Continuing my Ratchet Retrospective is Ratchet and Clank 2: Going Commando/Locked and Loaded!

This game in the series continues where the original left off, with Ratchet & Clank heading out on a new adventure after a year of just relaxing on Veldin.

Ratchet 2 is the turning point for the series, with the core gameplay completely changing in really clever ways and a lot of the groundwork that latter games expanded upon being established.

I love this game a lot, so lets waste no time! Lets go commando everyboday!

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Development history on this game is very direct and simple; the first one was expected to be a success, so Sony greenlight a sequel mid-production of the original Ratchet & Clank. So, three months before Ratchet 1's launch, development of the sequel was underway.

Insomniac wanted to play with a lot of concepts for the sequel game and really push the PS2 hardware with Ratchet 2. Better visuals, more RPG elements added to the core gunplay, modern aiming systems for your weapons and more streamlined design compared to the original game.

Some effects like very advanced water texturing was cut due to the game's frame rate tanking when it was in action, so they used simpler water technology.

So this released in Fall 2003, a year after the launch of the original Ratchet and Clank, with it being very successful. Like Ratchet 1, a sequel was starting development three months before Ratchet 2's launch and some developers leaving both Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog to form High Impact Studios. Will touch on them when we get to the PSP games.

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The story is that a now kinder and calmer Ratchet is relaxing on Veldin with Clank being interviewed about what they've been doing since being Drek. They've more or less been relaxing with Ratchet desiring to be part of a new adventure.



Literally seconds after saying that, they are warped to Megacorp and see Fizwidget, who asks Ratchet & Clank to find a creature called the Proto-Pet, a experiement that was stolen from the location. Ratchet is ready to go while Clank stays behind to relax.

The story here is fantastic and the dynamics with the cast is outstanding. Ratchet is a kind fellow thanks to James Arnold Taylor being his new voice actor (Insomniac really didn't like the voice direction for Ratchet originally and stuck with James since Going Commando onwards). He does a great job giving Ratchet a lot of life and makes him a very likable character. Something story-wise that makes since, as Ratchet got kinder from his past Adventure with Clank.

The writing is sharp like it was with the original Ratchet but I really laughed hard during a lot of the cut-scenes. When you visit the Megacorp-Testing location, the cut-scene you get there is great, with a kid being terrified while the Proto-Pet is trying to kill him at every turn XD!



Story-wise, this is one of the best in the series and Ratchet 3/Up Your Arsenal just gets better.

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The gameplay is major here, as Insomniac did ALOT to make this more playable compared to the original Ratchet. While Ratchet 1 was a great game, it felt more like Spyro, with the guns more or less being grander versions of the different breaths.



Here, weapons have a lot of impact and are REALLY fun to use. They fell fantastic and they are all controlled greatly thanks to the Strafing feature being added into the core moveset of Ratchet. Just hold R2 and you are locked to the side, with the right stick allowing you to aim far more carefully. This leads to combat being a ton of fun and while you don't have a lot of weight to your weapons/movement, the snappy nature of the gameplay more then makes up for it.



You also got the weapons wheel (where you have all your weapons) pausing the game, Ratchet's core movement being more tighter and having Clank's core abilities and basic items (hovering, jet-pack, hydro-pack, breathing helmet) unlocked right from the start (though you have Clank joining you in a latter level). This makes everything feel like a 'natural' progression for the series and this is further shown off with the ability to get various Ratchet 1 weapons for free if you have a save of the original game when visiting a specific planet.



Ratchet also levels up, same with his weapons. Like in Role Playing Games, the more you kill, the more EXP you get. And when you get enough, you get more nano-tech (your health) and your weapons get stronger. This is addicting and one of the best additions to the series. Between the large line up of great weapons like the Lava Gun, Bouncer (which explodes into lots of little bombs), Turrets you can plant on the ground, and even other useful items like a shield that can damage foes when you level it up.



I love this line up of weapons and its my second favorite line up in the series! You can also give them special mods (acid effects, lock-on features, ect) if you find Silver Bolts. These are found through exploring through the game and completing space flying levels, which I will get to soon.



Ratchet's core sections have never felt better and I love his sections of the game.

Also, thank you IceyFlames for the great Gifs !

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Clank also is his own playable character again and his gameplay got better too. Like Ratchet, his core movement got a lot better but he also got new robots to command like a bridge robot that can allow you to cross long gaps and a Lifter robot which can pick up heavy objects. These mix up his stages and make them a lot of fun.



