The entrance to the Planetary Defense Center on Kerwan.
The Center on Veldin.
A Planetary Defense Center is a type of building in the Ratchet & Clank series, and part of the gameplay in Full Frontal Assault. These facilities are found on several planets and are responsible for coordinating and controlling defenses against invasion.
History[]
The first Planetary Defense Center encountered by Ratchet and Clank was located in Metropolis, Kerwan, during the events of Tools of Destruction. The Kerwan Planetary Defense Center was run by Captain Qwark, who contacted Ratchet and Clank from the facility when Metropolis was being attacked by drophyds.[1] The Center featured a humorous automated message system with options for reporting attacks by radioactive amoeboids or ingestion by a mutant space eel.[2]
The duo later visited Veldin's Planetary Defense Center in the comic Multiple Organisms. While they were searching for a way off-planet,[3] General Glahm seized control of the Center's surface-to-space missile system to destroy Artemis Zogg's ship.[4]
During his time as President of the Polaris Galaxy, Qwark used taxpayer money to integrate a galactic weather control grid into the defense network, allowing him to ensure sunny weather for his presidential visits. This gave Planetary Defense Centers a secondary function of weather control, which could only be accessed with Qwark's private access key.[5]
The Planetary Defense Center on Markazia.
In Full Frontal Assault, the villain Stuart Zurgo exploited this system. He began by hacking and disabling the Planetary Defense Centers on Ebaro, Markazia, and Proteus VII, leaving them vulnerable to his grungarian marauders. He threatened to deactivate every PDC in the galaxy if the Polaris Defense Force intervened, forcing the Q-Force to handle the threat alone.[6] After stealing Qwark's access key, Zurgo allowed the Q-Force to reactivate the Ebaro PDC, only to corrupt it and trigger a massive snowstorm, framing Qwark for the disaster.[5]
Gameplay[]
Concept art.
In the single-player mode of Full Frontal Assault, Planetary Defense Centers are the primary objective on the three main planets. The core gameplay loop requires the player to first capture several guarded key nodes to drop the forcefield protecting the PDC. After fighting through the Center's defenses, the player activates it and must then return to their own base to survive a final, large-scale enemy assault to complete the level.
Citations[]
References[]
- Insomniac Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Fixman, TJ (2011). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 5: Multiple Organisms) [Book]. Wild Storm.
- Insomniac Games (2012). Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.