More Ratchet and Clank, me happy
Another worthy follow-up to what's already a phenomenal game. It's tightly-paced, the gunplay is as satisfying as ever, the music has a lot of intensity, and it features one of the best video game villains, Dr. Nefarious. The exploration isn't as prevalent as its predecessors, but I didn't mind it much. Still a lot of fun.
Didn't care the multiplayer much, but it's there if you want to play with some friends.
Didn't care the multiplayer much, but it's there if you want to play with some friends.
While Going Commando made lots of improvements to the original, this game doesn't feel as dramatic a step up. With that being said, this game definitely knocks it out of the park in perfecting the Ratchet and Clank gameplay. (The leveling system is greatly expanded and your constantly feeling more powerful with each new weapon upgrade. There really isn't a bad weapon here, new ones feel great and returning ones are better then ever. Personal favorites are the Flux Rifle and the Turret Glove. The story and dialogue finally have reached that balance of storytelling and humor that you come to expect from these sorts of games. With quite a few jokes that will surprise you that made it under the radar. A fantastic way to cap off the original trilogy of games and a must play for anyone vaguely interested in the series. I still say play Going Commando first in order to appreciate the level of quality this title presents.
Game Binge: Ratchet and Clank (3 of 11)
Beat: Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal / PS3 (2004) | 4.5/5.0
Developers: Insomniac
“Up Your Arsenal” is far and away my favorite Ratchet title, which may or may not change depending on how the next…eight games go. The PS3 Remaster improves the graphics and the lack of forced inverted controls truly removes a lot of the frustration I had with its predecessor. The true stars of the show are the weapons, and this time the ability to upgrade them each by five levels makes them more addictive than ever to use.
The many changes to the formula had me wholly focused and rarely-if ever-frustrated by the usual dated mechanics. The extra weapon wheel is SUCH a relief, but Insomniac did one better by automating the gadgets when you need them rather than wasting weapon slots. The new arena is a blast. The battle missions are so varied and fun. I love the sense of scale you get from taking over multiple vehicles on the battlefield.
Insomniac really learned from the last game, which was honestly already very good, but the changes are certainly expected going forward. I couldn’t get enough of all the creative ways to dispatch baddies. I found myself doing far more of the side stuff because I wanted to rather than simply to check some boxes. Up Your Arsenal is delightful and surprisingly addictive.
Beat: Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal / PS3 (2004) | 4.5/5.0
Developers: Insomniac
“Up Your Arsenal” is far and away my favorite Ratchet title, which may or may not change depending on how the next…eight games go. The PS3 Remaster improves the graphics and the lack of forced inverted controls truly removes a lot of the frustration I had with its predecessor. The true stars of the show are the weapons, and this time the ability to upgrade them each by five levels makes them more addictive than ever to use.
The many changes to the formula had me wholly focused and rarely-if ever-frustrated by the usual dated mechanics. The extra weapon wheel is SUCH a relief, but Insomniac did one better by automating the gadgets when you need them rather than wasting weapon slots. The new arena is a blast. The battle missions are so varied and fun. I love the sense of scale you get from taking over multiple vehicles on the battlefield.
Insomniac really learned from the last game, which was honestly already very good, but the changes are certainly expected going forward. I couldn’t get enough of all the creative ways to dispatch baddies. I found myself doing far more of the side stuff because I wanted to rather than simply to check some boxes. Up Your Arsenal is delightful and surprisingly addictive.
By all accounts, a game with less than a year of development time, with a lot of resources and manpower diverted to making an online mode in the PS2 era, even more resources and manpower diverted to working on a separate game engine, and all the fun horror stories of cut features arising from this game's development cycle should've made a complete trainwreck of a game but instead this is one of the best games in the franchise and ended up creating the franchise's most iconic villain so clearly some black magic was at play at the Insomniac studios in 2004. The cut side-games of this game - the races and the ship battles - don't hinder the game so much as trim the fat and as a result I think this game has a more streamlined experience than Going Commando and brought me the gameplay that I enjoy the most from this series.