Giant Clank comes back when exploring a moon, which is as awesome as it sounds. You fight a giant creature on this moon with missiles, massive jumps and powerful punches; a ton of fun.

And the last two gameplay points is the hoverbike and the space combat. The former is F-Zero or Wipeout like racing but with weapons you can use. Its fun and makes up a small portion of the main game.



The Space levels though, make up a decent amount of the game. You have three/four main space locations to visit and they are Star Fox all-range mode like fights. They have great design with a lot of places to fly around in, extra missions to complete when beating the main mission, and even different weapons you can get when you pay enough Raretainum (currency you get from fighting foes and blowing up stuff in these levels).



I enjoyed these when I played the game more recently but did not like them much during my first playthrough. But when you get the nuke, go to the final space combat area and just shoot it right in front of you once you move a few inches. Kills everything and if you keep doing this again and again, free bolts .

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Visually, this game looks fantastic. Levels are a bit smaller then the original game but they still have a lot of pathways to explore with a ton of detail. Love the animations in this game though, with it having a lot of squash-and-stretch.




The music though........man, one of my favorite gaming soundtracks. It is action packed, filled with great tunes and is memorable. Ratchet 3 continues the style of music shown here and it is just as great.

Aronos - Flying Lab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk13dtTAXgc&index=1&list=PL5D86303F0E380566&nohtml5=False
Oozla - Megacorp Outlet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X83pgH45nj0&index=2&list=PL5D86303F0E380566&nohtml5=False
Wupash Nebula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqs9igUjY-Q&list=PL5D86303F0E380566&index=5&nohtml5=False
Barlow - Vukovar Canyon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrrLLpYI4JE&index=14&list=PL5D86303F0E380566&nohtml5=False
Hoverbike Race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfNEog-mY84&index=15&list=PL5D86303F0E380566&nohtml5=False
Tabora - Crystal Desert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT0rmOwDFek&index=24&list=PL5D86303F0E380566&nohtml5=False
Maktar Nebula - The Battle Arena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryggnRU5DZk&list=PL5D86303F0E380566&index=8&nohtml5=False

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Overall, this is how you make a sequel. Fix every issue that people have with the original game and make everything insanely polished. One of the greatest games ever made on the PlayStation 2 and its PlayStation 3 & PlayStation Vita ports are solid (though the Vita version runs at 30FPS; a lot better then that sounds considering I played that version for this retrospective ).

And the best part? It gets even better with the next game. If this game is close to perfect, Ratchet 3 IS perfect and I can't wait to talk about that soon enough.

The best thing about the new Ratchet and Clank remake is that we may get a remake of this next.

Great work OP, this is truly one of the PS2's best.

I love the armor idea in this one so much.

5taquitos said:

The best thing about the new Ratchet and Clank remake is that we may get a remake of this next.

Great work OP, this is truly one of the PS2's best.

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Really, really hope so . LOVE Going Commando a lot and it would be amazing to see some of its locations built for the PS4 hardware :').

Those space levels on PS4 tech? Outstanding.

Still my fav Rachet, Time is a close second.

the jokes where on point, gameplay mechanics SOLID, combat design was fun.

great sequel

and Going Commando was probably the best innuendo sub title too lol

One of the best examples of "how to do a second game right," I can think of.

The gameplay at its core is still the same as the original, but the improved mobility, shooting and the level ups (oh how I love the level ups) really make the game.

I don't think I ever realized there's a "2" in that logo.

5taquitos said:

I don't think I ever realized there's a "2" in that logo.

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The reason I put '2' in the OP is that Europe didn't always get the sur-names for the titles, so I will be calling them Ratchet 1, 2, 3, ect if its called that in Europe .

Great OP. Makes me wanna pick up a copy.

ScOULaris said:

Great OP. Makes me wanna pick up a copy.

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You can get it in a few ways!
-Retail PS2 Version
-Ratchet Collection on PS3 and Vita
-Solo-Game of Ratchet 2 on PSN (US/EU)
-Solo-Game of Ratchet 2 on PSN for Vita (EU)

To this day, going commando is my favorite R&C game. It was the first ever R&C game I ever played back in 2005, and I instantly fell in love with the game.

Up your arsenal is better, but going commando has a special place in my heart.

This game was fucking incredible. Ratchet and Clank at its absolute best.

