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.

Story
When channel surfing past Clank's new TV show, "Secret Agent Clank", Ratchet stumbles across a news report about his home planet, Veldin, being under attack by an army of Tyhrranoids. They are believed to be working for a cyborg by the name of Dr. Nefarious. After racing to Veldin and being appointed as the new sergeants for the Galactic Rangers, they are contacted by the President and asked to find the only man who has ever seen Nefarious and lived, who is believed to be living on planet Florana as the Florana tree beast. After watching an episode of "One of nature's mysteries" about this creature, they fly to the Nabla Rainforest on Florana where it makes them cross the Path of Death. Afterwards, they learn that the Florana Tree beast is Captain Qwark, who apparently lost his memory while working to save the Florana Jungle's fauna. He now believes himself to be a monkey. After Qwark and his companion Skrunch (a one-eyed monkey) are led to the ship, Sasha Phyronix, captain of the Starship Phoenix, is ordered to assist Ratchet and Clank.

Aboard the starship, they leave Captain Qwark in his new quarters. After leaving Qwark, they find Sasha listening to a transmission from the president on planet Marcadia, who turns out to be her father. But Nefarious interrupts the transmission and declares war on all organic life forms, or "Squishies" as he calls them. Ratchet and Clank then venture out to Marcadia's capital to assist the Galactic rangers and the president. After assisting the president, Ratchet and Clank are sent to the Laser Facility where they meet Big Al; he joins the crew of the Phoenix and gives the heroes the Captain Qwark Vid-Comic issue 1. When Ratchet and Clank play this game on the Phoenix, Qwark's memory is restored. While Captain Qwark goes through rehabilitation, Ratchet and Clank are sent to Annihilation Nation to claim the Tyhrraguise (a device which conceals the wearer as a Tyhrranoid) as a prize. Afterwards, they are informed that the president has placed the war effort under Qwark's command.

The "Q-Force" (Big Al, Helga, Skid McMarx, Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and Sasha) are assigned a new mission to infiltrate Nefarious' base on Planet Aquatos to acquire as much information on Nefarious' plans as possible. They discover that Dr. Nefarious is Clank's biggest fan, and Clank finds and downloads an encrypted star-map to the Tyhrranoids' home planet and base, Tyhrranosis. Nefarious is shocked to see that his base has been infiltrated, and outraged to find that Qwark is behind it. After Al decrypts the starmap, and the group (mainly Ratchet and Clank) infiltrate the base on Tyhrranosis and destroy it. Then Dr. Nefarious sends the Q-Force a transmission, still shocked that they actually infiltrated his base. Al traces the transmission to planet Daxx.

When he lands, Ratchet is led by Al to a computer terminal that contains data on Nefarious' new secret weapon called the Bio-Bliterator. Clank also finds that a transport ship had just left for the Obani Gemini moons the day before. Ratchet, Clank, and Skid make their way through the first two moons only to find the third is protected by a "Omega Class Disintegration Shield". Ratchet then gets an urgent call from the Galactic Rangers who need his help on Blackwater City against the Tyhrranoids. Ratchet leaves to help them, but Skid decides to stay and work on the force field. Ratchet and Clank arrive on planet Rilgar and help the Galactic rangers defend their base. The pair soon discover that they need to find Courtney Gears, a pop-star singer who they believe is working with Nefarious. Ratchet and Clank return to Annihilation Nation to enter the "Meet Courtney" challenge. When they beat the challenge, Courtney is surprised to see Clank. When Clank asks her where Nefarious is, she says she will tell him if he gets her a part on Secret Agent Clank. He accepts, and when he asks for info on Nefarious, she knocks him out and brings Clank to Nefarious. Nefarious gives Clank a choice: join him and rule a galaxy of robots or die with the "Squishies" becoming a traitor to his own kind. Back at Clank's trailer, Ratchet is ambushed by the Tyhrranoids. Fighting his way back to the ship, he finds Clank, who is acting very strange. Ratchet asks him about the whereabouts of Nefarious, and Clank says he's on a star cruiser called the Leviathan.

The two land on Obani Draco, the third moon, where Skid was able to bring the shield down. As it turns out, it is Courtney's hideout. The two discover the Bio-Bliterator there, a machine that changes organic life forms into brainwashed robots bent on destroying the "Squishies". After that, they confront and defeat Courtney Gears. Upon finishing her off, they receive a transmission from Sasha, who tracked the Leviathan to the Zeldrin Starport. Leaving Skid, who has been transformed into a robot by the Bio-Bliterator as a test subject, they head for the starport to meet up with Qwark.

The Q-Force reach the Leviathan and fight their way through hordes of enemies until they find Nefarious waiting. It turns out that it was a trap, as he activates the self-destruct system and warps out of there. All of the Q-Force returns to the Phoenix, except for Qwark, who stays behind, saying he thought he saw something. Ratchet and Clank fly off just as the Leviathan explodes, still debating whether to leave Qwark behind.

