Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Ratchet & Clank 3 in Europe) is a platform/shooter video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony. It was released in North America on November 2, 2004 and was met with critical acclaim, earning an average review score of over 90%. It is the first game in the series to utilise Sony's Network Adapter for online play.
| Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Insomniac Games |
| Publisher(s) | SCEA |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release | Nov. 2, 2004 (NA) Nov. 12, 2004 (EU) Nov. 25, 2004 (JP) |
| Genre(s) | Platformer, Action |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Story
Template:Spoiler It starts by showing Ratchet losing some kind of chess game. They then turn on the tv, to find that Clank has his own show, titled Secret Agent Clank, with Ratchet being the chuffer, while Clank is, obviously, a secret agent. In embarresment, Ratchet changes the channel to a news report about his home planet, Veldin, being under attack by an army of aliens, named Tyhrranoids, and the lead suspect is a robot by the name of Dr. Nefarious.
Ratchet and Clank race to the planet and help the Galactic Rangers, a army of cowardly robots, who mistake him as a new sergent and give him his first two weapons. In the end, thy get a message from the president, who is shocked to see the great Secret Agent Clank. He tells him that only one man has ever defeated Dr. Nefarious and he is somewhere hidden on planet Florana.
They go to the planet to find that masked man, who is apparently the leader of a tribe, and a weird one-eyed monkey. The man makes them go through the Path of Death and when they do the monkey takes off the man's mask to show that it is no other than Captain Qwark. After the Boss battle, they find that Qwark actually believes that he is a monkey and they lead him back to the ship. When they do they get a message from a women, named Sasha, who is the captain of the Starship Phoenix and has been ordered to help them and Qwark.
At the Starship Phoenix, they find a Weapons Vendor, Ship Vendor, Armor Vendor, living quarters, trophy room, VR training room, and a VG-9000 (a video game system). They lead Qwark to the living quarters, that includes a barred off section that they leave qwark in and head for the bridge. There they find that Sasha is listening to a transmission from the president about the capitol under attack by the Tyhrranoid army, then the transmission suddenly ends and Sasha accidently blurts out that the president is her father. Then, Nefarious and Lawrence, his butler, explain that they have declared war against all organic life, or the "squishies" as he calls them. Sasha orders the galactic rangers to head for the capitol, while Ratchet and Clank fly ahead.
At Marcadia, the capitol, Ratchet fight to the palace and start several missions, known as "Operation IRON SHEILD". In the first two missions, Ratchet has to fight off attacking Tyhrranoids, while defending the Galactic Rangers. On mission 3, he has to get into a plasma turret and stop the incoming ships. On the fourth mission, he needs to protect a repair team that's trying to fix the plasma turret. On the last mission, he needs to activate the anti-air autoturrets all around the palace. In the end, the palace is safe, but the capitol is still in great danger. The president tells them that the city's Laser Defense Sheild is down and they need to repair it, also mentioning that they sent down a mechanic but they haven't heard from him. At the Defense Facility, Ratchet finds the Refractor, a gadget that redirects lasers. Ratchet uses this to get the control panel, where they find Big Al, using the computer to play Qwark Vid-comic Issue 1, titled "Booty is in the eye of the Beholder". Clank then looks at the terminal and finds the problem, and Al fixes it. Before leaving, though, Clank asks for the Vid-comic, thinking that it might let Qwark regain his memory.
Ratchet plays the Vid-comic and in the end, Qwark remembers everything. Sasha says she will take care of Qwark while she sends the two on another mission. They have to go to "Annihilation Nation", and try to win this week's prize, the Tyhrra-guise, a device that can make someone look like a Tyhrranoid. First, they have to navigate the Deatcourse and at the end Courtney Gears, a beutiful robot singer, presents them the Vid-comic Issue 2, titled "Arriba Amoeba". They then have to survive the battle arena and at the end they get the Tyhrra-guise. Sasha then tells them some bad news, the president has put this entire war in the hands of Qwark and he is know holding a meeting that the two have to get to.
