Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando is a 3D platformer game for the Playstation 2. It was developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony in 2003. It is the second game in the Ratchet and Clank series.

Some countries were offended by the second part of the title (Going Commando means not wearing underwear), so in those countries it was either deleted (thus becoming Ratchet and Clank 2) or changed to Locked and Loaded

Story

After defeating Ultimate Supreme Executive Chairman Drek, Ratchet and Clank became celebrities. However, things started cooling down after a while. After an interview with Behind the Hero, Ratchet and Clank are transported to the Bogon Galaxy by the founder and CEO of Megacorp (a company that makes everything from household appliances to heavy weaponry), a man by the name of Abercrombie Fizzwidget (who has a tendency to use malapropisms and often makes up words). It appears that a masked "dupliferous criminal mastermind" has stolen a valuable experiment-a cute blue fuzzball.

Clank is reluctant to partake in another adventure, so Ratchet goes solo while infiltrating the thief's ship. The Thief then hires Thugs-4-Less (their motto is "If it ain't broke, we'll break it") for protection. The dastardly thief also kidnaps Clank! After Ratchet comes to Clank's rescue, Clank has no choice but to go along with Ratchet.

Ratchet confronts the thief on planet Siberius. He defeats the thief, reclaims the Experiment, and returns it to Mr. Fizzwidget. After Mr. Fizzwidget leaves, the thief approaches in his ship, demanding the experiment, not realizing that Ratchet doesn't have it. When the thief falls off of his ship (falling about 5 feet), his mask comes off, and it's revealed that he is... a she! And a Lombax to boot! Angela (that's her name) warns that the experiment will ultimately doom the galaxy.

On planet Dobbo, Ratchet and Clank discover that Angela's claims are true, and try to persuade Fizzwidget to destroy the experiment, but their efforts are in vain. The duo then stumble across an ad for the "Protopet" (the experiment), which is being prepared for mass release. At this point, it is revealed that Thugs-4-Less terminated their contract with Angela and have been hired by Megacorp to "protect" Mr. Fizzwidget.

On planet Boldan, Ratchet and Clank are captured for "attempting to kill" Mr. Fizzwidget. They are sent to a prison on Planet Aranos. After being freed by one of Clank's admirers (a pink female robot), they head to Thugs-4-Less HQ to free Angela, who was also captured by the thugs. Our heroes vanquish the thug leader and free Angela. Eventually, the three of them go to Megacorp HQ to end the Protopet menace once and for all.

After they get there, the female robot reveals that Captain Qwark (the disgraced superhero from R&C1) created the Protopets to restore his reputation. Fizzwidget appears, and in a surprising plot twist, he is actually Qwark in disguise! He takes Angela's Helix-o-morph (a gadget that will repair the fatal flaw in the Protopet) and zaps the original Protopet. But something goes wrong, and the original Protopet mutates into a gigantic monster. When Ratchet finally defeats the Protopet, Clank discovers that the batteries are in backwards in the Helix-o-morph. Angela corrects this and zaps the original, ending the threat once and for all. The real Fizzwidget appears. It turns out he's been tied up in a closet this whole time, and he speaks perfect English as well (no malapropisms, no made-up words).

Everyone else lives happily, except Qwark. He gets a job in the Megacorp Testing Facility, acting as a test dummy for gadgets like the Crotchitizer.

Characters

Ratchet: A Lombax from planet Veldin, Ratchet is good with his wrench and is skilled with heavy weapons. He's energetic and loves action.

Clank: An error in a production facility resulted in Clank's creation. He's intelligent but also very naive.

Abercrombie Fizzwidget: Founder and CEO of Megacorp. He seems absentminded and easily distracted. He also has a tendency to use malapropisms and make up words.

Angela Cross: A former Megacorp employee in the genetics department. She worked on the original Protopet but quit after Megacorp decided to release the Protopet, even with its flaws. She then put on a mask equipped with some kind of voice-distorting device (her voice sounds like a male robot's voice with the mask on) and steals the protopet in hopes of obliterating it before it can be mass-produced.

Captain Qwark: A down-and-out superhero. After his defeat at the hands of Ratchet and Clank, he sold gadgets he claimed were from Gadgetron, but a flaw in the Personal Hygienator caused severe irritation in sensitive areas. He was imprisoned for his crimes, but flushed himself to freedom. He's out there, somewhere, plotting his comeback.

Slim Cognito: A merchant who deals in "legally ambiguous" modifications to weapons and spaceships. All you see are his eyes.

The Plumber: A recurring character in the Ratchet and Clank series. The first time you meet him in any of the games, he's showing off his plumber's crack. He also seems to be aware of the fact that he appears in every game.