But mostly, I must reiterate, this game brought us Dr. Nefarious, who feels like he was created mostly for Insomniac to flex on the competition and go "look at how cartoonishly animated this PS2 character is", and I'm glad he's survived well into the PS5 era where they can raytrace that doofus and make him lavishly animated on modern hardware. Am I speaking from a bias? Possibly. But I think this game's faults would've been way more noticeable if the villain wasn't good and if we didn't get that banger of a song from Courtney Gears midway through the game.
But mostly, I must reiterate, this game brought us Dr. Nefarious, who feels like he was created mostly for Insomniac to flex on the competition and go "look at how cartoonishly animated this PS2 character is", and I'm glad he's survived well into the PS5 era where they can raytrace that doofus and make him lavishly animated on modern hardware. Am I speaking from a bias? Possibly. But I think this game's faults would've been way more noticeable if the villain wasn't good and if we didn't get that banger of a song from Courtney Gears midway through the game.
This review contains spoilers
Though it takes a different approach to design from the first two games, it's not necessarily a detriment to the games design.
Up Your Arsenal plays much more straightforward and action oriented. The levels are a lot more linear and there is only really one objective to do on every map instead of multiple you can choose from.
The side activites take a step down from the second game. The arena feels easier, and although they add platforming challenges to the mix, they all felt pretty much the exact same and weren't hard at all so overall they ended up as forgettable. The hacking minigames and the light beam "puzzles" also feel monotonous. The game also requires you to play through a little side scrolling 2D game chronicling the adventures of Qwark against Nefarious and these just feel very low budget.
Once again Ratchet is made the jester of the game. It feels like everybody in the galaxy is just stupid on purpose, acting as if Ratchet wasn't the saviour of galaxies twice. For the most part, he is treated as a nobody for some reason, even though it feels like he should be very popular for his actions. And the game tries to make Qwark out to be a good guy by the end of it, even though he conspired with a genociding capitalist in the first game and spearheaded the invasion of proto-pets for clout in the second. It's ridiculous how much characters give him the benefit of the doubt.
Then again, I suppose it makes it more likely that people do believe Ratchet is a nobody if they still think Qwark is good, but that is just plain stupid writing. Hell, Qwark even got his own TV series in the second game detailing just how embarrassing he was at being a "hero."
Nefarious is just a funny character to see, even if he isn't developed all that much. He commands presence when he is on the screen and his voice acting is exceptional.
Although the games have always had good levels, the art direction feels much more bold and experimental in this game. Whereas previous entries mostly stuck to convention in it's sci fi worlds, big cities and buildings, the art design here feels more inspired. There's a level in the jungle, a level inside of a disco ball (leading to a boss fight with a pop star robot), a level set on a moon that has a forest, it just feels really creative.
The flipside of that coin however is the galatic ranger levels, which feel very uninspired. Bland hallway-level design and boring objectives.
The weapon roster is very good just like entries prior. Though some of them just feel pretty damn useless (infector gun, throwable shield, plasma whip), everything feels more balanced this time.
This one feels the greatest to play out of the orginal three. There is a specific control option that keeps you in strafe mode when you have a weapon out and you can fire with R1. No more claw! There is also two weapon wheels now which feels great because, like hte last game, the weapon roster is very large.
Overall, this is another good time. I definitely recommend this game along with the rest of the trilogy.
Up Your Arsenal plays much more straightforward and action oriented. The levels are a lot more linear and there is only really one objective to do on every map instead of multiple you can choose from.
The side activites take a step down from the second game. The arena feels easier, and although they add platforming challenges to the mix, they all felt pretty much the exact same and weren't hard at all so overall they ended up as forgettable. The hacking minigames and the light beam "puzzles" also feel monotonous. The game also requires you to play through a little side scrolling 2D game chronicling the adventures of Qwark against Nefarious and these just feel very low budget.
Once again Ratchet is made the jester of the game. It feels like everybody in the galaxy is just stupid on purpose, acting as if Ratchet wasn't the saviour of galaxies twice. For the most part, he is treated as a nobody for some reason, even though it feels like he should be very popular for his actions. And the game tries to make Qwark out to be a good guy by the end of it, even though he conspired with a genociding capitalist in the first game and spearheaded the invasion of proto-pets for clout in the second. It's ridiculous how much characters give him the benefit of the doubt.
