Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Japanese: ラチェット＆クランク３：突撃！ガラクチックレンジャーズ Rachetto & Kuranku 3: Totsugeki! Garakuchikku Renjāzu lit. Ratchet & Clank 3: Charge! Galactic Rangers) titled as Ratchet & Clank 3 in Europe, and Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal in Australia, is an action/shooter 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 about 90%. It is the first game in the series to utilize 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


After playing a game of Galactic Chess in Clank's apartment on Megapolis in the Bogon Galaxy, Ratchet and Clank decided to turn on their Holo-Vision. While channel-surfing past Clank's new show, "Secret Agent Clank", Ratchet stumbled across a news report stating that his home planet in the Solana Galaxy, Veldin, was under attack by an army of Tyhrranoids. The duo immediately raced to Veldin and upon landing, Ratchet was appointed as the new sergeant for the Galactic Rangers and forced to lead the defense force. Upon clearing the Tyhrranoid threat, Ratchet was contacted by the Galactic President. The President explained that a mysterious supervillain known as Dr. Nefarious was the mastermind behind this attack. The President then asked Ratchet and Clank to find the only man to survive a fight with Nefarious, who was believed to be living on planet Florana. After watching an episode of "Nature's Mysteries" about this person, known as the "Florana Tree Beast," they flew to the Nabla Forest where the Tree Beast forced them to cross the Path of Death. Afterwards, they defeated the Beast in a battle and unmasked him, revealing his true identity: Captain Qwark. Qwark somehow lost his memory and sanity, presumably while trying to save the plant life on Florana, and now believed himself to be a monkey. After Qwark and his cyclops-monkey companion, Skrunch were led to the ship, Sasha Phyronix, captain of the Starship Phoenix, was ordered by the President to assist Ratchet and Clank.

Aboard the Starship, the duo left Captain Qwark in his new quarters. Upon entering the control room, they found Sasha listening to a distress transmission from the President, now revealed to be Sasha's father, on the Galactic Capital of Marcadia. Nefarious interrupted this transmission and declared war on all organic life forms, whom he called "Squishies." Ratchet and Clank immediately ventured out to the capital city to assist the Galactic Rangers in defending the President. Once they cleared the Capitol Building's courtyard of all threats, Ratchet and Clank were sent to the Laser Defense Facility to help restore power to the defense grid. When they reached the facility, they encountered their old friend Big Al "fixing" defense grid. When Al finished fixing the grid, he gave the two his First Edition copy of the Captain Qwark Vid-Comic issue 1. Upon return to the Phoenix, Ratchet played this Vid-Comic on his VG-9000 game system, and the completion of this Vid-Comic sparked Qwark's memory. While Captain Qwark went through rehabilitation and finished fully regaining his senses, Ratchet and Clank were sent to Annihilation Nation to attempt to win the Tyhrraguise, a gadget that transforms the user's appearance into that of a Tyhrranoid. When Ratchet and Clank returned to the Phoenix after winning the device, they learned that the President had placed Qwark in direct command of the war, and that Qwark had created a squad in their absence.

The "Q-Force", consisting of Big Al, Clank, Helga, Qwark, Ratchet, Sasha, Skidd McMarx, and Skrunch, was assigned a new mission to infiltrate Nefarious' underwater base on Aquatos to acquire as much information on the villain's plans as possible. In addition to discovering that Nefarious was a huge "Secret Agent Clank" fan, Clank found and downloaded an encrypted star-map to the Tyhrranoids' home planet, 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 infiltrated and destroyed the base, killing what seemed to be the Queen of the Tyhrranoids. Dr. Nefarious then sent the Q-Force a transmission that Al soon traced to planet Daxx.