After a funeral for Qwark on the Phoenix, Ratchet flies to the city of Metropolis, which is under attack by Tyhrranoids. During the battle, Nefarious uses the Bio-Bliterator to turn helpless citizens and Tyhrranoid invaders alike into robots. Ratchet battles his way to a hovering train, where it is revealed that the real Clank has 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 are reunited, and they fly to the planet Zeldrin to investigate the wreckage of the Leviathan, hoping to find what Qwark was looking for.



On Zeldrin, they discover an encrypted data disc (The Master Plan), and a recording that reveals that Qwark was alive when the cruiser went down. They resolve not to tell the crew that Qwark is alive until they find out why he didn't report to the Phoenix. After playing a video game that contains information as to the whereabouts of the Qwark's hideout, they fly to the Thrann Asteroid Belt and battle past security robots and hostile Megacorp Lawn Ninjas until they find Captain Qwark himself, who has abandoned his fight against Nefarious in favor of the comfort and safety of his hideout. Ratchet leaves in disgust, but Clank makes one last appeal to Qwark, stating that he had an opportunity to "become the hero you have always wanted to be" after this we are seeing Qwark looking over at his costume with a kind of heroic glow in his eyes.

When they return to their ship, they receive a garbled transmission from Sasha, who tells them that the Phoenix is under attack. Ratchet helps the Galactic Rangers regain control of the ship and free the captured Q-Force members. Al tells Ratchet that he has finally cracked the encryption on the data disc, which contains a complete copy of Nefarious' battle plans. Ratchet must fly to the planet Koros to destroy the Bio-Bliterator before it is unleashed on his beloved home, Veldin.

Ratchet and Clank reach Koros, and after battling hordes of Nefarious' troops, Clank uses the ion cannon there to destroy the Bio-Bliterator. However, Sasha soon reports that a second Bio-Bliterator is housed at a command center on planet Mylon, guarded by an entire army of robot Tyhrranoids. Ratchet and Clank fly to Mylon, fight through the command center, and reach the Bio-Bliterator, just in time for Dr. Nefarious and his butler Lawrence to escape. Luckily, a dropship arrives for Ratchet and Clank to pursue Nefarious to his launch site.

At the launch site, Ratchet and Clank battle Dr. Nefarious once and for all. After a short while, he falls down and begs for mercy, fooling Ratchet into a false sense of victory before running away. Ratchet chases after Nefarious, and, with the help of the Galactic Rangers, defeats him. Nefarious and Lawrence then warp into the Bio-Bliterator, which transforms into a giant robot. Ratchet and Clank look utterly doomed- when Captain Qwark flies in to fight alongside them. Ratchet and Captain Qwark engage in aerial combat against Nefarious and the Bio-Bliterator, and destroy it. The Bio-Bliterator self-destructs, and Nefarious and Lawrence are warped away to an unknown location.

Cut to the premiere of the latest Secret Agent Clank episode, 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 is of Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence, sitting on an isolated asteroid, out of range to teleport to escape for the next several thousand years. Lawrence suggests some music to help pass the time but Nefarious only screams "LAAAAWWWWREEEENCE!!!!!" in anger.

Characters

 * Annihilation Nation Host
 * Big Al
 * Clank
 * Cognito, Slim
 * Fred
 * Galactic Rangers
 * Gears, Courney
 * Gratch, Darla
 * Helga
 * Holostar Studios Director
 * Klunk
 * Lawrence
 * McMarx, Skid
 * Nefarious
 * Phyronix, President
 * Phyronix, Sasha
 * Plumber
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Ratchet
 * Skrunch
 * 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 the 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 8000
 * 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: Locked and loaded, but the alterations from Locked and loaded to Ratchet & Clank 3 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
 * Gravity Boots
 * Hacker
 * Heli-Pack
 * Hypershot
 * Thruster-Pack
 * Tyhrraguise
 * Warp Pad
 * Gadgetron PDA

Locations

 * Veldin
 * Florana
 * Starship Phoenix
 * Marcadia
 * Annihilation Nation
 * Aquatos
 * Tyhrranosis
 * Daxx
 * Holostar Studios
 * Obani Gemini
 * Blackwater City
 * Obani Draco
 * Zeldrin Starport
 * Metropolis
 * Zeldrin
 * Aridia
 * Qwark's Hideout
 * Koros
 * Command Center

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, The Zygan System)
 * Dr. Nefarious (Qwark Vid-Comic, Issue 4: Deja Q All Over Again)
 * Giant Klunk (Kerwan, Metropolis)
 * Dr. Nefarious (Mylon, Launch Site)
 * Bio-Bliterator (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 was a boss that was cut from the game)
 * Insectoid Queen (Unnamed Qwark vid-comic) (This was 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 VR-9000 (this is this where you can play Qwark Vid-Comics) and don't choose any game, push square and write "_MEGHAN_" using the up and down buttons at the left of the pad, you will unlock a Pirate vs. Ninja 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, up, down, down and 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.

Trivia

 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal was the official sponsor of the WWE pay-per-view event WWE Armageddon.
 * The "&" 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".
 * Up Your Arsenal, meaning Arsenal as an arry of weapons or a collection of weapons, so say up your collection of weapons. Since that the amount of weapons on Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is pretty much.