Ratchet & Clank Going Commando
DISCLAIMER: The following is a copy-pasted review from my Backloggd account, transferred as-is so that this blog has some entries available
I want to lay some further context from my prior review: while this, Deadlocked, and All 4 One were the only R&C titles I had growing up, and I played them extensively, I had only ever finished the three once. Now, two of these have excuses - A4O was a borefest void, and Deadlocked’s disc was scratched in such a way that it couldn’t be played on my PS2 yet was fine on PS3, meaning I subjugated myself to its infamous back-compat issues which swore me off from revisiting it properly. GC, though? I mean, I enjoyed it a lot (perhaps less than Deadlocked however), but each time I was settling onto crossing that finish line, that pesky gash appears in my vision yet again, and my attempt halts yet again until the next retry. Really, it’s not that the planet itself is a stinker, it’s more about what it embodies for GC’s endgame - accentuating the few qualms seeped within R&C1’s into noticeable proportions, first signified by the Thugs-4-Less Mech fight largely being an overdrawn, attritional turret section.
Instead of obtaining the Hologuise in a (relatively) natural manner before the capstone that is Veldin, you’re jarringly thrusted into a mini-quest of nabbing three Hypnomatic parts, which are located on Smolg, Damosel (the same place you’re told it’s necessary on, even), and Grelbin before you can even reach Yeedil. Speaking of, Grelbin is an infamous vista for not only reusing Tabora’s large area digsite loop right before the finish, but the onslaught of the Yeti population with intense damage output both from natural values and the overabundant numbers you’ll face at a time all stemming from Tony Garcia having to redo most of the code within three days time, the sole exception being Tim Trzepacz working on the sole Hypnomatic section available on the revisit. This tight deadline also led to culling existing memory issues via careful reuse of existing enemy assets, and excising a ship boss near the end. Finally, Drek himself is a consistent presence throughout the story, and tightly ties a bow with the game’s satirical angle; for GC, what was supposed to be about the impending leer of Megacorp’s might upon Bogon, with Abercrombie Fizzwidget being at the forefront, is soiled into a cheap “actually, the Big Paramilitaristic Corporation were victims this whole time!” reveal thanks to a shoehorned Qwark twist, solely because the team decided to insert him due to a missed factor amongst themselves - this specific irk is something anyone could’ve picked up on too, with Rus McLaughlin’s 2007 IGN article about the series’ history then casually mentioning it with no corroborated source being the most I found as a specific mention. In a post-mortem for R&C1, Ted Price revealed that they went through four separate focus test over the course of development, and while I have no doubt testing here was as rigorous then, it definitely feels as though there’s some overcooked elements that should’ve been avoided with better, more moderated restraints.
The same can be dissected in regards to mechanical deviations. Whereas I rotated nearly every weapon/gadget before, with some undercut due to personal differences, here I noticed potent discrepancies between them that made their niche way less flattering due to stronger components available on the table. The Blaster was one of the finest workhorse weapons of any shooter around, yet in GC, when the Aranos prologue introduces its analog called the Lancer, it’s a peashooter that can’t get the work done nearly as well as simple wrench melees and the other available large AoE output Gravity Bomb, with the quick-and-spammy Chopper and similarly mid-range spacer Blitz Gun becoming available on the immediate followup Oozla also outperforming it. Even the act of upgrading, akin to the systemic lineation and committal skill increase found in RPGs, doesn’t bode well when accounting for hotswap use, since the Heavy Lancer is only marginally better than its original form, while the Mini-Nuke, Multi-Star, and most especially Blitz Cannon are some of the main carries for the early and parts of the mid game. Another, rather known conundrum within the community is the Lava Gun, which starts out as the equivalent to Pyrocitor (itself having roots as Spyro’s flame breath attack) but under the format of a long-range streamer, yet is fundamentally and irreversibly altered into the mid-range pellet pourer Meteor Gun once upgraded, leading to a reversion for Up Your Arsenal’s reintroduction of the weapon. Of course, there’s also accounting for the fact that this system inherently mangles The Tractor Beam puzzles being incredibly rote - with which Mike Stout has expressed his disdain and lack of design practice for over the years - the Glider/Levitator and Electrolyzer/Infiltrator being tools that essentially serve the same purpose without any meaningful step-ups in intricacy, it all compounds into a fuzzy understanding for what’s supposed to be a more overt state of the two game’s progression formula.
