Developer : Insomniac Games
Release date : 2003
Synopsis :
Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando (known as Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded in Australia and most PAL countries, or just simply Ratchet & Clank 2) is a 2003 3D platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando is the second game in the Ratchet & Clank franchise, following Ratchet & Clank and preceding Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. David Kaye reprises his role as Clank while James Arnold Taylor replaces Mikey Kelley as Ratchet.
The game follows Ratchet and Clank, joined by newcomer Angela Cross, as they attempt to unravel a conspiracy behind a mysterious « pet project, » orchestrated by the shadowy MegaCorp.
The gameplay of Going Commando is similar to that of the original Ratchet & Clank. The player controlled protagonists are seen in a third-person perspective; the player uses various weapons and gadgets to defeat enemies and solve puzzles, while exploring planets, completing platforming sections and minigames, and progressing through the story. The game features many improvements over the original game, such as the aesthetics and introduces many new gameplay aspects, such as weapon upgrading.
Going Commando was released roughly a year after the original game and received critical acclaim, to the point of frequently being viewed as one of the best PlayStation 2 games ever made. Most critics felt that the game was superior to its predecessor and praised the game’s graphics, gameplay, story, characterization and sound but criticized its unforgiving difficulty and minigames.
Following their previous adventure, after saving the galaxy and defeating Chairman Drek, Ratchet (James Arnold Taylor) and Clank (David Kaye) become celebrities, though their lives remain otherwise uneventful. After giving an interview for the holovision show Behind the Hero, the pair suddenly find themselves in a spaceship sent by Abercrombie Fizzwidget (Jim Ward), the founder and CEO of MegaCorp, the galaxy’s largest maker of consumer goods and electronics, who requests Ratchet’s help to recover a stolen biological experiment from a masked thief, while offering Clank employment in the company, both of whom agree to the opportunities offered. Upon completing an extensive training regime en-route to the Bogon galaxy, Ratchet is tasked to travel to a flying laboratory on planet Aranos where the experiment was last seen, but before he can retrieve it, the thief manages to escape with it. Reporting back to Fizzwidget, Ratchet soon begins pursuing the thief, only to receive a video message showing that the culprit has captured Clank.
After saving Clank from the thief’s clutches, the reunited duo work together to pursue the thief across several planets, dealing with mercenaries hired from Thugs-4-Less to protect the thief, until eventually confronting them on planet Siberius. Although the thief escapes from them during a fight, Ratchet manages to reclaim the experiment, and contacts Fizzwidget with the good news. Arranging a meeting to reclaim the experiment, Fizzwidget « accidentally » maroons the duo on a desert planet, whereupon after escaping from a network of caves, the pair are confronted by the thief, who accidentally exposes « his » true identity: a female Lombax named Angela Cross (Kath Soucie), who used to work for Megacorp as a scientist. Claiming that the experiment is a threat to the entire galaxy, Angela gives them the location of a testing facility on planet Dobbo where it was created and advises them to seek out the proof that backs up her story. Following her lead, the duo infiltrate the facility and discover a video recording that reveals the experiment to be highly dangerous and capable of going into a violent rampage. Shortly afterwards, Angela contacts the pair and reveals that MegaCorp has duplicated the experiment and intends to sell them as a new product called the « Protopet ».
Convinced that Fizzwidget is unaware of the Protopet’s flaws, Ratchet goes to warn him during a promotionary event being held on planet Boldan, only to discover it to be a trap by the Thugs-4-Less boss (Steven Blum), after cancelling their contract with Angela to work with MegaCorp. Captured, the pair find themselves transported to Aranos and aboard the same vessel, now being used as a remote prison, but manage to escape confinement. Discovering that Angela was captured by them, the pair track the mercenaries to their hideout on planet Snivelak, defeating their boss and saving Angela. Intent on stopping Fizzwidget, the group head for MegaCorp’s Headquarters, only to discover that the CEO is none other than disgraced hero Captain Qwark (also Ward). In a bid to restore his reputation, Qwark took over MegaCorp as Fizzwidget, holding the actual Fizzwidget hostage (in the supply closet), with the intention of unleashing the Protopet upon the galaxy, so he can use a device created by Angela to defeat the creatures and make himself famous again. When he demonstrates the device, however, it malfunctions and transforms the original Protopet into a gigantic beast that devours him. While Angela goes to rescue the real Fizzwidget, Ratchet subdues the Protopet and saves Qwark’s life. With Clank’s help, Angela fixes the device and broadcasts a signal through MegaCorp’s TV transponders, neutralizing the Protopets and restoring peace to the Bogon galaxy.
In a mid-credits scene, Ratchet, Clank and Angela hang out at Clank’s apartment, where Angela informs them that Qwark has been assigned to work as a test subject for the « Crotchetizer » at MegaCorp as punishment for his crimes.
Source : Wikipedia