Aboard the Phoenix, Qwark is holding the first meeting of the "Q-force", which includes: Al, technology expert; Helga, with the power of seduction (Okay...); and Skidd, with nerves of steel. Their first mission, to infiltrate Nefarious' secret base on Aquatos. The plan is: first, Ratchet & Clank will go down the sewers, then they will seperate, Clank using the Bananna Guided Autonomous Monky Device (BGAMD) to have the monkey help him continue, while Ratchet will use the Tyhrra-guise to trick the Tyhrranoids in to letting him in and then they will steal everything that's not nailed down in Nefarious' office.
Before leaving, Ratchet plays the second Vid-comic which has Dr. Nefarious (as a human) creating an Amoeboid army in Blackwater City. After hiding in the girl's bathroom, Qwark goes through the city and in the end Qwark jumps on a ship just as it's leaving the city to Nefarious' base. On the way to Aquatos, they get a transmission from the director of Secret Agent Clank. He needs them back for another episode and doesn't care if the galaxy is in danger.
When the two land on Aquatos, they find three things: a deactivated warp pad, a submarine guarded by a force field with the switch on the opposite side, and another ship with the Q-force symbol on its tail wing. When they enter the sewers, they find Skid and at first they don't want him to come, but change their minds when they see his hacker. They go through the sewers and take an elevator near the surface. When they get up there, they here a voice and Skid gets scared and jumps into the now activated warp pad. They then find that the voice came from Slim Cognito, who is hiding from the cops and is now selling Megacorp weapons.
They take the submarine to the base and seperate. Clank finds a suitcase that contains the BGAMD, some banannas, and the monkey (how did he fit in there?). Qwark explains that the monkey would do anything to get to a bananna. Clank uses him to cross a gap and to distract a sentinel bot, but they can't get any farther because the bridge is down. Ratchet uses the Tyhrra-guise to look and sound like a Tyhrranoid. he uses this to have the Tyhrranoids deactivate two forcefields and to trick one into raising the bridge. Clank continues and uses the help of four gadgebots to deactivate a forcefield. Ratchet continues and reaches Nefarious' office and is surprise to find Clank waiting for him. They search the office to find every episode of Secret Agent Clank (Obviously a big fan) and an encrypted star map. They go through the sewers to find the plumber is down here looking for sewer crystals and is paying a lot for them. Ratchet then takes the sub here to go back to the ship and takes off.
While on the way to the Phoenix, Lawrance informs Dr. Nefarious that the "impenetrable" base on Aquatos has been penetrated by the Q-force. Learning this Nefarious gets so angry he freezes and starts playing a soap opera and Lawrance does the best part of his job, slapping him across the face. On the Phoenix, Al has decrypted the star map to find the Tyhrranoids' home world, Tyhrranosis. Qwark's plan is simple: first Ratchet will freefall while avoiding the missles, then Ratchet will go and deactivate the morter launchers so they can land a Q-force buggy, then Ratchet (notice how much I say Ratchet) must destroy the plasma cannons so they can destroy the entrance to the base, then finally Ratchet will go and launch the assault on the Tyhrranoids.
On Tyhrranosis, Ratchet jumps out of his ship and lands near two galactic rangers. They then go through a building and into the generator room where Ratchet destroys two generators to stop the mortor launchers. THey then exit the building as their ship lands next to them and another ship drops off the Q-force buggy, with the cannon armed by the monkey. They then need to go and destroy four more scattered generators that are powering the plasma cannons. When they do, another ship comes and destroys the big entrance to the base. In the base they are attacked by the Momma Tyhrranoid. It's a giant Tyhrranoid with four rows of sharp teeth, nine tenticle eyes, and a giant maching gun turret (armed by two two-eyed tyhrranoids) is on her back. After the battle, Qwark comes and takes all of the credit for their victory, sadly though the war still isn't over. Before leaving, Ratchet and Clank learn that some Tyhrranoids have a base on a island and need to go through "Operation ISLAND STRIKE". In the first mission, they need to protect the Galactic Ranger base and capture a hovership launch pad in the middle of the island. In the next two missions, Ratchet gets into the hovership and fights the Tyhrranoids, while the Galactic Rangers try to deactivate the force field protecting the Tyhrranoid base. In the final mission, Ratchet and the Galactic Rangers need to attack the Tyhrranoid base. With the island secure, Ratchet and Clank head back to the Phoenix.