When the duo landed on Daxx, they explored the weapons facility, eventually coming across classified plans of a new super-weapon capable of wiping out all life, known as the Biobliterator. Clank also found that a transport ship had just left for the Obani Moon System the day before. Ratchet, Clank, and Skidd made their way through the first two moons, only to find the third was protected by a "Omega Class Disintegration Shield". Ratchet received an urgent call from the Galactic Rangers begging for assistance against a Tyhrranoid invasion of Blackwater City. Ratchet was forced to leave to help them, but Skidd decided to stay and attempt to break the shield with a crowbar. Ratchet and Clank arrived on planet Rilgar and were able to help 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. They were able to complete the challenge and meet Ms. Gears. When Clank asked her where Nefarious was, she said she would tell him if he got her a part on "Secret Agent Clank". Clank obliged and took her to Holostar Studios. Ratchet, however, wasn't allowed to join them, and was forced to wait at Clank's trailer. When filming ended, Clank asked for information on Nefarious, but Gears knocked him out and brought him directly into the Doctor's arms. Nefarious gave Clank two choices: to either join him in conquering the galaxy and ruling a universe full of robots, or to die with the "Squishies" and become a traitor to his own kind. Back at Clank's trailer, Ratchet was ambushed by the Tyhrranoids. After fighting his way back to the ship alone, he found Clank. When Ratchet asked him about the whereabouts of Nefarious, Clank said he found that Nefarious was on a star cruiser called the Leviathan.

The two landed on Obani Draco, the third moon, after Skidd revealed that he was able to bring the shield down. This planet was revealed to be Courtney's hideout. The two also discovered that the Biobliterator was currently stationed there. They quickly traversed the moon and defeated Gears. Upon finishing her off, they received a transmission from Sasha, who tracked the Leviathan to the Zeldrin Starport. They left Skidd — who had been transformed into a robot by the Biobliterator — behind so that the Q-Force could retrieve him later, and headed for the starport to meet up with Qwark.

The three members of the Q-Force reached the Leviathan and fought their way through hordes of enemies until they found Nefarious waiting. Nefarious revealed that the Leviathan was placed as part of a trap before he activated the self-destruct system and teleported away. Ratchet & Clank escaped to the Phoenix, but Qwark stayed behind, claiming he saw something important. Ratchet and Clank flew off just as the Leviathan exploded, still debating whether to leave Qwark behind.

After an impromptu funeral for Qwark on the Phoenix, Ratchet and Clank flew to the city of Metropolis, the next city that the Tyhrranoids attacked. 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 Dr. Nefarious since the filming of Secret Agent Clank at Holostar Studios. Clank had been replaced by a clone made by Nefarious named Klunk. After defeating Klunk, Ratchet and Clank were reunited and flew to 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 had escaped when the cruiser went down. They resolved not to tell the crew that Qwark was alive until they found out why he had faked his death. After playing a Vid-Comic that contained possible information as to the whereabouts of Qwark's hideout, they flew to the Thran 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, claiming that he had the chance "to become the hero [Qwark] had always wanted to be."

When they returned to their ship, they received a garbled transmission from Sasha, warning them that the Phoenix was under attack. Ratchet and Clank sped to the Starship and helped the Galactic Rangers regain control of the ship and free the captured Q-Force members. After being rescued, 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 Galactic Ranger dropship arrived for Ratchet and Clank to pursue Nefarious to his launch site.

At the launch site, Ratchet and Clank battled Dr. Nefarious. After a short duel, he fell down and begged for mercy, fooling Ratchet into a false sense of victory before escaping. Ratchet chased after Nefarious, and defeated him with the help of the Galactic Rangers. Nefarious and Lawrence then warped into the Biobliterator, which transformed into a Giant Mech. When the battle seemed lost, Captain Qwark flew in to help fight alongside them. Ratchet and Captain Qwark engaged in aerial combat against Nefarious and the Biobliterator and eventually destroyed it. The Biobliterator entered self-destruct mode and sent Nefarious and Lawrence into the depths of space on a floating rock. The ending fades to the premiere of the latest Secret Agent Clank holofilm, where Clank and Skrunch faced off against arch-enemy Maximillian's forces on a snowy world.

The last scene depicts of Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence sitting on an isolated asteroid with no escape in sight.

