Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Does a little tweaking go a long way, or are Ratchet and Clank doomed to be yesterday?s news?

If this was the first Ratchet & Clank game, it would probably be lauded as a masterpiece, a striking piece o? platforming (but not really) perfection. Does the existence of another, really similar game (also called Ratchet & Clank?go figure) detract from this sequel?s successes?

Copy Machine?
Superficially, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando looks a hell of a lot like Ratchet & Clank a year ago, back when the duo wasn?t necessarily goin? so commando. The graphics engine still produces pure prettiness (albeit slightly more efficiently), the game physics still work identically, the missions still follow the same format?and most importantly, you?re still a cat (maybe) strapped to a robot with a heap-load of crazy-cool weapons to wield in clever ways.

Cat Guts
What actually makes Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando better than the first is very subtle?a collection of balance tweaks and design nudges rather than overt changes. Where it succeeds the most is in correcting the pacing?the original R&C was a ?second-half? adventure, the kind of game that didn?t really show its true colors until about halfway through. This R&C spreads its wings much sooner, giving you that awesome ?James Bond? feeling by the end of the second mission rather than the ninth. New weapons are earned at a more even keel, and the smart shooting scenarios force you to abandon your wrench and learn the Ways of the Weapon pretty much by the end of the first level. The game?s much-touted RPG system is really nothing more than a very cleverly disguised difficulty balancer, a nifty way to give gamers who suck a chance while making sure veterans don?t feel overqualified.

Even the way it handles mini-games is tweaked?it gives you an easy ?space-shooting mission? (or whatever) that you have to get through to progress, but makes subsequent ?space-shooting? challenges optional?meaning you?ll never be annoyed by that too-hard tone-breaking hoverbike race unless you really want to be. The dual demons of Frustration and Annoyance have been systematically targeted and destroyed by the Insomniac play-balance machine.

Clak & Ratster
Despite the perhaps too-striking similarities to its predecessor, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando is still a great damn game, endlessly playable even if you?ve played the original endlessly. Between this and Jak II, Sony?s served up two very different slices of prime platforming (but not really) goodness this season. Choose cat and robot. Choose elf and weasel. Either way, you?ve chosen wisely.

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