Then again, I suppose it makes it more likely that people do believe Ratchet is a nobody if they still think Qwark is good, but that is just plain stupid writing. Hell, Qwark even got his own TV series in the second game detailing just how embarrassing he was at being a "hero."
Nefarious is just a funny character to see, even if he isn't developed all that much. He commands presence when he is on the screen and his voice acting is exceptional.
Although the games have always had good levels, the art direction feels much more bold and experimental in this game. Whereas previous entries mostly stuck to convention in it's sci fi worlds, big cities and buildings, the art design here feels more inspired. There's a level in the jungle, a level inside of a disco ball (leading to a boss fight with a pop star robot), a level set on a moon that has a forest, it just feels really creative.
The flipside of that coin however is the galatic ranger levels, which feel very uninspired. Bland hallway-level design and boring objectives.
The weapon roster is very good just like entries prior. Though some of them just feel pretty damn useless (infector gun, throwable shield, plasma whip), everything feels more balanced this time.
This one feels the greatest to play out of the orginal three. There is a specific control option that keeps you in strafe mode when you have a weapon out and you can fire with R1. No more claw! There is also two weapon wheels now which feels great because, like hte last game, the weapon roster is very large.
Overall, this is another good time. I definitely recommend this game along with the rest of the trilogy.
A master class in repurposing multiplayer maps
Not as good as the first two imo
Not bad but a significant step down from the first two.
I refuse to play this game without the Omniwrench lightsaber cheat code enabled
i realized like a week ago this game has like no major flaws and buffed the score so thats cool
probabilmente uno dei giochi più lunghi che ho giocato
The least of the original Ratchet and Clank trilogy. Points for having more variety than its predecessors (as any good sequel should have) and there is still loads of explosive fun to be had, but it does come at the sacrifice of the complex level design and well-written stories that really made its predecessors as fantastic as they were. You ever heard the term 'good, not great'? This game is great but not fantastic. Make of that what you will.
B
B
This review contains spoilers
"Not Perfect, But A Masterpiece Nonetheless"
"Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal" is not a perfect game, but it manages to provide a tighter combat experience than the previous title while restoring the character development of the first game somewhat in order to present a grand adventure for the duo to end the original trilogy on. While this mastery of the combat mechanics led to some reductions in open-ended level design, the game still manages to be a blast to play, moreso than any other title in the original trilogy.
"Up Your Arsenal" is mechanically the same game as "Going Commando" with a few extra tweaks for gameplay. Health now uses a flat number system rather than the nanotech orb system in order to convey Ratchet's remaining health slightly better. Combat now pauses when switching weapons via the weapon wheel (which itself has two rings for weapons/gadgets now). Weapons as a whole feel a bit less experimental, but are much more useful with only a few duds such as the Plasma Whip and Infector (the former essentially a wrench upgrade, the latter a tool to turn enemies unto each other). However, the design of even the weakest of weapons is still tight and marvelous to look at (especially the Plasma Whip's snake-like animation), and the strongest weapon designs are simply a blast to fight with (the Rift Inducer that sucks all enemies into the singularities of miniature black holes, or the Quack-O-Ray which turns enemies into ducks!). There's even a doubling of weapon levels for upgrading for good measure, though they don't take forever to finish unlike in the previous title.
While this title is stronger in the weapons department as a whole, it doesn't stop there. Vehicles are added in, and this title adds a ground vehicle to use sparingly (which controls surprisingly well) and an air ship that is functional though takes some getting used to during its side sections.
There is the addition of a hub world for Ratchet and Clank to return to in order to purchase some weapons/armor, engage in optional arena training challenges, play Quark vid-comics, and interact with your ship for customization as well as view trophies earned through gameplay. Some neat additions that feel right at home for the series.
However, side content is somewhat different this time around. Gone are the racing and ship-combat sections from "Going Commando", but a more diverse arena mode and Quark vid-comics take their place. Arenas now contain some platforming sections that help diversify gameplay, and the Quark vid-comics are solid 2D-platforming minigames that are much more polished than the racing and ship sections in past titles. Additionally there is one large crystal hunting activity rather than two medium-sized ones, but it is in a more repetitive environment. Thus, side content has less diversity but slightly more quality. Still an improvement, but only marginally.