Weapons

Each weapon has an experience bar. When it is used to kill enemies, its experience bar fills. When the experience bar is full, the weapon levels up and becomes even more powerful. Some weapons do not level up (all retro weapons, RYNO II, and Zodiac). When you enter challenge mode (a harder version of the game) you can buy mega versions of all weapons except the RYNO II, Zodiac, and Clank Zapper. These mega weapons can level up to ultra except for the mega versions of the retro weapons. The mega and ultra versions feature higher ammo capacities and increased damage.

Lancer: Basically a machine gun. It fires a barrage of weak shots. Upgrades to the Heavy Lancer, which has more ammo and stronger shots.

Gravity Bomb: Basically a grenade. When it lands, it will create a large explosion. Upgrades to the Mini-Nuke, which does more damage and has a wider blast radius.

Chopper: Fires a spinning bladed disc with slight homing capabilities. It can strike up to three times before disappearing. Upgrades to the Multi-Star, which fires a single bladed star that splits in two upon impact. The two stars then seek out enemies to hit.

Blitz Gun: Take a shotgun and replace the buckshot with energy beams. That's the basic concept behind the Blitz Gun. Effective at short range. Upgrades to Blitz Cannon, which does more damage

Pulse Rifle: A sniper rifle. Upgrades to Vaporizer, which creates an explosion upon impact and does more damage.

Miniturret Glove: creates turrets that fire a rapid barrage of energy shots. They disappear when they run out of ammo or sit idly for too long. Upgrades to the Megaturret Glove, which fires missiles.

Seeker Gun: Fires a seeker that travels forward until either an enemy comes close or it slams into a wall. Upgrades to HK22 gun, which fires three stronger seekers at a time.

Synthenoid: Summons four protective robots that follow you around and pepper enemies with energy shots. Upgrades to Kilonoid, which has more ammo, stronger shots, and the ability to throw bombs.

Lava Gun: Fires a steady stream of lava, acts like a flamethrower. Upgrades to Meteor Gun, which fires flaming meteors.

Bouncer: Fires a bomb which explodes, releasing about 1-2 dozen bomblets which bounce around, seeking enemies. Upgrades to Heavy Bouncer, which does more damage.

Minirocket Tube: A rocket launcher with autotargeting capabilities. Upgrades to Megarocket Cannon, which has more ammo, stronger shots, and the ability to fire multiple rockets at once.

Spiderbot Glove: Releases an R/C spiderbot. It can run around and explodes on contact with enemies. Upgrades to Tankbot Glove, which can fire energy bolts and firebombs. Both spiderbots and tankbots have a 30 second time limit.

Plasma Coil: Fires a ball of plasma that homes in on enemies and shocks them. Nearby enemies are also shocked. Upgrades to Plasma Storm, which fires a ball of plasma that travels forward, shocking multiple enemies.

Hoverbomb Gun: Fires a bomb that travels forward and does massive damage. The bomb's movements can be controlled after firing. Upgrades to Tetrabomb gun, which fires 5 bombs at a time.

Sheepinator: Hitting enemies with the beam transforms them into sheep. Upgrades to Black Sheepinator. The sheep produced by the Black Sheepinator run into enemies and explode.

Shield Charger: Creates a damage-absorbing shield around Ratchet. Enemies that touch the shield receive a shock. Upgrades to Tesla Barrier, which absorbs more damage and zaps nearby enemies with arcs of electricity.

Zodiac: Instantly obliterates all visible enemies. Ammo is extremely expensive.

Clank Zapper: Clank randomly zaps enemies. Upgrades to Clank Shocker, which does more damage.

RYNO II: Rapidly fires devastating missiles. It's definitely worth the high ticket price.

Most levels contain platinum bolts, which are very rare. There are 40 total in the game. They can be used to buy "mods" for your weapons. Not all weapons have mods. Weapons can have up to two out of the three mods:

Acid: Covers enemy in acid, doing damage over time. Shock: Bolts of electricity shock nearby enemies. Lock-on: Gives weapon capacity to lock on to an enemy, allowing Ratchet to strafe around it. The lock-on indicator also shows the enemy's health.

Retro Weapons: Bomb Glove: Tosses a bomb that explodes on impact, has a medium-sized blast radius.

Visibomb Gun: Fires a missile that you can guide to the target using a camera mounted on the missile. Medium-sized blast radius.

Decoy Glove: Creates a decoy. Enemies will focus their attention on the decoy until it takes too much damage and disappears.

Tesla Claw: Fires a stream of electricity that searches for enemies to zap.

Walloper: When activated, Ratchet punches an enemy with the glove.