Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
- July 12, 2004 13:10 PM PST
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Will Master Chief need to step aside for Up Your Arsenal's own multiplayer extravaganza?
In many cases, console games that don't exclusively focus on online play have multiplayer components that serve as little hors d'oeuvre -- dainty and satisfying for the first few tries, but has you quickly yearning for the entree. Such is not the case with Insomniac Games' upcoming Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal, with separate teams dedicated to both the single-player and online modes in order to provide a full serving on both ends.The single player continues from where Ratchet and Clank 2 left off, with your vertically challenged robotic sidekick getting all the limelight following the defeat of the Protopets. Clank's the star of a kitschy James Bondian action show, while Ratchet plays the side part of an ignoble butler. However, Ratchet quickly finds himself center stage once again as Dr. Nefarious attacks planet Veldin.
Having contempt for all organic life and referring to them as meatbags ...er, squishies, Dr Nefarious employs a strong but absent-minded race of aliens called thyrranoids, who ironically don't know that they'll ultimately fall prey to the doctor's plans of organic genocide. In response to the attack, the Galactic President sends the duo to planet Florana to find Captain Qwark, the only person to ever defeat Dr. Nefarious. One you convince him to aid you (by beating the cajones out of him, of course), Captain Qwark organizes a ragtag team of heroes to take down the villain called Q Force, consisting of Skidd McMarx, Big Al (Big Al's Robo Shack fame), and Helga. With such a panoply of dysfunctional heroes at your side, you know you're mostly on your own.
True to its name of Up Your ...Arsenal, the latest Ratchet installment features more zany weapons. There's the Plasma whip, a melee weapon; the N60 Stormgun, the machine gun weapon; Shock Blaster, the shotgun; the Infector; a nasty gun that infects enemies with a virus compelling them to kill one another before the virus kills them; and the Rift Inducer, a gun that shoots mini-black holes to send enemies into inter-dimensional oblivion.
Over 14 weapons will be available, each with four levels of upgrades. The upgrades occur as you use the weapon, and noticeably change its characteristics. For example, the Shock Blaster eventually can lock-on to enemies, while the Infector can be upgraded to spread the virus from one enemy to another, and ultimately be potent enough to infect large foes. In addition to your trusty wrench, you also have a laser refractor, which will be used to both solve puzzles and refract enemy laser shots back to them.
The previous Ratchet and Clank had a smudge of RPG elements, and the latest will be no different, with hit points increasing as you progress -- armor and items can be purchased from the black market as well as the starship Phoenix, which will serve as a hub. However, the center focus will still remain on the action -- the game touts 50% more enemies onscreen for more intense battles, and reworked enemy AI. Other elements returning from previous games include zip lines and mini-games. Clank will have some kind of role as a playable character, but Q Force will only serve as accompanying characters.
On the graphical side, the frantic nature of the action shows a more capable game engine at work, with more polygons being pushed than ever before. Overall the feel of the universe is still the same, retaining that cartoon atmosphere and console style level layout.
The biggest surprise was the multiplayer portion, which introduces a completely different type of gameplay from the single-player portion of Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenel, or any of the past games in the series. There will be over 5 weapons consisting more of conventional weapons like automatic rifles, sniper rifles and shotguns, and six maps made exclusively for online. Up to eight players can play over broadband, and the game supports voice chat.
Despite being an early build, the online portion was a blast to play, with the level layouts emphasizing teamwork. Rideable vehicles include a two-person tank, with one person driving and shooting guns while a second person fires the turret, and an airplane with one person flying and shooting and another dropping bombs (you can already imagine people arguing and hissing over who gets to ride what).
Turrets not too dissimilar to Halo can also be manned, enabling players to shoot down buzzing aircraft and unsuspecting passerbys. Strategic areas can be destroyed, forcing players to take alternate routes, and certain areas can be crossed only by grapples. In the version we played, only one mode was available -- a Destroy Enemy Base mode where players need to destroy two defending turrets to enter the base to demolish it. With the potent turrets guarding and enemies constantly spawning at the base, taking it on solo is impossible, forcing players to join together to coordinate attacks.
Split screen multiplayer will be supported as well, with up to four players able to join for a skirmish. Promising smooth gameplay, Insomniac has stated that multiplayer will run at 60 FPS, and split screen at 30 FPS. To accommodate for the harder hardware hit on split screen mode, objects and maps will have slightly simplified graphics, but the drop in quality will likely unnoticeable due to the frantic pace of the game. Even with a robust single player mode, the online portion alone could establish a name for itself.
With online games becoming more popular, Insomniac has begun to ride the wave in full force, not content to slap on online play as a side note. Even with the large multiplayer portion, the single-player mode is touted to offer more gameplay time than Ratchet and Clank 2. With such a hefty variety of modes to choose from, Insomniac not only seeks to up its arsenal, but also to up the ante for all console action games to come.