Ironically though, its the one game in the series I never beat. I was 3 or 4 worlds from the end. I had been tempted to stay up late and get to the end, but instead I called it a night. Woke up the next morning and went to play, and my game save was corrupted.

I was quite upset.

Maybe I'll go back and play it one day.

Yep, this is also my favorite of the bunch. Weapon selection was cool, I mean the Zodiac didn't make any sense but it was awesome nonetheless. Lots of activities, worlds, good music, fun story. Variation is an important keyword when talking about this game and the length was perfect.

Although Up Your Arsenal is the better game, this game has a special place in my heart. Played it over 40 times as a kid. I came up with all the protopet jokes and possible commercials.

"Proto Type cereal! It eats you AND the cereal." - young me.

Looking back, Ratchet 2 was probably the game that seriously brought me into gaming and change my life, I guess lol. The story and characters were great, combat was superb, the overall quality was amazing. I'd probably be a different person had I not played it.

It's unfortunate that the PS3 gen Ratchet games never really caught my attention. A Crack in Time was cool but it never captured my heart like the others.

SgtCobra said:

Yep, this is also my favorite of the bunch. Weapon selection was cool, I mean the Zodiac didn't make any sense but it was awesome nonetheless. Lots of activities, worlds, good music, fun story. Variation is an important keyword when talking about this game and the length was perfect.

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I agree; the games length was perfect. Not too long but not too short .

Illucio said:

Although Up Your Arsenal is the better game, this game has a special place in my heart. Played it over 40 times as a kid. I came up with all the protopet jokes and possible commercials.

"Proto Type cereal! It eats you AND the cereal." - young me.

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Up your Arsenal was that game for me growing up . I played through it TONS of times and I know the game like the back of my hand . Glad you love Going Commando and I grew and appreciation for the game more when I went back and played it through on my Vita when the Ratchet Collection released on that.

Now, I love the game just as much as I love Up Your Arsenal .

Thank you for this retrospective, I truly appreciate it.

The story was an absolute blast. The mechanics were completely refined. The humour actually made me laugh out loud. The weapons... Blitz Gun, Lava Gun, The Bouncer, ahh, such fond memories.

Going Commando was where the series hit its stride, and Up Your Arsenal ran with it.

Here's hoping R&C PS4 sells well enough to greenlight a remake of this.

Absolutely awesome retrospective OP. This is actually the only R&C game I've played to completion but I've done so at least 3 times. You just gave me crazy nostalgia waves, and if Up Your Arsenal is even better then I might need to pick up the HD collection at some point!

Nice writeup.

Going Commando my 3rd favorite in the series, right behind Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time.

... I gotta be honest, while Up Your Arsenal was obvious, I only just realized the joke of Going Commando...

RK128 said:

You can get it in a few ways!
-Retail PS2 Version
-Ratchet Collection on PS3 and Vita
-Solo-Game of Ratchet 2 on PSN (US/EU)
-Solo-Game of Ratchet 2 on PSN for Vita (EU)

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Just remembered that I already own the PS3 HD remastered collection.

This one is like my favorite game of all time.
I probably have twice the number of hours into this game as my next most played ratchet title.

The things I did with that spider/tank bot...

The original three ratchet games are amazing.

The PS3 ones are good, but they feel like completely different games.. Left behind the smart writing and humor for something more like a Pixar sort of cartoony drama.

My fave of the series, have played this a couolr dozen times now, ever so often.

My favorite game of the series, but that's partly due to the nostalgia talking for sure. I think it hits the right balance between shooting and platform/puzzle elements, while the first game had poorer shooting mechanics, and later games really outdid the platforming more. Here they feel to be in somewhat good balance.

What I really liked was how meaty in content the game was. Back when playing the game for the first time, I was absolutely sure the game was ending in the planet, that actually marked only the ending of Act 2, meaning that there was still around 3-4 hours of gameplay to go. The planets felt all quite varied, and the difficulty progressed quite naturally, compared to the first game, which had few nasty difficulty spikes.

I like the weapon variety of this game. The weapon upgrade system was introduced in this game, which made it feel much more novel, and I liked how you could buy add-ons to the weapons, such as acid mode and lock on mode. My favorite weapons here were definitely seeker gun and lava gun.

There were some cons too, though. Some of the level objectives felt bit grindy, worst offender was at Act 3, when game suddenly asks you to pay 40k bolts for planet coordinates, and then putting you grind for moon stones right after. Some of the planets felt tad uninspired (Megapolis felt way too much of a Metropolis reskin... But in grey!), and not all weapons were that fun to use (Spider bot glove and Seeker Mine comes first to mind).

