Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, titled as Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded in most PAL countries, Ratchet & Clank 2 in Ireland, Holland, Portugal, Germany, and France, Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando in some PAL countries, and 'Ratchet & Clank 2: GaGaGa! Commandos of the Galaxy' in Japan, is a three-dimensional platform 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 & Clank series. It was released on Tuesday November 11, 2003.

Plot
After defeating Ultimate Supreme Executive Chairman Drek, Ratchet and Clank became galactic celebrities. However, things started cooling down after a while. Nearly a year after their previous escapade they appeared in an interview for Behind the Hero, and were teleported to the Bogon Galaxy by the founder and CEO of Megacorp (a company that made everything from household appliances to heavy weaponry), a man by the name of Abercrombie Fizzwidget (who had a tendency to use malapropisms and often made-up words). It appeared that a masked "dupliferous criminal mastermind" had stolen a valuable experiment: a cute blue fuzzball.

Clank was reluctant to partake in another adventure, so Ratchet went solo while infiltrating the thief's ship. The Thief then hired Thugs-4-Less (their motto was "If it ain't broke, we'll break it") for protection. The dastardly thief also kidnapped Clank. After Ratchet came to Clank's rescue, Clank had no choice but to go along with Ratchet.

Ratchet confronted the thief on planet Siberius, defeating the thief, reclaiming the experiment, and returned it to Mr. Fizzwidget. After, Mr. Fizzwidget accidentally ejected the duo from his ship and the thief approached demanding the experiment, but had not realised that Ratchet did not have it. When the thief fell off of her ship, her mask came off, which revealed that she was Angela Cross. Angela warned Ratchet that the experiment would ultimately doom the galaxy.

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

On planet Boldan, Ratchet and Clank were captured for "attempting to bump off" Mr. Fizzwidget. They were sent to a prison on planet Aranos. After being freed by one of Clank's admirers (a female Infobot), they headed to Thugs-4-Less HQ to free Angela, who was also captured by the thugs. The duo vanquished the thug leader and freed Angela. Eventually, the three of them went to Megacorp HQ in order to put a end to the Protopet menace once and for all.

After they went there, the female Infobot revealed that Captain Qwark (the disgraced superhero from Ratchet & Clank) created the Protopets to restore his reputation. Fizzwidget appeared, and in a surprising plot twist, he was actually Qwark in disguise. He took Angela's Helix-O-Morph (a gadget that would repair the fatal flaw in the Protopet) and zapped the original Protopet. However the action misfired and the original Protopet mutated into a gigantic monster. When Ratchet finally defeated the Protopet mutation, Clank discovered that the batteries were in backwards in the Helix-o-Morph. Angela corrected this also by amplifying the device with Megacorp's TV transponders and zapped the original, ending the threat once and for all. The real Fizzwidget then appeared. It turned out he had been tied up in a closet this whole time, and he spoke perfect English as well, with no malapropisms or made-up words.

Everyone else lived happily, except Qwark. He got a job in the Megacorp Testing Facility, acting as a test dummy for gadgets like the Crotchitizer, which he ended up taking a liking to as referred to in Up Your Arsenal.

Critical reaction
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando was released to very positive reviews. IGN awarded it a score of 9.4/10, while GameStats gave it a 9.1/10. Game Informer magazine awarded it Game of the Month when it was released. The game also received scores of 4/5 from Gamespy and 5/5 from X-Play. Overall, critics gave the game an average review score of 90%, according to Metacritic, the only problems cited within the game were the cheaply handled space battles and the extreme level of difficulty, although some Ratchet & Clank fans have praised the difficulty level for the challenge it brings.

Release
For its North American release by SCEA, the game was given the title of Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. Since the Going Commando title was difficult to translate into other languages while still keeping it's original meaning, SCEE gave it the title Ratchet & Clank 2 for the European release, while the UK & Australia release received a new title: Locked and Loaded. The Japanese release of the game went by the name ''Ratchet & Clank 2: GaGaGa! Commandos of the Galaxy''.

Cover Comparison
The North American cover features Ratchet and Clank, with Ratchet holding the Megarocket Cannon. The UK and Australia cover is nearly identical to the European cover, both featuring Ratchet holding the Plasma Coil. The only difference is the logo (as they have slightly different names). The Japanese cover is the most different, featuring Ratchet holding two guns, (impossible to actually achieve in the game) the Lancer and the Megarocket Cannon. Similar to most Ratchet and Clank Japanese covers, the two characters are depicted in Manga Style with exaggerated smiles.