As for gadgets, the Dynamo and Swingshot of the last title are combined into one tool (the "Hypershot"). The Refractor is about as interesting as the previous title's Tractor Beam, the Hypnomatic is retooled into the more entertaining Tyhrra-Guise, and the Infiltrator is remade into the more engaging Hacker tool. Unfortunately there is the loss of the neat Thermanator, which would have been nice to see added into this title. Overall, a smaller gadget pool, but they see more use and are more interesting to interact with, making this title about par with the previous in that department.
The visuals, voice acting and soundtrack are all great here yet again, and there aren't any major changes to discuss as well.
Lastly, the story is a bit tighter in this title despite lacking a bit of the wackiness of "Going Commando". There is a defined villain in this game (Dr. Nefarious) who is fairly well-written if a bit repetitive with humor at times. Additionally, I had a soft-spot for the reunion of the original games' characters as a part of Q-Force (Helga, Skid, Quark and Al). Seeing these characters yet again helped me feel grounded in the universe, and while the game took a more serious military tone versus the covert ops/corporation focus of the previous title, the plot rarely felt convoluted or half-assed. The only blemishes for this entry were during two moments: destroying two separate Biobliterators for no real reason, and the final cutscene to end the game. The first was just padding story-wise despite still being a fun planet to play through, but the second is something I wish Insomniac Games could get a hang of more often. The only title to contain a good ending to its story was the original "Ratchet & Clank", and the sequels just sort of end on weird notes. A nitpick for sure, but still a blemish on the game.
In conclusion, "Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal" aimed to present a "bigger and better" game than "Going Commando", and delivered on the "better" aspect. While the game is functionally the same length (maybe even a bit shorter), the experience is more focused and tighter in comparison without unpolished filler in the way. While I would have preferred more content in place of the multiplayer component of this title (which I chose not to discuss because it is now dead), I still enjoyed what was presented to me. "Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal" is by no means a perfect game, but I enjoyed it for the masterpiece it is in many aspects, and can ultimately Recommend it to anyone who wants to play a tightly focused, entertaining, hilarious, and memorable action-platforming experience.
Final Verdict: 10/10 (Masterpiece)
"Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal" is not a perfect game, but it manages to provide a tighter combat experience than the previous title while restoring the character development of the first game somewhat in order to present a grand adventure for the duo to end the original trilogy on. While this mastery of the combat mechanics led to some reductions in open-ended level design, the game still manages to be a blast to play, moreso than any other title in the original trilogy.
"Up Your Arsenal" is mechanically the same game as "Going Commando" with a few extra tweaks for gameplay. Health now uses a flat number system rather than the nanotech orb system in order to convey Ratchet's remaining health slightly better. Combat now pauses when switching weapons via the weapon wheel (which itself has two rings for weapons/gadgets now). Weapons as a whole feel a bit less experimental, but are much more useful with only a few duds such as the Plasma Whip and Infector (the former essentially a wrench upgrade, the latter a tool to turn enemies unto each other). However, the design of even the weakest of weapons is still tight and marvelous to look at (especially the Plasma Whip's snake-like animation), and the strongest weapon designs are simply a blast to fight with (the Rift Inducer that sucks all enemies into the singularities of miniature black holes, or the Quack-O-Ray which turns enemies into ducks!). There's even a doubling of weapon levels for upgrading for good measure, though they don't take forever to finish unlike in the previous title.
While this title is stronger in the weapons department as a whole, it doesn't stop there. Vehicles are added in, and this title adds a ground vehicle to use sparingly (which controls surprisingly well) and an air ship that is functional though takes some getting used to during its side sections.
There is the addition of a hub world for Ratchet and Clank to return to in order to purchase some weapons/armor, engage in optional arena training challenges, play Quark vid-comics, and interact with your ship for customization as well as view trophies earned through gameplay. Some neat additions that feel right at home for the series.
