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Ratchet & Clank franchise
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 The original logo for the Ratchet & Clank series, used from 2002 to 2007. |
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| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Developer(s) | Insomniac Games High Impact Games Sanzaru Games |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable |
| First release | Ratchet & Clank November 4, 2002 |
| Latest release | Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time October 27, 2009 |
| Official website | www.ratchetandclank.com |
Ratchet & Clank is a series of 3D platform/shooter video games. The franchise is developed by Insomniac Games for the console games, with the exclusion of Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank, by High Impact Games for the portable titles, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the PlayStation 3 video game systems. The series will only be available on Sony consoles due to a contract signed with Sony in 2002. The game follows the exploits of Ratchet (a bobcat-like creature known as a lombax that is very handy with tools) and Clank (a diminutive sentient robot that befriends Ratchet) as they save the galaxy from several evil forces. The series is noted for the inclusion of many exotic and unique weapons, devices, and planets.
Games
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet & Clank was released on November 4, 2002, in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 2. In the game, Supreme Executive Chairman Drek plans to take pieces from other planets across the Solana Galaxy and create one new planet for his people, the Blarg, whose planet has become polluted and uninhabitable. Aside from the two protagonists, the game also introduces Captain Qwark, who appears in the following games. The game introduced many of the features, such as the ability to purchase items, weapons and unlocking gadgets as the game progresses.These have become a staple of the series in following games. The first in this series does not feature the upgrade system of experience earned for enemies killed but instead the player may purchase stronger gold versions of select weapons using a combination of hidden Gold Bolt items, titanium bolts and regular bolts.
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (known as Ratchet & Clank: Locked & Loaded in Europe, Australia and New Zealand) was released on November 11, 2003 in North America for the PlayStation 2. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando was the first Western game to be bundled in with the PlayStation 2 hardware in Japan, but there were a few changes made to make it more popular. Ratchet's eyes are more of an anime style, and he was given large eyebrows. This game uses the 'leveling' system that appears in every other game. Rather than collecting gold bolts to upgrade weapons to more powerful, Gold Varieties, Weapons have nanobot technology that, after gaining enough experience, causes them to evolve into a more powerful form with new abilities. These nanobots also apply to Ratchet, and his health will increase once his own personal experience rises high enough. Going Commando also introduced regular strafing to gameplay, whereas Ratchet could only strafe with the thruster pack, and he would only hover in the first game. The game takes place in a different setting than the first installment, this time in the Bogon Galaxy. In Going Commando Ratchet competes in hoverbike races and engages in spaceship battles. The story in this chapter has Megacorp boss, Abercrombie Fizzwidget, hire Ratchet and Clank to retrieve the "protopet", a new invention stolen by a masked thief. The duo retrieve the protopet and confront the thief, but "he" turns out to be a female, Angela, who helps them investigate the protopet's true origins. They find out Abercrombie Fizzwidget is Captain Qwark in disguise and he created the protopet to spread disaster across the galaxy. He plans to frame Ratchet, Clank and Angela, and then destroy the original protopet to restore his reputation as a hero. Qwark then films himself attempting to "cure" the original protopet using a device made by Angela. The device backfires, and turns the protopet into a huge mutant monster that the duo will have to defeat as a final boss.
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (released as Ratchet & Clank 3 in some PAL regions) was released on November 2, 2004 in North America for the PlayStation 2. Up Your Arsenal improves on Going Commando by adding more weapons and mods, and the upgrade system was modified so that weapons upgraded four times through their first play-through, then on the 'challenge mode', players could purchase an upgraded version of the level 5 weapon (for a very large sum of bolts). They can further upgrade up to 2 more times, making the max level 8. The weapons in this game inspire more imagination for the player providing many ways to obliterate enemies. Ratchet and Clank take on Dr. Nefarious in his plan to turn all of the Solana Galaxy population into robots. With the help of Qwark and his Q-Force, they battle against the forces of Dr. Nefarious. The epilogue shows Nefarious and his butler, Lawrence riding on a space asteroid as waiting for a chance to escape. Little do they know, it's going to come quicker than you think as we find out in Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty. Up Your Arsenal is also the first game in the series to offer online competitive multiplayer.
Ratchet: Deadlocked
Ratchet: Deadlocked (titled Ratchet: Gladiator in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand) was released on October 25, 2005 in North America for the PlayStation 2. Deadlocked deviates from the previous installments of the series by reducing the platforming and puzzle elements and focusing on the combat aspects and reducing Clank to a non-playable side character (excluding the "Alpha Clank" skin). Also, cheats became less comedic and more cinematic, including weather and color options. In Deadlocked, Ratchet, Clank and Al are captured and forced to compete in an intense, murderous, underground sport called Dreadzone, run by the media mogul Gleeman Vox. For the first time in the series, Clank is not a playable character nor accompanies Ratchet on any of the levels. However, a playable skin named "Alpha-Clank" is available for use as a skin in the "Co-Op" and "Multiplayer" modes of the game. Ratchet earns a nemesis in the form of Dreadzone champion Ace Hardlight, who has embraced killing other heroes as a way of life. Deadlocked supports online play and a cooperative mode.