Characters

 * Annihilation Nation Host
 * Angela Cross
 * Big Al
 * Billy
 * Bob
 * Clank
 * Clank's Director
 * Courtney Gears
 * Cognito, Slim
 * Commando
 * Deserter
 * Edwina
 * Factory Robot
 * Fizzwidget, Abercrombie
 * Florana local witness
 * Fred
 * Galactic Rangers
 * Gratch, Darla
 * Helga
 * HelpDesk Girl
 * Hypnotist
 * Jowai Resort Owner
 * Klunk
 * Lawrence
 * Mathematician
 * Matron
 * Maximillian
 * McMarx, Skidd
 * Nefarious
 * New Age Mystic
 * Novalis Chairman
 * Old Smolgian
 * Phyronix, President
 * Phyronix, Sasha
 * Plumber
 * Protopet scientists
 * Protopet
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Qwark's Bouncer
 * Race Girl
 * Ratchet
 * Robot Lieutenant
 * Sam
 * Shady Salesman
 * Skrunch
 * Skidd'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 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
 * Bouncer
 * Disc Blade Gun
 * Dual Laser Saber
 * Flux Rifle
 * Holoshield Glove
 * Infector
 * Lava Gun
 * N60 Storm
 * Miniturret Glove
 * Nitro Launcher
 * OmniWrench 12000
 * 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 Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando to Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal are much greater. The Swingshot idea has been combined with the Dynamo becoming the Hypershot, and the button-timing puzzles of the Electrolyzer or Infiltrator" are replaced with an abstract shooting game called the Hacker.
 * BGAMD
 * Charge Boots
 * Gadgetron PDA
 * Gravity Boots
 * Heli-Pack
 * Hypershot
 * Refractor
 * Thruster-Pack
 * Tyhrraguise
 * Warp Pad

Armor

 * Alpha Pilot Suit
 * Magnaplate Armor
 * Adamantine Armor
 * Aegis Mark IV Armor
 * Infernox Armor

Items

 * Hacker
 * Star Map
 * Bolt Grabber V2
 * Map-O-Matic
 * Nano-pak
 * Issue 1: Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder!
 * Issue 2: Arriba Amoeba!
 * Issue 3: Shadow of the Robot
 * Issue 4: Deja Q All Over Again
 * Issue 5: The Shaming of the Q
 * Master Plan

Skins

 * Old School Ratchet
 * Trooper
 * Brainius
 * Buginoid
 * Constructobot
 * Robo
 * Robo Rooster
 * Snowman Skin
 * Tuxedo Ratchet
 * Ninja (multiplayer only)
 * Bones (multiplayer only)
 * Blarg (multiplayer only)
 * Tyhrranoid (multiplayer only)
 * Thug (multiplayer only)
 * Skrunch (multiplayer only)
 * Bruiser (multiplayer only)
 * Hot Bot (multiplayer only)
 * Gladiola (multiplayer only)
 * Gray (multiplayer only)
 * Beach Bunny (multiplayer only)
 * Evil Clown (multiplayer only)
 * Dr. Nefarious (multiplayer only)
 * Dan (multiplayer only)
 * Santa Ratchet (Japan and collection version only)
 * Pipo-Saru Ratchet (Japan & Trilogy)
 * Saurus Ratchet (Japan only)
 * Ninja (Japan & Trilogy)
 * Sumo Ratchet (Japan & Trilogy)

Drivable vehicles

 * Q-force Hovership
 * Turbo Slider

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

Trophies
Character trophies: These nine trophies were found in many places on single planets.
 * Ratchet Trophy - This trophy could be found in Nabla Forest on Florana. In the second building there's a hidden lookout terrace to the left of an upper terrace. It was possible to walk across the roof ledge.


 * Al Trophy - This Trophy was found on Tyhrranosis on the mission where Ratchet destroyed the four plasma turrets. The trophy was located on the path to the turret on the far right. It was next to the Tyrranoid on the high platform.


 * The Plumber Trophy - On Daxx it was located on the balcony of the building where Ratchet finds the Charge Boots.


 * Clank Trophy - It was located at Holostar Studios, specifically on a platform to the right of the elevator, near the first Hacker Terminal. It was located on an orange ledge to the left and could be obtained by either high jumping or double jumping.


 * Skrunch Trophy - On Metropolis, it was located just after the curved bridge, through the window on the right.


 * Dr. Nefarious Trophy - It was located on planet Zeldrin on a ledge after the second set of debris.


 * Qwark Trophy - This trophy could be found on Thran at the end of the last corridor in the pod on the left (behind the glass window), right near Qwark's hideout.


 * Courtney Gears Trophy - On Koros it was located inside the building next to the stacked metallic crates.


 * Lawrence Trophy - On Mylon it was located at the top of the ramp along the section before the Hacker terminal.