However, side content is somewhat different this time around. Gone are the racing and ship-combat sections from "Going Commando", but a more diverse arena mode and Quark vid-comics take their place. Arenas now contain some platforming sections that help diversify gameplay, and the Quark vid-comics are solid 2D-platforming minigames that are much more polished than the racing and ship sections in past titles. Additionally there is one large crystal hunting activity rather than two medium-sized ones, but it is in a more repetitive environment. Thus, side content has less diversity but slightly more quality. Still an improvement, but only marginally.
As for gadgets, the Dynamo and Swingshot of the last title are combined into one tool (the "Hypershot"). The Refractor is about as interesting as the previous title's Tractor Beam, the Hypnomatic is retooled into the more entertaining Tyhrra-Guise, and the Infiltrator is remade into the more engaging Hacker tool. Unfortunately there is the loss of the neat Thermanator, which would have been nice to see added into this title. Overall, a smaller gadget pool, but they see more use and are more interesting to interact with, making this title about par with the previous in that department.
The visuals, voice acting and soundtrack are all great here yet again, and there aren't any major changes to discuss as well.
Lastly, the story is a bit tighter in this title despite lacking a bit of the wackiness of "Going Commando". There is a defined villain in this game (Dr. Nefarious) who is fairly well-written if a bit repetitive with humor at times. Additionally, I had a soft-spot for the reunion of the original games' characters as a part of Q-Force (Helga, Skid, Quark and Al). Seeing these characters yet again helped me feel grounded in the universe, and while the game took a more serious military tone versus the covert ops/corporation focus of the previous title, the plot rarely felt convoluted or half-assed. The only blemishes for this entry were during two moments: destroying two separate Biobliterators for no real reason, and the final cutscene to end the game. The first was just padding story-wise despite still being a fun planet to play through, but the second is something I wish Insomniac Games could get a hang of more often. The only title to contain a good ending to its story was the original "Ratchet & Clank", and the sequels just sort of end on weird notes. A nitpick for sure, but still a blemish on the game.
In conclusion, "Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal" aimed to present a "bigger and better" game than "Going Commando", and delivered on the "better" aspect. While the game is functionally the same length (maybe even a bit shorter), the experience is more focused and tighter in comparison without unpolished filler in the way. While I would have preferred more content in place of the multiplayer component of this title (which I chose not to discuss because it is now dead), I still enjoyed what was presented to me. "Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal" is by no means a perfect game, but I enjoyed it for the masterpiece it is in many aspects, and can ultimately Recommend it to anyone who wants to play a tightly focused, entertaining, hilarious, and memorable action-platforming experience.
Final Verdict: 10/10 (Masterpiece)
less variety and a bit more linear than the second game, but UYA makes up for it in spades with the most fun gunplay out of the PS2 trilogy. arena's a ton of fun with the new weapons and upgrades, and the missions on the multiplayer maps make for an interesting time. can't really comment on the actual multiplayer itself since i never played it, and unfortunately the ship's long past sailed for me to try it online.
as fun as the improved gunplay is, some of the new stuff like the hacking and clank puzzles and the qwark vidcomics feel like a bit of a slog. i'm a weirdo who liked exploring the crystal sewers though.
cutscenes and character interactions are also some of the funniest in the trilogy. yeah, you could make the argument there's not a whole lot of the commercialist satire and commentary from the last two games, but also dr nefarious is a super fun villain and also i feel like you could take something from the fact that the guy believes super hard in television stars and also basically tried to start a race war through a pop idol's career.
as fun as the improved gunplay is, some of the new stuff like the hacking and clank puzzles and the qwark vidcomics feel like a bit of a slog. i'm a weirdo who liked exploring the crystal sewers though.
cutscenes and character interactions are also some of the funniest in the trilogy. yeah, you could make the argument there's not a whole lot of the commercialist satire and commentary from the last two games, but also dr nefarious is a super fun villain and also i feel like you could take something from the fact that the guy believes super hard in television stars and also basically tried to start a race war through a pop idol's career.
The dangers of robot racism cannot be overlooked
Not as much exploration compared to its predecessors which is a little disappointing. Most levels only have 1 path which makes them feel smaller and shorter. I felt the weapons kind of made up for that though, It has the best ones out of ps2 trilogy. There's literally a gun that shoots black holes! Getting them isn't hard either since they're more generous with the bolts this time. There's somewhat of a difficult spike near the end but it isn't as bad as the previous games.