Still, definitely my favorite of the series, and the game I always compare other Ratchets to.

I will say that if the game is ever reimagined, the plot would need some serious re-writes. It was fun story, but many of the twists here don't really make any sense at all.

Sadly the OST would be redone, which already seems to have happened with the first game. David's music is one of the main components in what made the series so special to me, and lot of the charm has definitely disappeared after Insomniac changed composer.

My favorite PS2 R&C game and my second favorite in the franchise (behind a crack in time). It was a great step up from R&C and I really loved the first one

I like the ratchet and clank series but going commando was always my favorite i love the scenarios with the proto pet, the levels, weapons one thing that makes it a bit hard to replay is that there was no strafe controls back then ^^

Burbeting said:

Some of the planets felt tad uninspired (Megapolis felt way too much of a Metropolis reskin... But in grey!), and not all weapons were that fun to use (Spider bot glove and Seeker Mine comes first to mind).

Still, definitely my favorite of the series, and the game I always compare other Ratchets to.

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You would be surprised at the places you can get that thing to land, and then when it's upgrade with turrets that thing is a beast. Every time I play the game I get that weapon leveled up so I can destroy a certain boss with it very easily.

LordofPwn said:

You would be surprised at the places you can get that thing to land, and then when it's upgrade with turrets that thing is a beast. Every time I play the game I get that weapon leveled up so I can destroy a certain boss with it very easily.

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Yeah, I do the same, but it doesn't make the weapon necessarily fun to use. You need to position Ratchet in safe location, and then move the bot to the actual battlefield, which puts the pacing of the combat to a halt.

Probably my least played mainline Ratchet & Clank, I don't even know why. I think I've only passed it maybe once or twice at the most. I'll probably replay it on PS3 since I don't remember much and never found all the secrets.

I do remember it being long and I remember enjoying the races. The plasma coil is probably my favorite weapon in the entire franchise.

Burbeting said:

Yeah, I do the same, but it doesn't make the weapon necessarily fun to use. You need to position Ratchet in safe location, and then move the bot to the actual battlefield, which puts the pacing of the combat to a halt.

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There's a spot very close to the start that makes everything go very quick. But with that weapon there are a number of weird surfaces you can land it on that can result in a lot of fun/creative kills on different locations.

Still has the best arenas.

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Dat organized chaos.

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The takeoff.

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First Ratchet and Clank I played. One of my favorites. Leveling systems, tight controls, lovable characters, incredible graphics, just an amazing game all around.

I'm glad I DIDN'T play the original first. Knowing that Ratchet was a jerk to Clank in the original game is disheartening. I only know this because my little brother play the original and told me to stay away.

The reboot will be my proper introduction to the first R&C game.

This was such an amazing game. God... I miss the good old PS2 days.

Makoto Yuki said:

First Ratchet and Clank I played. One of my favorites. Leveling systems, tight controls, lovable characters, incredible graphics, just an amazing game all around.

I'm glad I DIDN'T play the original first. Knowing that Ratchet was a jerk to Clank in the original game is disheartening. I only know this because my little brother play the original and told me to stay away.

The reboot will be my proper introduction to the first R&C game.

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The way Ratchet acts in the original is interesting problem. On the other hand, this gave Ratchet and real character arc in the game, that felt very believable, and also gave him lot of character progression by the game ended. But on the other hand... It Also made Ratchet quite unlikeable character for the entirety on the second act, it could have been toned down.

Burbeting said:

The way Ratchet acts in the original is interesting problem. On the other hand, this gave Ratchet and real character arc in the game, that felt very believable, and also gave him lot of character progression by the game ended. But on the other hand... It Also made Ratchet quite unlikeable character for the entirety on the second act, it could have been toned down.

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That's what I'm saying, all they needed to do was tone it down. I kinda don't like how it seems like they're removing that whole element altogether from the reimagining, but it is what it is.

I find it sort of weird how people are so forgiving to Clank in that game too, like Ratchet had no reason to be mad at him in the first place.

Great game, in my top 10 of all time.

How's performance on Vita? Might get it for portable play on flights or something.

I've always slightly preferred this one over Ratchet 3, I'm not sure why.

i wanted to do this one, oh well.
Good game

This game was so amazing, one of my favorite PS2 games.

Village said:

i wanted to do this one, oh well.
Good game

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Man, I'm sorry . If you want to add anything, let me know via PM and I will edit the OP.

