Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, titled as Ratchet & Clank 3 in Europe, Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal in Australia and 'Ratchet & Clank 3: Totsugeki! Karakuchikku Rangers' in Japan, is a action/shooter game developed by Insomniac 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 about 90%. It is the first game in the series to utilise Sony's Network Adapter for online play. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal sold over 400,000 copies in its first year in PAL regions (Europe and Australia) earning it the Platinum title on June 17, 2005. It later earned the American region Greatest Hits title on August 1, 2005.

Plot
While channel surfing past Clank's new TV show, "Secret Agent Clank", Ratchet stumbled across a news report about his home planet, Veldin, being under attack by an army of Tyhrranoids. They were believed to be working for a cyborg by the name of Dr. Nefarious. After racing to Veldin and being appointed as the new sergeant for the Galactic Rangers, they were contacted by the President and asked to find the only man who had ever fought Nefarious and lived, who was believed to be living on planet Florana as the Florana tree beast. After watching an episode of "Nature's Mysteries" about this creature, they flew to the Nabla Forest on Florana where it made them cross the Path of Death. Afterwards, they learnt that the Florana Tree beast was Captain Qwark, who apparently lost his memory while working to save the Florana Jungle's fauna. He now believed himself to be a monkey. After Qwark and his companion, Skrunch (a one-eyed monkey) were led to the ship, Sasha Phyronix, captain of the Starship Phoenix, was ordered to assist Ratchet and Clank.

Aboard the starship, they left Captain Qwark in his new quarters. After leaving Qwark, they found Sasha listening to a transmission from the president on planet Marcadia, who turned out to be her father. Nefarious interrupted the transmission and declared war on all organic life forms, or "Squishies" as he called them. Ratchet and Clank then ventured out to Marcadia's capital to assist the Galactic rangers and the president. After assisting the president, Ratchet and Clank were sent to the Laser Facility where they met Big Al; he joined the crew of the Phoenix and gave the heroes the Captain Qwark Vid-Comic issue 1. When Ratchet and Clank played this game on the Phoenix, Qwark's memory was restored. While Captain Qwark went through rehabilitation, Ratchet and Clank were sent to Annihilation Nation to claim the Tyhrraguise (a device which concealed the wearer as a Tyhrranoid) as a prize. Afterwards, they were informed that the president had placed the war effort under Qwark's command.

The "Q-Force" (consisting of Big Al, Helga, Skid McMarx, Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and Sasha) were assigned a new mission to infiltrate Nefarious' base on Planet Aquatos to acquire as much information on Nefarious' plans as possible. They discovered that Dr. Nefarious was Clank's biggest fan, and Clank found and downloaded an encrypted star-map to the Tyhrranoids' home planet and base, Tyhrranosis. Nefarious was shocked to see that his base has been infiltrated, and outraged to find that Qwark was behind it. After Al decrypted the starmap, the group (mainly Ratchet and Clank) infiltrated the base on Tyhrranosis and destroyed it. Dr. Nefarious then sent the Q-Force a transmission, still shocked that they actually infiltrated his base. Al traced the transmission to planet Daxx.

When Ratchet landed, he was led by Al to a computer terminal that contained data on Nefarious' new secret weapon called the Biobliterator. Clank also found that a transport ship had just left for the Obani Gemini moons the day before. Ratchet, Clank, and Skid made their way through the first two moons, only to find the third was protected by a "Omega Class Disintegration Shield". Ratchet then got an urgent call from the Galactic Rangers who needed his help on Blackwater City against the Tyhrranoids. Ratchet left to help them, but Skid decided to stay and work on the force field. Ratchet and Clank arrived on planet Rilgar and helped the Galactic rangers defend their base. The pair soon discovered that they needed to find Courtney Gears, a pop-star singer who they believed was working with Nefarious. Ratchet and Clank returned to Annihilation Nation to enter the "Meet Courtney" challenge. When they beat the challenge, Courtney was surprised to see Clank. When Clank asked her where Nefarious was, she said she would tell him if he got her a part on Secret Agent Clank. He accepted, and when he asked for information on Nefarious, she knocked him out and brought Clank to Nefarious. Nefarious gave Clank two choices: to either join him and rule a galaxy of robots, or to die with the "Squishies" becoming a traitor to his own kind. Back at Clank's trailer, Ratchet was ambushed by the Tyhrranoids. Fighting his way back to the ship, he found Clank, who was acting very strange. When Ratchet asked him about the whereabouts of Nefarious, Clank said he was on a star cruiser called the Leviathan.