Very similar gameplay wise to going commando, but that's not a bad thing. I remember monkey qwark.
Your usual R&C action, but dominated by what feels like hours and hours and hours of the most obnoxious, unfunny cutscenes ever, I swear to God. There's no way that whoever wrote the last two games (which were legitimately funny at times) did this cringefest. Dr. Nefarious is beyond grating. The Secret Agent Clank stuff is this ill-fitting lolrandom thing that I can't believe turned into a recurring plot point. Anything that was ever funny about Qwark is driven into the ground far past the point of no return. The crude humor and winking sex stuff has been cranked up x100 for some reason. It's legitimately really rough.
Aside from that incredibly unfortunate new tone, it's clear they were stretching on this one. Lots of padding, super-linear levels, artificial difficulty by suddenly making checkpoints scarce. The guns are pretty good, but it feels uninspired at best.
This one's a slog.
Aside from that incredibly unfortunate new tone, it's clear they were stretching on this one. Lots of padding, super-linear levels, artificial difficulty by suddenly making checkpoints scarce. The guns are pretty good, but it feels uninspired at best.
This one's a slog.
There's some rushed development here, what with shorter levels and cut side content like races. But it doesn't feel like the game necessarily suffered from it, instead it's more like the game just got a higher focus on the action aspect (which may or may not be a good thing depending on who you ask).
There are times when I did feel the shortcuts taken though, like how some levels have 4/5 missions that all take place in the same exact area and just have you mow down hordes of enemies. The hovership sections are hugely nerfed and less fun versions of the spaceship battles. The arena battles don't have anything as flashy as the cage matches from before (but there are now a few extra challenges like cycling weapons, and of course the obstacle courses...which reuse the same routes for all 10 or so ones).
But Up Your Arsenal definitely has some direct improvements, particularly some quality of life ones. Being able to refill all ammo at once from a vendor is such a huge improvement.
The plot now feels a tad more focused by having a hub world that you go back to between many of the levels. I liked that it utilised many of the past side characters well. Much better than past games which kinda just chauffeured you from one planet to the next.
Great villain with fun chemistry with his sidekick/butler.
The Qwark Vid Comics are a really great side activity, not only letting you play as Qwark, but also bringing in a brand new style of gameplay (2D Platformer).
Even the Clank sections didn't feel that bad this time around. But maybe that's just because I'm used to them now. The giant clank battle was definitely infinitely less annoying than the ones in Going Commando though.
There's some things that I think remain the same too, obviously the combat itself is basically the exact same (which isn't a bad thing). But it even carries over the flaw of puzzles just not being hard. Like when you use the refractor it's always 100% obvious what you need to do, so it feels like you're just wasting a bunch of time to equip the item over and over. Plus like I said in my last review, I really dislike how the weapon upgrade system works in these games. It promotes using weapons in bad context, and, ironically, ignoring fully upgraded weapons because it feels like a waste of exp. It is at least nice to see how close you are to levelling up weapons in terms of numbers now though I guess.
I'd basically say this game is a sidegrade than an upgrade or downgrade to the last game. It giveths and it takeths away.
There are times when I did feel the shortcuts taken though, like how some levels have 4/5 missions that all take place in the same exact area and just have you mow down hordes of enemies. The hovership sections are hugely nerfed and less fun versions of the spaceship battles. The arena battles don't have anything as flashy as the cage matches from before (but there are now a few extra challenges like cycling weapons, and of course the obstacle courses...which reuse the same routes for all 10 or so ones).
But Up Your Arsenal definitely has some direct improvements, particularly some quality of life ones. Being able to refill all ammo at once from a vendor is such a huge improvement.
The plot now feels a tad more focused by having a hub world that you go back to between many of the levels. I liked that it utilised many of the past side characters well. Much better than past games which kinda just chauffeured you from one planet to the next.
Great villain with fun chemistry with his sidekick/butler.
The Qwark Vid Comics are a really great side activity, not only letting you play as Qwark, but also bringing in a brand new style of gameplay (2D Platformer).
