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The Pixelizer (spelt Pixeliser in PAL regions) is a weapon in Ratchet & Clank (2016 game). Developed by Gadgetron Corporation, it functions as a shotgun weapon, and fires blasts of green energy that damage any enemies caught in the blast, and briefly morph them into two dimensional pixel images. Enemies killed by the weapon are left pixelated and broken apart into pixel blocks afterwards.
The weapon can be upgraded four times to the Pixelizer HD, which deals more damage and allows Ratchet to charge the weapon up for a larger blast. In challenge mode, the Omega Pixelizer HD can be purchased once the Pixelizer's full holocard set is complete. The weapon can also be upgraded with Raritanium upgrades. Among these upgrades are three mystery upgrades: Health Genie and Ammo Shark grant the Pixelizer a chance to generate nanotech and ammo from enemies that it kills, while the Double Buffer upgrade increases the rate of fire.
The weapon becomes available for purchase on planet Rilgar for 15,000 bolts.
Characteristics
The weapon is a white block-like gum held by Ratchet fitting within his arm like a glove, with a black cone around a green screen at the end from which its blasts are fired. The Pixelizer HD replaces the black cone with a larger blue cone surrounding much of the front of the weapon. When charging up this weapon, it releases a large "Megablast 64" according to the weapon description.
When the weapon fires, it emits green blasts around a large area, while making sounds similar to an 8-bit video game. Enemies hit by the blast are transformed into blocky, pixelated enemies for a brief moment before reverting, and when destroyed, leave behind blocks when destroyed by the weapon.
Combat
Ratchet using the Pixelizer during the Ranger tryouts.
The Pixelizer functions as a shotgun weapon, which fires a large green blast in the area in front of Ratchet, hitting all enemies within it. The Pixelizer is very effective at clearing out waves of small enemies, but also deals strong damage when targeted towards medium to larger enemies, and can be very effective against bosses when aimed correctly. The Pixelizer is a broadly useful weapon, although it later becomes somewhat outclassed against small enemies.
The Pixelizer HD upgrade allows Ratchet to charge the weapon for a greater blast, which can allow it to be more ammo efficient. However, the best upgrades come in the form of the Raritanium mystery upgrades, particularly the Health Genie and Ammo Shark, which allows the use of the weapon to make Ratchet more durable in fights by replenishing his health and ammo. The Double Buffer also improves on the weapon's relatively low rate of fire.
Behind the scenes
Concept art
The weapon bears similarities to the Pixelator, a weapon created and submitted by Drew Wise for the My Blaster Runs Hot weapon contest.[1]
Insomniac Games has stated that making the enemies pixelate was one of the hardest challenges to accomplish in the game's development.