5taquitos said:

The best thing about the new Ratchet and Clank remake is that we may get a remake of this next.

Great work OP, this is truly one of the PS2's best.

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I'd really hope that if R&C is a success, they would make a brand new mainline game. It's been seven years since ACIT.

Probably my least played Ratchet and Clank game excluding A41 and FFA and I don't know why. I remember really enjoying the plot since it was so different and the ship flying sections were fun. It was also such a dramatic jump in mechanics you don't really get these days.

You say the first Ratchet was more like Spyro like if that were a bad thing.

Personally I think this game is a disgrace and while not on the level of Jak 2 in terms of franchise destroying, it made me lost all interest in the series three planets in, when I realized I could not complete levels using just the melee weapon and two other weapons because the game just was a pure shooter now and required me to use all of the weapons and go for stupid grinding to upgrade shitty armors to be able to get through the hordes of bullet sponges in every level.

Shame because the first one is a good old school action-adventure platformer. Good thing Sucker Punch didn't fall for the "shoot everything, angry face, be a badass" thing of the moment.

This is my personal pick for greatest sequel ever made. The expansions and improvements made on the original design are so fantastic. A marvel of great iterative game design.

Nev said:

You say the first Ratchet was more like Spyro like if that were a bad thing.

Personally I think this game is a disgrace and while not on the level of Jak 2 in terms of franchise destroying, it made me lost all interest in the series three planets in, when I realized I could not complete levels using just the melee weapon and two other weapons because the game just was a pure shooter now and required me to use all of the weapons and go for stupid grinding to upgrade shitty armors to be able to get through the hordes of bullet sponges in every level.

Shame because the first one is a good old school action-adventure platformer. Good thing Sucker Punch didn't fall for the "shoot everything, angry face, be a badass" thing of the moment.

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Okay, I'm going to make a very long post explaining why I enjoy Ratchet 2 more then Ratchet 1 a lot more, so sorry if this sounds mean or anything .

If you are bring guns into your gameplay, they should feel great to use. Either having a lot of weight, having tight aiming or feeling smooth to use. In the original Ratchet and Clank, they weren't. They were clunky at times and the best aiming option you got was unlocked very late into the game.

I don't have much issue with this since the core platforming is so fun, but if they made a Ratchet 2, I would've wanted them to fix the gunplay and make it more rewarding to use the large arsenal of weapons.

Ratchet 2 fixes that problem, with core mechanics working with the guns and them feeling like a natural inclusion into the formula. With my comparison to Spyro, it was good, as the guns WERE breath abilities in the Spyro games. And that wasn't bad at all. If you read my original Ratchet & Clank retrospective, I explain how that was a good thing.

But if you are making a game about using guns, they SHOULD feel good to use.

And your comment about betraying the original game? I cannot disagree more frankly. Ratchet 2 still has the charm of the original, the core gameplay foundations of the original, the great characters & story of the original and most importantly, the soul of the original game.

Jak 2 is a game I enjoy enough, but is what NOT to do with a sequel and is a game I personally do not like much at all thanks to some really dumb design choices (damn difficulty X(). Will cover that when I make my Jak Retrospective further down the line.

Point is, Ratchet 2 is what I expected a sequel to Ratchet and Clank too be. I'm sorry if the game disappointed you but thank you for posting in this retrospective regardless of not liking the game .

ZeroX03 said:

How's performance on Vita? Might get it for portable play on flights or something.

I've always slightly preferred this one over Ratchet 3, I'm not sure why.

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It runs fine, but I gotta tell you, the controls are way less than optimal IMO. Well, it depends on how much you tolerate emulating buttons using back touch. You'll have to use it a lot, for a function that is way too important to the game for such a poor input method: strafing. If you can handle that, it's a good port and worth your time.

GWX said:

It runs fine, but I gotta tell you, the controls are way less than optimal IMO. Well, it depends on how much you tolerate emulating buttons using back touch. You'll have to use it a lot, for a function that is way too important to the game for such a poor input method: strafing. If you can handle that, it's a good port and worth your time.

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As someone who hated using the Rear Touch pad in other games, it feels very natural with Ratchet 2 and 3. It works very well .

Its only a bit annoying when you are using the lock-on mods, as you have to hold the left & right sides of the rear touch pad to use that.

It works ALOT better than in the Jak Collection though......hated using that when trying to play Jak 2 & 3 on Vita .