Even the Clank sections didn't feel that bad this time around. But maybe that's just because I'm used to them now. The giant clank battle was definitely infinitely less annoying than the ones in Going Commando though.
There's some things that I think remain the same too, obviously the combat itself is basically the exact same (which isn't a bad thing). But it even carries over the flaw of puzzles just not being hard. Like when you use the refractor it's always 100% obvious what you need to do, so it feels like you're just wasting a bunch of time to equip the item over and over. Plus like I said in my last review, I really dislike how the weapon upgrade system works in these games. It promotes using weapons in bad context, and, ironically, ignoring fully upgraded weapons because it feels like a waste of exp. It is at least nice to see how close you are to levelling up weapons in terms of numbers now though I guess.
I'd basically say this game is a sidegrade than an upgrade or downgrade to the last game. It giveths and it takeths away.
fun sequel
The last title of the original trilogy of Ratchet & Clank is also the one that strays further from its platforming roots and into the then-revitalized third-person action shooter. Unlike earlier entries, this game is all about the shooting and the jumping around, which manages to be as entertaining as in Going Commando. Despite that, it is clear that experimentation has been pushed away from providing a central experience, one that isn't so concerned about having a diverse array of gadgets than about having an efficient and competent set of weapons. If it feels like a slight difference, try to maximize them after the first playthrough and you'll notice how big it gets. While it still tries to be a large toybox, it'd seem as if the developers have thrown away the ones that were more difficult to deal with. And that's a shame.
The best from the original trilogy for me (only just edging R&C 2). Includes probably my favourite arsenal of weapons in any R&C game; bringing back some of the best weapons from the previous title.
Hands down one of my favourite PS2 games. Everything from the set pieces, to Dr. Nefarious, to the jokes was peak R&C. The series has been on a (mostly) steady decline since.
This is still a pretty good game, but there are a lot more problems with this game than the previous two. You can tell this game was a rush job. The enemy variety is lacking, the weapon leveling system is awful (and sadly gets worst from this point on in the series), and the design of the worlds are no nearly as good as the previous two titles. I think this game should be in line for a remake where they could go back an polish a lot of things.
engaging narrative
Weirdest case of coasting on its predecessor's adjustments (for the better,I'd say) while at the same bringing the series to a different direction entirely ever.
Not much I can say about UYA outside of the fact that it's basically a fantastic experience like GC;sure,it's mostly an action game now,but goddamn does it feel good using the Rift Inducer...so I rest my case.
Oh and Nefarious is such a fantastic villain,they might wanna shove him in some further installments instead of writing new bad guys if they're up for it. If only they learned how to properly end their game without an ubrupt cut in the middle of character development.
Not much I can say about UYA outside of the fact that it's basically a fantastic experience like GC;sure,it's mostly an action game now,but goddamn does it feel good using the Rift Inducer...so I rest my case.
Oh and Nefarious is such a fantastic villain,they might wanna shove him in some further installments instead of writing new bad guys if they're up for it. If only they learned how to properly end their game without an ubrupt cut in the middle of character development.
Might have been my favorite of the PS2 trilogy honestly? It's weird because it noticeably lacks the semi-open design of the previous two games' level design and it's very clearly a rushed product with an "eh" addition of multiplayer whose maps are regularly reused in the campaign. But despite all of that, the actual core gameplay and progression here is the smoothest of the three games and importantly stayed fun even all the way to the end of the game. RC2's progression for me hit a brick wall by the halfway point and became far less fun because of how it outright punished the player for not making certain choices with weapons to buy in the shop along with some pretty awful boss fights. This game avoids most of those issues, even if the story and villain is just eh and ends a lot sooner than the previous two games do.
Out of all the Ratchet and Clank games, this one is the most deliberately designed to be a shooter. It strips away a lot of the open-endedness of the first two for a more linear, streamlined experience that make me yearn for some of the more unique ideas of its predecessors. However, Up Your Arsenal is fun. It feels great to play and its storyline entertains, perhaps even more so than Going Commando. With or without reservations, Up Your Arsenal is a good place to end the original Ratchet and Clank trilogy.
Me encantaba pero como lo compré de segunda mano estaba muy rayado y no lo pude terminar.