Characters



 * Billy
 * Bunyon, Ace
 * Clank
 * Cross, Angela
 * Desert Riders
 * Factory Robots
 * Female Infobot
 * Fizzwidget, Abercrombie
 * Hypnotist
 * Mathematician
 * Matron
 * New Age Mystic
 * Old Smolgian
 * Plumber
 * Protopet scientists
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Qwark Fan-Boy
 * Ratchet
 * Shady Salesman
 * Slim Cognito
 * Thugs-4-Less leader
 * Thermanator scientist
 * Tractor Beam scientist

Bosses

 * Swamp Monster I
 * Chainblade
 * B2 Brawler
 * Thugs-4-Less Leader (Attack-Copter)
 * The Unknown Thief
 * Thugs-4-Less Leader (Ultra-Mech)
 * Arachnoid
 * Megapede
 * Swamp Monster II
 * Thugs-4-Less Leader (Giganto Mech)
 * Mothership
 * Mutant Protopet

Weapons

 * OmniWrench 8000
 * Blitz Gun
 * Bomb Glove
 * Bouncer
 * Chopper
 * Clank Zapper
 * Decoy Glove
 * Gravity Bomb
 * Hoverbomb Gun
 * Lancer
 * Lava Gun
 * Minirocket Tube
 * Miniturret Glove
 * Plasma Coil
 * Pulse Rifle
 * RYNO II
 * Seeker Gun
 * Sheepinator
 * Shield Charger
 * Spiderbot Glove
 * Synthenoid
 * Tesla Claw
 * Visibomb Gun
 * Walloper
 * Zodiac

Note: All of the Megacorp weapons (except for the Sheepinator, Zodiac, and Clank Zapper/Shocker) have Mega upgrades that go another level to Ultra. Most of the Gadgetron weapons do too (except the RYNO II, it doesn't need one). These are only available in Challenge Mode, as well as the other noted weapons.

Gadgets

 * Swingshot
 * Dynamo
 * Electrolyzer
 * Hypnomatic
 * Infiltrator
 * Thermanator
 * Tractor Beam
 * Thruster-Pack
 * Heli-Pack
 * Hydro-Pack
 * Glider
 * Levitator
 * Charge Boots
 * Gravity Boots
 * Grind Boots

Items

 * Megacorp Helmet
 * Commando Suit
 * Biker Helmet
 * Box Breaker
 * Electrolyzer
 * Levitator
 * Infiltrator
 * Hydro-Pack
 * Glider
 * Armor Magnetizer
 * Qwark Statuette
 * Mapper

Armor

 * Commando Suit
 * Tetrafiber Armor
 * Duraplate Armor
 * Electrosteel armor
 * Carbonox Armor

Skins

 * Tuxedo Ratchet
 * Clown Ratchet
 * Beach Boy
 * Snow Dude

Driveable vehicles

 * Star Explorer
 * Hoverbike
 * Mining Hovercraft

Planets and locations

 * Oozla - Megacorp Outlet
 * Wupash Nebula
 * Maktar Nebula - Maktar Resort
 * Maktar Nebula - Jamming Array
 * Barlow - Vukovar Canyon
 * Endako - Megapolis
 * Feltzin System - Thug Rendezvous
 * Notak - Canal City
 * Slim Cognito's Ship Shack
 * Siberius - Frozen Base
 * Tabora - Mining Area
 * Dobbo - Testing Facility
 * Testing Facility Moon - Lunar City
 * Hrugis Cloud - Deep Space Disposal
 * Joba - Megacorp Games
 * Todano - Megacorp Armory
 * Boldan - Silver City
 * Aranos - Flying Lab
 * Gorn - Thugs-4-Less Fleet
 * Snivelak - Thug HQ
 * Smolg - Distribution Facility
 * Damosel - Allgon City
 * Damosel Orbit - Allgon Moon
 * Grelbin - Tundor Wastes
 * Yeedil - Protopet Factory
 * Burbank/Dantopia - Insomniac Museum

Trivia

 * Going Commando means wearing clothes without any undergarments on. Name puns are used in nearly all Ratchet & Clank games.