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| They're going to need a bigger arsenal. |
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal is the third game in the original Ratchet and Clank trilogy for the PS2 and it's often regarded as the best one by fans. Picking up after the events of Going Commando, Ratchet and Clank are back yet for another adventure this time against a new villain. Up Your Arsenal was known for introducing many new features to the mix such as multiplayer and gameplay improvements back in the day. I've been excited to play it since it looked the coolest out of the three. So does it still hold up all these years later and is it any fun? Let's find out.
Right off the heels of their last adventure, Ratchet and Clank must once again save the Solana Galaxy from danger. This time, they're fighting a new villain, Dr. Nefarious, who plans on turning all organic life in the galaxy into robots. The duo aren't alone this time as they join the galactic rangers to push back Nefarious' forces. As always, the story was over-the-top fun, packing some subtle and not-so-subtle innuendos to keep you giggling. The characters were all great, especially new ones like Sasha, Nefarious, the galactic rangers, and even the Britney Spears spoof character "Courtney Gears". Clank even gets more screen-time with his "Secret Agent Clank" persona, which was cool to watch.
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| The adventure's a wild one. |
Like previous games, Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal is a third-person shooter where you mainly play as Ratchet using a wide selection of guns in your arsenal to blast enemies. Ratchet can also whack them up close with his wrench. While nothing's changed from the last three games, Up Your Arsenal features an even more selection of weapons, more planets to explore, and more variety in gameplay. The RPG elements of Going Commando are present as Ratchet's health will increase when his experience gauge fills up as well as weapons, which unlock new forms when they're frequently used. New weapons like the Plasma Whip, Rift Inducer (which creates holes that suck enemies in), and Agents of Doom (spawns mini-robots that destroy enemies for you) were pretty neat and offered a ton of variety in gameplay.
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| The new weapons were fun to use. |
Clank's segments are the same as you get to control a group of mini-robots and command them to either fight enemies or solve small puzzles to open paths for Ratchet. My favorite part is when Clank transforms into a giant mech when dealing with bigger enemies, as he can shoot missiles and melee attack them while destroying everything in his way. The levels were also interesting this time around, though I still enjoyed the variety offered in Going Commando more. There are assault missions in certain levels where you must assist the galactic rangers by fighting gradually tough missions against Nefarious' forces by defending bases on foot or by using airships and buggies. These missions neatly rewards you with lots of Bolts (the game's currency) to buy new weapons and armor, so they're worth checking out.
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| There's a lot of content to keep you hooked for a while. |
Also, the game even features a 2D platformer mini-game where you get to play as Captain Qwark as he battles Dr. Nefarious while shedding much needed backstory to Qwark and Nefarious' origins. Overall, the game took around 13 hours to beat, which included getting some of the hidden bolts, doing nearly all side-missions, and upgrading most of my weaponry. Fully 100% the game will easily bump it to 20 hours though. Up Your Arsenal was known for its multiplayer mode back in the day though sadly it got shutdown years ago. It packed some well-known modes like Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, and Siege and had you using the weapons in the main game as Ratchet, though it's a shame that you only play against bots.
Out of the original trilogy, Up Your Arsenal holds up best thanks to its brightly colored backgrounds and levels, sweet weapon designs, more open levels, and decent character animations. Sure, it's still a PS2 game at the end of the day, but a pretty ambitious one at that. The PS3 HD remaster bumps up the resolution to 720p while keeping the original 60fps intact, despite some slowdowns. The voicecast is always great, with performances like Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and Nefarious' being standouts. The soundtrack is also good, though nothing really caught my attention.
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| Up Your Arsenal holds up best out of the original games. |
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal was a great game and the best out of the original trilogy. The story was entertaining alongside a memorable villain, the refined gameplay was a blast to play, and the presentation was top-notch for its time yet still looks decent by today's standards. While the multiplayer may be over, the main game was still fun thanks to the amount of weapons and enemy variety in store. It's an easy recommendation for fans of the series and even action fans should definitely give it a shot.
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