On the Phoenix, Ratchet is telling Sasha and Skid about the Momma Tyhrranoid, when Dr. Nefarious and Lawrance interrupt. Nefarious is shocked that the Q-force was able to do so much. After the transmission is over, Al traces it to a research facility on planet Daxx. Before leaving, Ratchet asks Helga for some new gadgets, but she makes him beat a VR simulation first. Afterward, she gives him the Hypershot, a combination of the swingshot and the dynamo, and the hacker (like the one Skid had), a new version of the trespasser and the infiltrator. He then leaves setting a course for Daxx.
When he lands, Al tells them there are two terminals they need to reach, one on the islands and another inside the main building. Before leaving the island he landed on he finds the charge boots and then he uses the hypershot to get under the building. There, he finds an elevator and some hypershot targets.
Weapons and Gadgets
Weaponry
Insomniac expanded on the extremely popular concept of the weapons' upgrading based on usage, with five possible upgrades initially and another three in the "Challenge Mode" for a total of eight versions of each weapon. Rather significant upgrades (such as enabling a "lock-on" mode) can be added in certain levels in addition to the standard increase in range, power and ammo capacity; upgrading to the final level (both "Level 5" in the standard campaign and "Level 8 Omega" in the Challenge Mode). Another improvement from the previous game, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, is that imported weapons (the ones that continue from the previous game, such as the Miniturret Glove) can also enjoy the many levels of upgrades that the new weapons can earn.
Gadgets
Many of Ratchet's devices were carried over from Ratchet & Clank to Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, but the alterations from Going Commando to Up Your Arsenal are much greater. The "Swingshot" idea has been combined with the "Dynamo", and the button-timing puzzles of the "Electrolyzer" or "Infiltrator" from Going Commando are replaced by the "Hacker" minigame in Up Your Arsenal.
Bosses
- Captain Qwark (Planet Florana, Nabla Forest)
- Robotic Space Eel (Qwark Vid-Comic #1, Pirate Booty) (Replayable)
- Gary & Helen (Annihilation Nation, Station Q9) (Replayable)
- Momma Tyhrranoid (Planet Tyhrranosis, Korgon Base)
- The Warship (Planet Daxx, Research Facility)
- Scorpio (Annihilation Nation, Station Q9) (Replayable)
- Terror Of Talos (Holostar Studios, Lot 42)
- Courtney Gears (Obani Draco, The Zygan System)
- Dr.Nefarious (Qwark Vid-Comic #4, Deja Q All Over Again) (Replayable)
- Giant Klunk (Planet Kerwan, Metropolis)
- Dr.Nefarious (Planet Mylon, Launch Site, recommended to use the Heavy Bouncer and most powerful boss.)
- Biobliterator (Planet Mylon, Launch Site) (This is the last boss of the game) (Can be fought again if you choose not to begin a new game after beating it, an easy last boss to finish the day!)
- Captain Blackstar (Qwark Vid-Comic #1 Special Edition) (This is a boss that was cut from the game) (Replayable)
- Eyeball Security System (Unused Qwark Vid-Comic) (this boss was cut from the game as well, his health meter doesn't appear, but he counts as a boss) (Replayable)
Online multiplayer
Up Your Arsenal featured online multiplayer modes, Deathmatch, capture the flag, and Siege (in which you storm your opponents' base and try to destroy the power core within) are all represented. Up to eight gamers can play at a time, and the game supports voice chat through a PS2 compatible headset. When you are not playing in a game, there is also a chatroom function to chat with friends even if you don't have a headset. There are also buddy lists, clans, and scoreboards all in the game.
You can also play the same games with up to 3 friends offline, using extra controllers and a multi-tap (if there are more than 2 players).
In addition, online rankings and special codes for secret player skins can be found on the Insomniac website, but you must register at the community page first.
Insomniac Museum
There's a hidden easter egg in the game called the "Insomniac Museum", similar to the museum from Going Commando that houses cut enemies, unused Qwark Vid-Comics, and dropped vehicles planned for the game.
Graphics
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is one of the few PlayStation 2 games to support both 480p graphics and 16:9 widescreen technologies.
Trivia
- Up Your Arsenal was the official sponsor of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) pay-per-view event WWE Armageddon.
- Up Your Arsenal was taken from the vulgar British phrase, "up your arse".
- There is a demo of Sly 2: Band of Thieves hidden in the game.