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is available for both the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The development was performed by High Impact Games, composed, partially, of former Insomniac Games employees. While on a much needed vacation, Ratchet and Clank's rest and relaxation time is suddenly cut short as they soon find themselves lured into a mysterious quest. Following the trail of a kidnapped girl named Luna, Ratchet and Clank rediscover a forgotten race of genius inventors known as the Technomites. Luna turns out to trick Ratchet later on in the game. In this game, Ratchet and Clank use a whole new variety of weapons that may seem familiar to those who have played the series before. As in previous games, the R.Y.N.O. is a weapon available for purchase at a high price. The skill points and weapon upgrading systems also make their return. A new feature is optional weapon upgrades that can be purchased from Slim Cognito, a vendor from Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal. These modifications give the weapons additional features, such as lock-on mods, additional fire power and extra abilities. The armor system is also a new feature. There are seven types of armor available, all of which are found in different pieces (helmet, torso, gloves, and boots) on different planets. Once all of a set of armor is found and they are equipped, it gives the player special abilities such as upgraded wrench attacks. All different kinds of armors can be combined for special abilities and additional protection. In the end they find the ruler of the technomites, named Otto Destruct, and the fight ends with Otto losing.
Secret Agent Clank
Announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, Secret Agent Clank was developed by High Impact Games, the same company who made the PlayStation Portable game, Size Matters. It is available for the PlayStation Portable and was released on June 17, 2008. This game is also availible for the playstation 2. The game takes place between the events of Size Matters and Tools of Destruction and focuses more on Clank as the playable character, due to Ratchet being wrongfully imprisoned and needs rescuing by Clank in his super spy motif suggested from previous games. While Clank can use martial arts action and high-tech, cleverly-disguised weapons to defend himself, there is the need to use stealth at times to progress in the game.[1]
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (released as Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction in most PAL regions) was developed by Insomniac Games, and was released on October 23, 2007 for the PlayStation 3. In this installment, the crown prince of the Cragmites known as Emperor Tachyon is after Ratchet, who is the last Lombax in the universe. The duo escape to the Polaris Galaxy, where they discover the Lombaxes have escaped to another dimension using a device called the "Dimensionator". They soon find the device. Qwark (who has been working for Tachyon but secretly helping Ratchet and Clank) shows up and tries to destroy the dimensionator but fails and it ends up in the hands of Tachyon. Tachyon uses the device to open a wormhole to the dimension the Lombaxes now occupy to try and tempt Ratchet to join them. Despite this temptation, Ratchet and Clank continue to fight Tachyon and the dimensionator is damaged resulting in Tachyon falling into a black hole. Ratchet and Clank escape but the dimensionator is left unrepairable.
This game also introduces a Pirate theme, which would lead onto the 'Quest for Booty' sidegame. it also makes use of the ever-popular Boss system, in which major waypoints in the game are marked by the presence of a particularly difficult and wise-cracking enemy.
Through the game Clank encounters a mysterious race called the Zoni that only appear to him that provide him with various assistance through the game only to abduct him during the ending cutscene.
Tools of Destruction has a completely new set of weapons which can be upgraded both by using them to increase their level and by purchasing upgrades using the appropriately named raritanium, another, rarer, form of currency in the R&C universe.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty is a short game developed by Insomniac Games and was released on August 21, 2008 for the Playstation 3 PlayStation Network.[2]. In Europe and Asia it was later also released on Blu-Ray.
Taking place where Tools of Destruction left off, the game focuses on Ratchet and Talwyn's (who helped Ratchet and Clank in the search for the Dimensionator) search for Clank. After a number of encounters with the pirates they finally manage to activate a device called the Obsidian Eye that allows communication with the Zoni. Unfortunately the oversized microscope can not be activated without a re-usable black hole frozen in furion crystal or shortly named the Fulcrum Star. Ratchet later activates the Obsidian Eye, and learns Clank's fate: the Zoni have him in another galaxy, where he is malfunctioning. The Zoni reveal that they have hired a doctor to repair Clank, Doctor Nefarious, the villain of Up Your Arsenal. Ratchet sets off to help Clank, and the story ends with Rusty Pete narrating to the head of Slag, which survived the destruction of Darkwater (from the previous game).