It sounds as though I’m someone that now fawns over the prior entry now that I’ve experienced both back-to-back… but strangely enough, I don’t actually feel that way despite its glaring stumbles. It took a bit to really unravel why exactly that was for me, but I found out about a statement Ted Price had said when he and Tim Schafer, while doing a commentary for the 02 Original, brought up its genre moniker:
When thinking about the two in a broader sense, their scale and execution of a “galaxy-wide adventure” starts to trickle into specific angles - the first game focused more on a sense of each planet funneling and intermingling with each other for the titular duo to solve and wrap up before heading onto the next spot, while this one puts the granularity of linear structure and the vigorous physicality in kinematics and action-packed setpieces in a tighter, rather synaptic network. Basically, it’s not as if GC forgoes the combination of platforming elements, the rigmarole of side paths and objectives bellying optional rewards and goodies, and how they work within the guise of a shooter, it’s more that each of them bridge each other’s gaps to evoke that sense of fulfillment and thrall, especially compared to cases like Sly 2 Band Of Thieves sequestering these styles into specific notches that are called upon when dictated, or Kingdom Hearts II which omits the spatial and vertical awareness of (platforming) obstacles entirely for a solely arena-first protocol. You can see a seed of this in action in Endako, where both paths initially start under corridors and hallway gunfights, either intermixed with or abstaining from lite platforming bits, then capping off with a section that calls those forms into action as another step or the capstone for that mission, and even incorporating more of its influences like how the newly introduced spherical world segments are done.
While the endgame is void of any bite and bark, roughly 90% of the cutscenes still deliver that edge and then some, in what I would argue is a more honed script by way of Oliver Wade (with contributions by John Lally). The lens being more about a major conglomerate strong-arming its way into the life of Bogon’s denizes gives way for more pointed - and more obvious - parodies and witticisms throughout the runtime, a lot of which hit the mark with elegant ease. Fizzwidget being a dopey CEO both ignoramus and dim-witted in his understanding of any scenario and situation the duo involves themselves with is another constant highlight even after the unnecessary Qwark twist comes to light (made even better when you realize his full name is a play-on for Abercrombie & Fitch), and though she tapers off near the end, the bits involving Angela’s full-hearted though mismanaged activism are an interesting facet to try and think about under the effects of a real world op. This also becomes a lot more involved when it comes to affecting each planetary vistas, Barlow being an exemplary piece with its arid palette and deteriorating signs/buildings, now having raiders and frantic critters taking up residence, with its sole civvie being unfrozen and immediately recuperating his sullen expression by simply bartering Ratchet over a gadget then exclaiming “maybe Megacorp’s hiring!” telling an incredibly moving picture about Gadgetron’s failure within this galaxy compared to Solana. It’s just plain funnier too - the scene where Ratchet bemoans having to pay 10k bolts to a computer monitor has lived inside my head for nearly 20 whole years at this point, both because it’s a recurring happening within the real world, and because James Arnold Taylor’s delivery makes it a joy to witness standalone. Ratchet, on that note, is also an interesting case; while I firmly believe the reaction to his initial personality is hyperbolic, I don’t necessarily believe it was the wrong move to make him more staunch and heroic. He’s already had his fill of the glamorous life, and the venture regarding Drek made him a lil more humble, so it’s fitting that he becomes more outgoing while Clank’s out here soaking up and kicking back until he gets back in on the action. Keeping up with the buddy-cop point from before, it’s a lot like how Martin Riggs becomes in Lethal Weapon 2-4, a lot cooler but still willing to get a little nuts when push comes to shove.