The two landed on Obani Draco, the third moon, where Skid was able to bring the shield down. As it turned out, it was Courtney's hideout. The two discovered the Biobliterator there, a machine that changed organic life forms into brainwashed robots bent on destroying the "Squishies". After that, they confronted and defeated Courtney Gears. Upon finishing her off, they received a transmission from Sasha, who tracked the Leviathan to the Zeldrin Starport. They left Skid who had been transformed into a robot by the Bio-Bliterator as a test subject and headed for the starport to meet up with Qwark.

The Q-Force reached the Leviathan and fought their way through hordes of enemies until they found Nefarious waiting. It turned out that it was a trap, as he activated the self-destruct system and warped out of there. All of the Q-Force returned to the Phoenix, except for Qwark, who stayed behind, saying he thought he saw something important. Ratchet and Clank flew off just as the Leviathan exploded, still debating whether to leave Qwark behind.

After a funeral for Qwark on the Phoenix, Ratchet flew to the city of Metropolis, which was under attack by Tyhrranoids. During the battle, Nefarious used the Biobliterator to turn helpless citizens and Tyhrranoid invaders alike into robots. Ratchet battled his way to a hovering train, where it was revealed that the real Clank had been the prisoner of Doctor Nefarious, ever since an evil copy known as Klunk replaced Clank and met with Ratchet at Holostar Studios. After defeating Klunk, Ratchet and Clank were reunited and flew to the planet Zeldrin to investigate the wreckage of the Leviathan, hoping to find what Qwark was looking for.



On Zeldrin, they discovered an encrypted data disc (The Master Plan), and a recording that revealed that Qwark was alive when the cruiser went down. They resolved not to tell the crew that Qwark was alive until they found out why he did not report to the Phoenix. After playing a video game that contained information as to the whereabouts of Qwark's hideout, they flew to the Thrann Asteroid Belt and battled past security robots and hostile Megacorp Lawn Ninjas until they found Captain Qwark himself, who had abandoned his fight against Nefarious in favor of the comfort and safety of his hideout. Ratchet left in disgust, but Clank made one last appeal to Qwark, stating that he had an opportunity to "become the hero you have always wanted to be", when Qwark was looking over at his costume with a kind of heroic glow in his eyes.

When they returned to their ship, they received a garbled transmission from Sasha, who told them that the Phoenix was under attack. Ratchet helped the Galactic Rangers regain control of the ship and freed the captured Q-Force members. Al told Ratchet that he had finally cracked the encryption on the data disc, which contained a complete copy of Nefarious' battle plans. Ratchet had to fly to the planet Koros to destroy the Biobliterator before it was unleashed on his beloved home, Veldin.

Ratchet and Clank reached Koros, and after battling hordes of Nefarious' troops, Clank used the Ion Cannon there to destroy the Biobliterator. However, Sasha soon reported that a second Biobliterator was housed at a command center on planet Mylon, guarded by an entire army of robot Tyhrranoids. Ratchet and Clank flew to Mylon, fought through the Command Center, and reached the Biobliterator, just in time for Dr. Nefarious and his butler Lawrence to escape. Luckily, a dropship arrived for Ratchet and Clank to pursue Nefarious to his launch site.

At the launch site, Ratchet and Clank battled Dr. Nefarious once and for all. After a short while, he fell down and begged for mercy, fooling Ratchet into a false sense of victory before running away. Ratchet chased after Nefarious, and with the help of the Galactic Rangers, defeated him. Nefarious and Lawrence then warped into the Biobliterator, which transformed into a giant robot. Ratchet and Clank looked utterly doomed - when Captain Qwark flew in to fight alongside them. Ratchet and Captain Qwark engaged in aerial combat against Nefarious and the Biobliterator, and destroyed it. The Biobliterator self-destructed, and Nefarious and Lawrence were warped away to an unknown location.