Task trophies: These six trophies are found after do tasks on multiple planets.
 * Titanium bolt Trophy - Rewarded for collecting all 40 titanium bolts.


 * Skill Master Trophy - Rewarded for achieving all 30 skill points.


 * Annihilation Nation Trophy - This trophy was only awarded after completing ALL the gauntlet and gladiator challenges at Annihilation Nation, including the Qwarktastic Battle.


 * Friend of the Rangers Trophy - This trophy was only awarded after successfully completing ALL the Ranger battles, including the optional missions.


 * Omega Arsenal Trophy - Rewarded for upgrading all weapons to Omega level (including the RYNOCIRATOR). It could only be obtained in challenge mode


 * Nano Finder Trophy - This trophy was only awarded after accumulating 200 Nano Health Slots. It could only be obtained in challenge mode.

Bosses

 * Captain Blackstar
 * Scorpio (Annihilation Nation)
 * Gary and Helen (Annihilation Nation)
 * Captain Qwark (Florana)
 * Warship (Daxx)
 * Giant Klunk (Metropolis)
 * Dr. Nefarious (Mylon)
 * Biobliterator (Mylon)

Demo game
On Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal there is a demo of Sly 2. To play this, hold L1+L2+R1+R2, then press start on the main menu. With some versions of the game a free demo disk was included that allowed the player to play on the Sly 2 demo without entering the code. Beating this demo would cause a cheat to come up when you press: circle, square, circle, square, up, down, left, left. Entering this cheat code during game play on the main game and then entering the code in the pause menu would replace Ratchet's wrench] with the [[Dual Laser Saber.

Online and splitscreen multiplayer
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal featured online multiplayer modes, including Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Siege. Up to eight gamers can play at a time, and the game supports voice chat through a PS2-compatible headset.

The same gametypes can be played splitscreen with another controller.

The weapons present the multiplayer were from the previous Ratchet & Clank games as well as from Up Your Arsenal. The weapons can each be upgraded to V2 by defeating a certain amount of enemies.

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 (the highest multiplayer rating available at the time). Average critic scores out 10 were 9.1. Game Informer gave the game a 10 out of 10 as well as its Game of the Year award. Up Your Arsenal, other than Tools of Destruction is the most critically acclaimed game in the Ratchet and Clank series.

Trivia

 * The "&" (ampersand) sign in the logo is flipped over to form a "3", indicating that it is the third title in the series.
 * 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'.
 * Like on most covers of Ratchet & Clank in Japan, the characters are drawn in an anime style.
 * The cover of the game was later reused in Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile.
 * The imported weapon from Going Commando, the Lava Gun, had a separate final upgrade from Going Commando. Instead of the Meteor Gun, it became the Liquid Nitrogen Gun, due to fan complaints that the Meteor Gun changed the entire way the original weapon was meant to be used. This is the only time an imported weapon has been changed.
 * Up Your Arsenal is the first Ratchet & Clank game to reuse music from past games of the series (excluding the remixes for Blackwater City and Metropolis).
 * Annihilation Nation's Arena Combat theme was the same theme as the Levitator portion of the level from planet Aranos in Going Commando
 * Annihilation Nation's Boss theme was the same theme as the theme of the Piloting section of Pokitaru in Ratchet & Clank.
 * Crash Site on Planet Zeldrin had the same theme as the Blargian Snagglebeast fight music from Umbris in Ratchet & Clank
 * Planet Mylon Command Center contained the same theme as the space flight section on the Drek's Fleet level in Ratchet & Clank.
 * Vid-Comic 1 - Special Edition (The version played in the Insomniac Museum featuring the Captain Blackstar fight) had the same theme as the rail grinding music from planet Batalia in Ratchet & Clank.
 * The orange-brown HUD was initially coloured blue, similar to Going Commando's during most of development, but was changed near the end of development to its current scheme.
 * The Gadgetron Discount mentioned by the Gadgetron CEO was scheduled to come into effect two years after Ratchet agreed to join the Hoverboard race on Kalebo III in the original Ratchet & Clank. Up Your Arsenal (released two years later) allowed the player to check his/her Memory card for Ratchet & Clank data. If data was present, the player would gain this discount on all Gadgetron devices.
 * The poster of Captain Qwark from the garage on Veldin is hung up on the wall near the VG9000 game system.