Despite carrying noticeable duds, the proponents of the arsenal, as well as the upgrade system they’re connected to, was still something I received major mileage of. Juggernauts such as the explosive and pinpoint reliability of Minirocket/Megarocket Tube and Glove, the impactful spread and crossfire the Plasma Coil/Storm can unleash, the spammy and homing Seeker Gun/HK22, and of course the absolute king known as the (Heavy) Bouncer - which funnily enough was actually a late addition replacement - are joys to mess around with. It was also from understanding that habit of buckling down and earnestly understanding each tool’s functionality that made me give a select few better appreciation now: the Spiderbot Glove allowing infiltration to an idle enemies’ corner then exploding in front of them from a room (or two) over, be it as a whittle or outright defeating without ever taking damage when positioned well, alongside its upgraded form as a Tankbot allowing use of a cannon and turret for further damage, was a great joy to obtain in any chance I could get, especially when you factor in how its usage can trigger the minefields over on Tabora and its explosion radius being able to hit enemies behind certain walls and covers. Totally understand why Ted Price declared it as one of his favorites now!; the Pulse Rifle and Hoverbomb Glove, as well as their upgrades Vaporizer and Tetrabomb Gun respectively, I’ve come to finally understand now that understanding how approaching an encounter as a distant puzzle than an immediate firefight leads to better gains, with the former being a bit of my mainstay for long range approach and harkening to my Blaster fallback cases as a result, and the latter becoming a humorous sneak attack as its utility of being a controlled mechanism allows it to go over walls and other such things for immense advantages. Weapon modding also helps in factoring these experimentations in, thanks to a more involved itemization of the Gold Platinum Bolts allowing for applications of Shock streaks, Acid damage increments, and the self-explanatory Lock On to mix-and-match different weapons for personal touches. Granted, this runs the gamut of touching upon those earlier problems - there’s no real need to give the (Heavy) Lancer a Shock mod when others that have it are flat-out better, and having to get the Lock-On for the Meteor Gun to become actually viable is one of those “duct-taping an issue that shouldn’t even be there” cases - but like before, there’s a bit more adds than subtracts that I walk away rather positive as a result. When accounting for the scaling of both enemy and player pools of damage and health output, that incessant need of understanding the surroundings and maximizing/experimenting with your loadout’s kit becomes as crucial, just within a different direction this time around.
Really, that’s the best way I can sum up the match between these two, unless I want to go further and further. In fact, that whole “strafing” thing most people hold in reverence as the sole reason this “plays better”? Yea, I barely used the damn scheme, I was still able to progress just fine by playing largely the same as before, albeit with tighter turning and more fluid jump arcs, even if there’s reasons to critique how strafing affects the overall encounter design now (you’ll certainly have to use it when trying to defeat the Impossible Challenge with incredible ease, for one example). I understand those that prefer its predecessor’s leaner yet meaner approach, but I’d be hardpressed to say the highs of that entry can be able to match the highs this one is able to offer, and if I had to pick between the two, I’d have to give it to this one ever so slightly. Who knows, this could end up becoming a case where my answer changes depending on my current mood. Conversely from their debuts, this is my favorite sophomore step of the First-Party PS2 Platformers. Hopping into Sly 2 last had elucidated the sandbox design’s stark transition from the first game’s brief flirts upon me, contributing to the sequel’s muddied pacing and structure flaws even when including the third game into the mix. While I’m eager and willing to give Jak 2 another chance after some newfound appreciation thanks to a two-year reflection (especially since, ironically enough, there’s occasions of it feeling Ratchet’s proper successor than this does), I feel as though my problems would still linger hard enough to deter my joining as a diehard defender. Going Commando though? It’s just More Ratchet & Clank, for better and worse, which is all I wanted. This is especially something I’ll keep in mind when doing UYA, since I’ve heard several details about its package that compel and repulse me…