The ending was cut off to the premiere of the latest Secret Agent Clank holofilm, where Clank and Skrunch faced off against Maximillian's forces on a snowy world. The premiere was a huge success, and Ratchet even got a kiss on the cheek from Sasha.

The last scene was of Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence, sitting on an isolated asteroid, out of range to teleport to escape for the next several thousand years. Lawrence suggested some music to help pass the time, but Nefarious only screamed "Laawwwwrreeencee!!!!!" in anger.

Characters

 * Annihilation Nation Host
 * Big Al
 * Billy
 * Bob
 * Clank
 * Clank's Director
 * Cognito, Slim
 * Commando
 * Deserter
 * Edwina
 * Factory Robot
 * Fizzwidget, Abercrombie
 * Florana local witness
 * Fred
 * Galactic Rangers
 * Gears, Courtney
 * Gratch, Darla
 * Helga
 * HelpDesk Girl
 * Hypnotist
 * Jowai Resort Owner
 * Klunk
 * Lawrence
 * Mathematician
 * Matron
 * Maximillian
 * McMarx, Skid
 * Nefarious
 * New Age Mystic
 * Novalis Chairman
 * Old Smolgian
 * Phyronix, President
 * Phyronix, Sasha
 * Plumber
 * Protopet scientists
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Qwark's Bouncer
 * Race Girl
 * Ratchet
 * Robot Lieutenant
 * Sam
 * Shady Salesman
 * Skrunch
 * Skid's Agent
 * Supernova Taxi driver
 * Tyhrranoids

Weapons
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 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 ones have.
 * Agents of Doom
 * Annihilator
 * Blitz Gun
 * Bouncer
 * Disc Blade Gun
 * Dual Laser Saber
 * Flux Rifle
 * Holoshield Glove
 * Infector
 * Lava Gun
 * N60 Storm
 * Miniturret Glove
 * Nitro Launcher
 * OmniWrench 8000 V3
 * Plasma Coil
 * Plasma Whip
 * Qwack-o-Ray
 * Rift Inducer
 * Shield Charger
 * Shock Blaster
 * Spitting Hydra
 * Suck Cannon
 * RY3NO

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" are replaced with an abstract shooting game.
 * BGAMD
 * Charge Boots
 * Gadgetron PDA
 * Gravity Boots
 * Hacker
 * Heli-Pack
 * Hypershot
 * Refractor
 * Thruster-Pack
 * Tyhrraguise
 * Warp Pad

Planets and locations

 * Veldin - Kyzil Plateau
 * Florana - Nabla Forest
 * Starship Phoenix
 * Marcadia - Capital City
 * Annihilation Nation - Station Q9
 * Aquatos - Deep Sea Hideout
 * Tyhrranosis - Korgon Base and Kavu Island
 * Daxx - Research Facility
 * Holostar Studios - Lot 43 and Lot 42
 * Zygan System - Obani Gemini, Obani Pollux and Obani Draco
 * Rilgar - Blackwater City
 * Joraal Nebula - Zeldrin Starport
 * Zeldrin - Crash Site
 * Kerwan - Metropolis
 * Aridia - Outpost X12
 * Qwark's Hideout - Thran Asteroid Belt
 * Koros - Ion Cannon
 * Mylon - Launch Site and Command Center
 * Insomniac Moon - Insomniac Museum

