds in this game. The VA really got him this time and its great seeing his character grow a lot. In past games, he was just a 'hero'....but here, he honestly tries to be a hero.
One thing I love is the humor here, as its the best in the entire series. From the nods to reality outside the game, the video previews before you head into new planets, Dr. Nefarious himself, the entire game is a trip. I laughed my head off at almost every scene in the game and I played through it well over 20+ times.
Overall, fantastic story and one that really makes the game shine.
So, with the gameplay, how do you top Ratchet 2? I mean, that game established new ground rules for the series and it was very close to perfect. Well, this game IS perfect. Literally every single element from Ratchet 2 that was either a bit annoying or just a small problem, is gone.
You have multiple weapon wheels, so you can equip your entire line up of guns without ever going into the main menu (you can even set up control options with the weapon wheel). You have an ammo refill option for all your guns at the weapons vendors. The x2 ability that you have in Challenge Mode is now a crate you can smash early in the game to get double the bolts for a limited amount of time. Weapon upgrades are more streamlined with no upgrade mods; they just get better the more you use them.
And the more annoying issues people had with the extra gameplay styles like flying and racing? They are gone now, replaced with really great 2D platforming levels with Quark that really should be their own game with how fun they are, pushing the gunplay more with base missions, and giving Clank a more advanced AI partner to work within him during his sections of the game.
This entire game feels like Insomniac knew they had gold with Ratchet 2 and said "That's good.....but what else can we do here?" and that shows in spades. Gameplay wise, this is perfect to me.
But instead of saying "Its Perfect" and "I love this game" and closing the thread now, lets talk about three things; the base missions, the weapons and the 2D Quark levels.
The Base missions take the platformer that Ratchet 2 was, and turns it into more of a shooter. What I mean, is that the game is still a platformer at heart, but during these portions of the game, it turns into what I call a shooting game with platforming elements.
You still run and jump, but the focus is smart combat and completing specific missions in each area. Defend X amount of troops, blow up X amount of bases, turn X amount of Bolt Cranks, ect. These are so fun thanks to the great gun play controls, having the ability to control the game as a FPS or as a TPS and even having the ability to hop into three things (buggy, powerful flying carrier, and turret). Love these stages and these are further expanded upon with Dreadlock/Gladiator in the future.
The weapons here though, are my favorite line up in the series. Just going to list the different guns you can get and then I will move on:
-Lava gun that shots hot magma and when fully upgraded, can freeze people
-Suck Cannon that can pull in boxes and smaller foes, and shoot them back. When upgraded fully, it can shoot flaming versions of foes/creates you pick up
-Black Hole gun that can pull in a lot of foes at once
-Gun that launches a bomb that explodes into smaller bombs
-A gun that turns you foes into flying ducks. When fully upgraded, it can create an army of flaming ducks that home-in into your foes when flying over them.
-Infector weapon that poisons your foes and makes them attack other foes when infected.
-Lava Whip that when upgraded can shoot a stream of energy at people
-RYNO III that shoots PASMA blasts that kills everything it touches
..........Amazing stuff, isn't it? Greatest weapon selection in any game and while future games have great line ups of weapons, love this line-up a lot personally.
And the last gameplay bit is Quark himself; he gets five (six if you count the secret one) 2D platforming stages that are a mix of running, gunning and platforming. They play with mechanics in the main game (wall jumping, jumping, shooting various weapons) but are a blast. The level designs are really well done and I love how great Quark controls here. Great set of levels and a fun way to mix up long shooting sessions.
If Ratchet 1 was a more moody take on Spyro but in Space & Ratchet 2 was a mixture of more serious alien locations but with a light touch at points, Ratchet 3 is the action movie to the series.
You have more serious locations with torn up planets but you still get a lot of color. The world is amazing looking and really pushed the engine the PS2 games ran on. Particularly love the animation, as the cut-scenes and gameplay really show how lively the characters are animated.
The music though, one of my favorite soundtracks in the series. Again, pushing for that action movie tone that the visuals try to do but man is it effective.
Veldin - Kyzil Plateau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNFDql4lCc8&index=2&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A&nohtml5=False
Florana - Nabla Forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yGeefWI4I&index=5&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A
Starship Phoenix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXFsaOCKbr8&index=8&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A
Marcadia - Capital City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK5MtJr36L8&index=10&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A&nohtml5=False
Station Q9 - Deathcourse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySozLCXatdg&index=16&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A&nohtml5=False
Station Q9 - Arena Combat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Oaw-fVPnA&index=17&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A&nohtml5=False
Aquatos - Underwater Complex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru_CJOzMIsQ&index=20&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A
Zygan System - Obani Gemini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3zP2GTY1_Y&index=33&list=PL40EC0886514E2E8A&nohtml5=False
One of my favorite gaming soundtracks honestly and I remember every planet just from listening to this OST.
What else is there to say? Insomniac stuck gold with Ratchet 2 and made it perfect. This game is one I have literally no problems with and that really impresses me. Very few games I feel are perfect, only a very select few are as every thing has problems.
But Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal has no issues to me and is one game I can say until I'm blue in the face is one of gaming's best action/platformers of all time. Please, if you never played this before, run to your nearest store and get the PS3 HD Collection. It runs great on the PS3!
It is also part of the Vita Ratchet Collection but it has frame rate issues toward two sections in the game (one of the second to last final planets and the sewers you can explore).
Give this game a shot and have a blast!
! Love this game a lot, so glad I did it justice 