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
At the end of the credits for Quest for Booty, a message reading: "The Quest Continues Fall 2009" is shown. This indicated the planned release date for the next installment of the series. Insomniac has stated that Dr. Nefarious will return as an antagonist (primary or otherwise), and that they would like to go into more depth about what happened to the Lombaxes and Max Apogee. In A Crack in Time, Ratchet finds another Lombax Azimuth, who is his father's best friend. It was then told that Ratchet's Father's name was Kaden and that he very much resembles Ratchet. Together they team up to find Clank. Clank, in the meantime, has discovered a great secret about his destiny as Keeper of the Great Clock and his father, Orvus. While searching for clank Adzimuth reveals that he has a way to retrieve the Lombaxes without building another Demensinator, he also reveals that he is not with the Lombaxes because he is the one that allowed Tachyon access to the technology that defeated the Lombaxes. Then takes the blame for Tachyon killing Ratchet's parents. Later on Azimuth and Ratchet find another Obsidian eye which Ratchet uses to speak to Clank. Clank reveals to Ratchet that the creator of the great clock is Orvus and that he is also Clank's Father. Clank asks that Ratchet go to Zanifar and confront Doctor Nefarious to save Orvus, But in order to do so he must travel back in time by 2 years which is made possible by the great clock's junior caretaker Sigmund by him creating a time rift for Ratchet to travel through. Shortly after Ratchet infiltrates Naferious's base to find Naferious about to kill Orvus. Orvus's last few words were "time is a gift and not to be tampered with," and that Clank is the only one who will be able to turn back time. This convinces Ratchet that he and Azimuth can not use the clock to change what happened to the Lombaxes. Later on after defeating Nefarious and having his ship (with his Malfunctioning body on board) smash into his space station and blow up, Azimuth saves Ratchet and takes him to The Great Clock. After Ratchet and the general arrive, Ratchet reveals to Azimuth that he will not use the clock which forces Azimuth to attack Ratchet and leads into the Final Boss battle against Azimuth.
This game was released on Tuesday,October 27th,2009.
Setting
The universe of Ratchet and Clank's takes place in a science fiction setting, where there are many inhabited planets and the normal rules of relativity do not apply. Numerous biological and robotic species populate these worlds, some of which range from highly developed metropolises to those filled with primordial ooze.
Lombaxes
A lombax is a fictional species from the series. Lombaxes appear similar to bipedal anthropomorphic cats with a tail similar to that of a lion. Unlike most other organic species in the games' universe which have two fingers and thumb on each hand, lombaxes possess four fingers and a thumb. The species has an instinctive affinity towards gadgetry and machines. In A Crack in Time a female reporter on space radio claims that female lombaxes don't have tails and comfirms Angela Cross to be a Lombax who has been missing for 3 years. Ratchet and Angela Cross are the last known lombaxes in Ratchet's universe after A Crack in Time, the others having fled to another dimension and Alister Azimuth died trying to save the universe. Lombaxes originated from the planet Fastoon.
Characters
The main characters in the series are Ratchet, a lombax mechanic presently residing on the Apogee Space Station, from the planet Veldin, and his robot sidekick Clank, who was originally from a robotic line designed for causing destruction but accompanies Ratchet due to the robot line's assembly computer altering him for purposes of good. The player controls Ratchet for a majority of each game, though certain missions will require the player to directly control Clank. Otherwise, Clank sits on Ratchet's back (in a backpack-like fashion) and is used to provide useful jumping, hovering, and diving abilities through various upgrades. These upgrades are given over the course of the first game, but Clank retains them through the later ones. Throughout the series, the duo often encounter Captain Qwark, an ego-driven, phony superhero that may help or hinder Ratchet and Clank's missions somehow. And also, there's the primary antagonist of the series, Dr. Nefarious, will have revenge against Ratchet and Clank. The plumber also follows the series, and is introduced from the first game helping ratchet obtain a space craft. The plumber shows up when you least expect to give you advice and gadgets. In the latest game and last game of the trilogy he shows up in clanks memory banks.
Gameplay
The Ratchet and Clank games feature a mix of platforming and action gameplay elements presented in the third-person perspective, focused on the use of unique and unusual weapons and gadgets that Ratchet gains over the course of each game. Ratchet starts each game with his versatile Omniwrench for melee attacks, but new weapons are available by completing missions or buying them through a vendor. Most weapons have a limited amount of ammunition, requiring the player to use weapons effectively to avoid running out of fire power. Ammunition can be restocked from vendors or by breaking crates scattered about the levels. In most later games, weapons can be upgraded through both repeated use of the weapon and by purchasing weapon modifications. The weapons in each game can range from standard weapon archetypes such as machine guns or sniper rifles to unique weapons such as transformation guns and decoy launchers. Typically the weapon set is a mixture of new weapons for that game and weapons returning from a previous title. In the case of Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal the weapons returning from the previous game can either be purchased or the save file from the previous game can be used to obtain them for free.
In addition to weapons, Ratchet gains many gadgets which have varying uses. Some gadgets are necessary to travel about some worlds, such as grind boots that allow Ratchet to grind on rails, or a swingshot (portable, reuseable grappling hook) that allows him to grapple a target and swing across gaps. Other gadgets can be used in combat as a means to distract foes. Other gadgets are necessary to collect in order to unlock certain doors and thus continue on missions; in these cases, the player typically must solve a puzzle minigame in order to successfully use the gadget and unlock the door.
Each game is broken out as a series of missions that take place on numerous planets across the galaxy. While most missions must be completed in a certain order to progress the main story, other missions are optional but can lead to useful rewards. Once the player has completed a mission on a planet, they can typically return to any previous planet they have visited to attempt missions they could not complete before. In addition to missions based on the platforming and weapon elements, missions may include minigames such as various races and arena combat. Typically, one or two of these minigames must be performed as part of the main story, but further optional challenges can be done to earn greater rewards, typically in the form of "bolts", the unit of currency used throughout the game. There are also missions that focus on Clank controlling a set of robots using a simplistic set of commands to travel through areas that Ratchet cannot.
In addition to the main gameplay missions, the player can attempt to find special large bolts that are typically hidden or difficult to get to that can be used to upgrade or buy powerful weapons. There are also skill points spread throughout the game, which require the player to complete some unknown task guided only by the name of the skill point. For example, a skill point may be rewarded by completing a mission using only the Omniwrench. Skill points are used to unlock extra features such as concept artwork or additional outfits for Ratchet. Each game (excluding Quest for Booty) also presents a special "Challenge mode" available after the player has completed the main story; in this mode, the player runs through the story missions again facing more difficult enemies, but has the ability to further increase the strength of the weapons.
Manga
A manga of Ratchet and Clank named Ratchet & Clank: Bang Bang Bang! Critical Danger of the Galaxy Legend (ラチェット＆クランク - ガガガ！銀河のがけっぷち伝説 Ratchet & Clank - Gagaga! Ginga no Gakeppuchi Densetsu) was serialized starting on February 2004 in the bi-monthly edition of the Japanese magazine, CoroCoro Comic. It is drawn by Shinbo Nomura, and has finished in the February 2008 edition of the magazine.
The first volume containing the first 12 chapters was released on November 28, 2005. As of recently, a collection set was announced. A release date for when the set is to be released has yet to be determined. As of December 2009, the manga is still only available in Japan.
DC Direct will be creating a line of action figures based on the game series.[3]
Miscellaneous media
- Jak II
- Ratchet and Clank appear on some of the walls in Haven City.
- Jak 3
- Ratchet, Clank and the Tyhrranoids appear as targets in a secret gun course.
- Ape Escape 3
- In the Japanese and European versions of the game if the password "RATCH" or "ginganoraihousha" (depending on the version) is typed in, a monkey dressed up as Ratchet called "Ape Ratchet" will appear in the TV Space Station level in the secret room.
- Hot Shots Golf Fore!
- Ratchet and Clank appear as additional characters.
- Jak X: Combat Racing
- Ratchet appears as a secret racer. Clank is available as an antenna the player can add to cars when customizing them.
- Sly 2: Band of Thieves
- Ratchet and Clank appear on a poster on one of the walls.
- Daxter
- Ratchet and Clank masks can be worn throughout the game once found.
- Resistance: Fall of Man
- Clank, along with Ratchet's Omniwrench and Gravity boots, appear as unlockable bangles for soldiers to use in online multiplayer.
- "Going Commando" is the name of a medal received after a player has scored 100 node or flag recaptures.
- "Up Your Arsenal" is the name of a medal received after a player has 100 kills with each weapon in online multiplayer.
- A Clank backpack is awarded for achieving the required number of skill points.
- Resistance 2
- An Omniwrench is awarded for reaching level 28 in competitive multiplayer.
- A Clank backpack is awarded for reaching level 29 in competitive multiplayer.
- A Dimensionator is awarded for reaching level 30 in competitive multiplayer.
- "Tools of Destruction" is the name of a medal received after a player has 100 kills with each weapon in competitive multiplayer.
- Paul Blart: Mall Cop
- A poster of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is used as a display in a video game store.
See also
References
- ^ Haynes, Jeff (2007-09-19). "TGS 2007: Secret Agent Clank First Look". IGN. http://psp.ign.com/articles/821/821037p1.html. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
- ^ IGN: Quest for Booty
- ^ Nelson, Randy (2009-03-20). "DC Direct prepping Ratchet & Clank action figures". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/19/dc-direct-prepping-ratchet-and-clank-action-figures/. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
External links
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