Bosses

 * Captain Qwark (Florana, Nabla Forest)
 * Robotic Space Eel (Qwark Vid-Comic, Issue 1: Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder)
 * Gary and Helen (Annihilation Nation, Station Q9)
 * Momma Tyhrranoid (Tyhrranosis, Korgon Base)
 * The Warship (Daxx, Research Facility)
 * Scorpio (Annihilation Nation, Station Q9)
 * Terror of Talos (Holostar Studios, Lot 43)
 * Courtney Gears (Obani Draco, Zygan System)
 * Dr. Nefarious (Qwark Vid-Comic, Issue 4: Deja Q All Over Again)
 * Giant Klunk (Kerwan, Metropolis)
 * Dr. Nefarious (Mylon, Launch Site)
 * Biobliterator (Mylon, Launch Site) (This was the final boss of the game.)
 * Captain Blackstar (Qwark Vid-Comic, Issue 1: Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder - Special Edition) (This was a boss that was cut from the game.)
 * Insectoid Queen (Unnamed Qwark Vid-Comic) (This was a boss that was cut from the game.)
 * Cyber-Eye (Unnamed Qwark Vid-Comic) (This was a boss that was cut from the game.)

Insomniac Museum
There's a hidden easter egg in the game called the Insomniac Museum. In there, you can kill monsters cut from the game, play Qwark Vid-Comics that didn't make it, and more. As in the second game there are two ways to get there; the first is a teleporter in Metropolis that goes straight to the museum, but it's only active from 3 AM. to 3:59 AM. To use it, you can either wait until that time or set the PlayStation 2 internal clock to that time and boot up the game.

The second method is to complete the game 100% (collect all the character and floor trophies); this unlocks a room on the Starship Phoenix where you can teleport to the Insomniac Museum anytime you want. (It's behind the locked door connected to the trophy room.)

If you start up the VG-9000 (this is where you can play Qwark Vid-Comics) and don't choose any game, push square and write "_MEGHAN_" or "YING_TZU" using the up and down buttons at the left of the pad, you will unlock a Pirate vs. Ninja minigame or the Bombs Away minigame in the Insomniac Museum.

Demo game
On Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal there is a demo of Sly 2. To play this, on the main menu, hold L1+L2+R1+R2, then a message will come up. Beat this demo and a cheat will come up when you press: circle, square, circle, square, up, down, left, left. Do this during game play on the main game. Just pause and press what it says. You get a visual replacement of Ratchet's wrench, giving him the Dual Laser Saber.

Online and splitscreen multiplayer
Ratchet & Clank: 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.

You can also play the same games with a friend offline, using two to four controllers.

The weapons of the multiplayer are from the previous Ratchet & Clank games and from Up Your Arsenal single player mode. All of the weapons can be upgraded to V2 by killing enough players with the weapon.

In addition, online rankings can be found on the Insomniac website, but you must register at the community page first.

Graphics

 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is one of the few PlayStation 2 games to support both 480P graphics and 16:9 widescreen technologies.

Critical reception
The game received very positive reviews form a variety of reviewers. GamePro gave the game 4.5 out of 5 stars and Daily Game.net gave an overall of 9.6 out of 10, with the lowest category being sound (9.2 out of 10) and the highest being gameplay(9.7 out of 10). Gamespot rated the game 8.7 out of 10 which, while being a good rating, is lower than average scores. IGN rated Up Your Arsenal as "incredible" with a 9.6 out of 10 overall, it also won an editor's choice award on the site. GameSpy called the game "outstanding" with five out of five stars, and a "great" multiplayer factor which was the highest multiplayer rating available at the time. Average critic scores out ten were 9.1, the results where from up to 73 different reviews. Game Informer gave the game a 10 out of 10, and the game earned the Game of the Year award. They said the game was absolutely perfect, except they did not particularly like the menu color.

Trivia

 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal was the official sponsor of the WWE pay-per-view event WWE Armageddon.
 * The "&" (ampersand) sign in the logo is flipped over to form a "3", indicating that it is the third title in the series.
 * Up Your Arsenal probably comes from the vulgar insult "up your arse" or "up yours".
 * The meaning of 'arsenal' in Up Your Arsenal is an array of weapons or a collection of weapons, so in this context it means 'up your collection of weapons'. Since that the amount of weapons on Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is quite a lot, this meaning would apply to the title of the game.
 * Like on all covers of Ratchet & Clank in Japanese, the characters look more happy and cute looking rather than more serious. This is under the cartooning-art style of anime.
 * The cover of the game was later reused in Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile.