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Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (known as Ratchet & Clank 3 in Europe and Japan, and Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal in Australia) is the third installment in the Ratchet & Clank series developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was initially released in November 2004 for the PlayStation 2, and was re-released for PlayStation 3 in June 2012 and PlayStation Vita in July 2014, both individually and as part of the Ratchet & Clank Collection.

The game follows Ratchet and Clank, who return from the Bogon Galaxy to the Solana Galaxy, after hearing it is has come under attack by a mad scientist known as Dr. Nefarious, a robot who wishes to wipe out organic life in favor of a purely robotic civilization with him as the leader. The two must then ally with the Galactic Rangers, teaming up with characters such as Sasha Phyronix, Big Al, Skidd McMarx, and even their former nemesis Captain Qwark, to fight Nefarious' army of robots and tyhrranoids in a war against Nefarious.

Up Your Arsenal is a third-person action-adventure title with elements of shooting, role playing, puzzle solving, and vehicle driving. It is the first in the series to feature both single player and both offline and online multiplayer gameplay, in which the single player game gives the player control of Ratchet and Clank through the story mode in which they travel from planet to planet to stop Dr. Nefarious, while the multiplayer mode allows teams to compete on a map against one another to capture a base, a flag, or rack up enough kills against opponents. Both modes allow the player to collect a wide arsenal of upgradeable weapons, use gadgets to traverse large environments, and drive ground and air vehicles.

Gameplay[]

Overview[]

Find the Mysterious Man gameplay

Ratchet fighting natives on Florana.

Up Your Arsenal is a third-person three-dimensional action game with elements of platforming and shooting, in which the player controls Ratchet, a lombax mechanic, with a broad arsenal of weapons and gadgets, who carries his sidekick Clank as a backpack allowing him to make use of the Heli-Pack and Thruster-Pack. For its control scheme, the player can choose the traditional controls under third person, or lock-strafe controls that play more similarly to a third person shooter. Ratchet's arsenal is now able to upgrade weapons up to four times, has expanded and numerated nanotech, and will sometimes operate the turboslider and the hovership.

Ratchet and Clank travel between planets in Solana on their ship, the Star Explorer, and must complete a set of objectives to obtain co-ordinates to the next planet to progress the story. Unlike previous entries, not every planet necessarily has a cutscene when its co-ordinates are obtained. Objectives typically require the player to either complete a linear section of a planet, defeating enemies and traversing obstacles along the way, or to participate in a challenge that may involve a minigame.

Assault on Kavu Island gameplay

Ratchet fighting alongside the galactic rangers.

There are several challenges outside of typical gameplay, which are both required to progress through the story, and provide bolts for completion, used to unlock more weapons. A recurring challenge is in the form of Galactic Ranger missions, in which Ratchet is transported to a map and must complete an objective, often defeating certain targets or capturing a base, with the help of the Galactic Rangers and sometimes by piloting a vehicle or gun turret.

Annihilation Nation arena gameplay 2

Ratchet fighting a boss in the arena.

There are also the Annihilation Nation tournaments, which either require players to battle enemies in a gladiator arena under varying conditions, or reach the end of a linear gauntlet filled with traps along the way. On Aquatos, the player can search for sewer crystals, by traversing the sewer and opening the crystals and defeating amoeboids. Finally, Qwark vid-comics, in which the player completes a platforming minigame as Captain Qwark, can be completed in which bolts and titanium bolts are rewarded based on the time and number of tokens collected.

After completing the main storyline, the player can choose to warp back to before defeating the final boss to complete remaining side objectives, or to proceed to challenge mode. Challenge mode allows the player to keep their weapons with the option to purchase Mega versions of their weapons, which are then upgradeable twice with use to Giga and Omega weapons, and wield them against much more powerful versions of enemies. As these weapons are much more expensive, challenge mode has a bolt multiplier for enemies that were destroyed before Ratchet takes a hit.

Equipment[]

Ratchet begins with ten units of nanotech, representing his health. This can be increased by earning experience points from defeating enemies, up to 100. In challenge mode, it can be further increased to 200. Ratchet can also purchase armor from an armor vendor to reduce the damage taken from enemies. Additionally, Ratchet can acquire the Nano-pak, which allows him to store extra nanotech that will restore his health once it is low.

Plasma Whip from UYA gameplay

Ratchet using the new Plasma Whip.

The Shock Blaster and Nitro Launcher are obtained for free on Veldin, the first planet, while the rest of the weapons can be purchased from vendors. Every weapon in the game can be upgraded up to V5 with use, and in challenge mode, the V6 Mega version of each weapon can be purchased allowing them to be further upgraded to V8. Each upgrade coincides with an increase in damage, and sometimes more ammo capacity and other extra functionalities. Some of the latter resemble weapon modifications from Going Commando like the shock or acid mod. The V5 upgrade, as with Going Commando, will grant the weapon improved functionality, damage, and also change its name. In multiplayer, Ratchet features a different arsenal, and each weapon can be upgraded once, and obtained at points on the map rather than purchased.

Explore the Docks gameplay 1

Ratchet using the Hypershot.

Up Your Arsenal features ten gadgets in single player, of which five are original. The Heli-Pack, Hydro-Pack and Thruster-Pack are automatically owned by Clank, and the Charge Boots and Gravity Boots can be obtained. The Hypershot is a new gadget but combines the functionality of the Swingshot and Dynamo from Going Commando, allowing Ratchet to swing across long distances and create platforms as necessary. The Tyhrra-Guise is also a new gadget, but functions very similarly to the Hologuise from Ratchet & Clank. In multiplayer, only the Swingshot (which uses the Hypershot's aesthetic, rather than that from Going Commando), Charge Boots and Gravity Boots can be obtained.

Up Your Arsenal features weapons both original and returning from previous games, in both its single player and multiplayer modes, though with different arsenals for either mode. In single player, Ratchet can obtain 22 weapons, of which five return from Going Commando (and can be purchased on Aquatos from Slim Cognito or earned for free if the player has a Going Commando save file once available) and two return from Ratchet & Clank (as upgradable and more powerful versions obtained from Gadgetron vendors). A 10% discount for all Gadgetron purchased weapons and upgrades can be obtained if you have a save file with you as an employee in the original game.

Clank gameplay[]

Find Nefarious' Office gameplay 2

Clank in a mission alongside Skrunch.

On three occasions, the player controls Clank, who has a more limited moveset and only four nanotech units. Clank can command Gadge-Bots to follow him, wait, attack enemies, or enter into terminals to solve various puzzles. Clank can also direct Skrunch with his Banana-Guided Autonomous Monkey Device, which can be used to fire bananas that lure Skrunch to them, which is useful for distracting enemies or directing him to activate switches.

On one occasion, Clank transforms into the larger Giant Clank, who can fire missiles and throw bombs at enemies. This is only featured in a single boss battle.

Vehicles and minigames[]

Destroy the plasma cannon turrets gameplay

Ratchet driving the Turboslider, with Skrunch operating the turret.

In multiplayer and during several missions in the single player campaign, the player can operate vehicles, namely the turboslider and the hovership. The turboslider is a fast, four wheeled, buggy-like vehicle which can shoot in front of it, though on Tyhrranosis its back gun is instead operated by Skrunch and fires at nearby enemies automatically. The hovership can fly around the map and fire at enemies.

Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder gameplay 1

Qwark in the Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder vid-comic.

Furthermore, in single player, there are other minigames that the player must complete to advance the story. The Qwark vid-comics are two dimensional side scrolling games in which the player plays as Qwark, who can punch enemies, jump short distances, and wield a weapon collected during the level. They must collect tokens, including larger tokens worth ten, and collecting all tokens can award the player a titanium bolt. Hidden throughout the levels are health boosts that can increase Qwark's health by a point. The levels are also timed, and completing them within a certain time awards a skill point.

Another minigame is played through the Hacker gadget. In order to unlock certain doors, Ratchet must complete a Hacker minigame, in which Ratchet must collect green code snippets using a tractor beam while destroying red defense programs to prevent them from reaching the edge. Indestructible blue defenses can also cover up both green snippets or red defense programs.

Pirate vs. Ninja was a minigame that could be accessed only by visiting the Insomniac Museum and entering the password _MEGHAN_ on the Qwark vid-comic.

Multiplayer[]

Deathmatch from UYA gameplay

Multiplayer deathmatch gameplay.

Newly introduced is both online (up to eight players) and offline (up to four player split screen) multiplayer. Multiplayer is played on one of ten maps based on planets in the single player, on which matches of one of three modes are played by players who can each use a skin based on characters from the Ratchet & Clank universe.

The modes were Siege in which a team must destroy the enemy base, Capture the Flag in which a team must hold the flag for a long enough period of time, or Deathmatch in which teams must score enough kills against the enemy team to win. Multiplayer gives players access to an arsenal of weapons from Up Your Arsenal and previous games, as well as the same vehicles.

Synopsis[]

Setting[]

Up Your Arsenal is set within the Solana Galaxy, similar to Ratchet & Clank. Here, Ratchet and Clank fights a losing war against an army of tyhrranoids commanded by Dr. Nefarious. Several planets from Ratchet & Clank are revisited as battlefields between the tyhrranoids and the Galactic Rangers, such as Rilgar, Aridia, and Kerwan, although they do not appear to be war torn. Many of the other planets visited are completely new, such as Florana, Daxx, and Zeldrin, and the varying locations include urban planets, barren wastelands, space stations, and even the underwater base of Aquatos. Much of the game takes place aboard the Starship Phoenix, the base of operations often returned to receive new missions and the only place Ratchet can play VR training or Qwark vid-comics.

More of the culture and politics of Solana are more explored than in Up Your Arsenal than in Ratchet & Clank, and while Gadgetron is still the main supplier of weapons and gadgets, they appear less in the game. Solana is headed by the galactic President Phyronix, who resides in the galactic capital of Marcadia and whom the Galactic Rangers, led by his daughter Sasha Phyronix, directly answer to. The Rangers are at war with Dr. Nefarious, a robotic scientist and long-time threat within the galaxy, who created the Tyhrranoid threat to serve as his army, and who aims to replace the population with robots. The war has some influence on galactic culture, seen when popular musician Courtney Gears released a music video that served as propaganda for Nefarious' cause.

Plot[]

Intro movie 6

Darla Gratch covering the tyhrranoid invasion.

Some time following the events of Going Commando, Ratchet and Clank spent some in the latter's Megapolis apartment, playing a game of Galactic Chess, arguing about the rules, shortly before Clank turned on their Holo-Vision. While channel-surfing past Clank's new show "Secret Agent Clank" (in which Ratchet was portrayed as a clumsy chauffeur), Ratchet found a news report from Darla Gratch in the Solana Galaxy, revealing that his home planet, Veldin, was under attack by an army of tyhrranoids under the command of a evil, robotic scientist by the name of Dr. Nefarious. The duo immediately raced to Veldin, where they met the Galactic Rangers, who believed Ratchet to be their new sergeant. He was then asked to lead the defense force through the planet.

Find the Mysterious Man cutscene

Qwark as the Florana Tree Beast.

After clearing the entire tyhrranoid threat, Ratchet was contacted by the Galactic President, who explained that Nefarious was the mastermind behind the attack. He then asked Ratchet and Clank to search for the only man to survive a fight with Nefarious, who was believed to be living on Florana. They viewed an episode of Nature's Mysteries, in which this mysterious person was described as the "Florana Tree Beast". The duo then flew to Florana, landing in Nabla Forest. Upon encountering the Tree Beast, they were forced walk the Path of Death. Upon making it through, they soon found out that the Tree Beast was Captain Qwark, who somehow lost his memory and sanity, presumably while trying to save the plant life on Florana or while working as a Megacorp test dummy, and now believed himself to be a monkey. Qwark and his cyclops-monkey companion, Skrunch, were led to the ship. Sasha Phyronix, captain of the Starship Phoenix, was ordered by the President to assist Ratchet and Clank, and she gave them the coordinates to the ship.

Take Qwark to His Cage cutscene

Sasha introduces the Phoenix.

The duo arrived at the starship, and Ratchet was astonished by the nice surroundings. They then brought Qwark to his new temporary living quarters, which was a cage with a tree. They then met up with Sasha at the front of the ship, where they found her listening to a distress transmission from the President (revealed to be her father) on the Galactic Capital of Marcadia. Nefarious interrupted this transmission and declared war on all organic life forms whom he called "Squishies", with fake sign language (possibly the Solana Galaxy's version) performed by Lawrence. Ratchet and Clank rushed to the capital city to assist the Galactic Rangers in defending the President.

Return to the Starship Phoenix cutscene

The Q-Force assembled.

Once they cleared the Capitol Building's courtyard of all threats, the two were then ordered to venture through the laser defense facility to help restore power to the defense grid. When they reached end of the facility, they encountered their old friend Big Al "fixing" the defense grid. He was actually playing a Qwark vid-comic, which they requested for it could help restore Qwark's memory. Ratchet and Clank returned to the Phoenix, where he played this vid-comic on the VG-9000 game system. The viewing of this vid-comic sparked Qwark's memory, flashing many images of his life from previous events. While Qwark adjusted himself to his new surroundings and finished fully regaining his senses, Sasha showed Ratchet and Clank an advertisement for Annihilation Nation, where Courtney Gears was presenting the grand prize of a Tyhrra-Guise, a gadget that transforms the user into a tyhrranoid. They were asked to participate in an attempt to win it. After winning the device and returning to the Phoenix, they learned that the President had placed Qwark in direct command of the war and that Qwark had created the Q-Force in their absence.

The Q-Force consisted of Big Al (recruited because of his "mastery of electronics"), Clank, Helga von Streissenburgen (recruited because of her "sensual powers of seduction"), Qwark, Ratchet, Sasha, Skid McMarx (recruited because of his "nerves of steel"), and Skrunch. The team was assigned a new mission, which was to infiltrate Nefarious's underwater base on Aquatos and acquire as much possible information on the villain's plans. After fighting their way through the sewers with Skid, Ratchet and Clank had to split up and meet on the surface. Clank ventured through the ventilation shaft with Skrunch, and Ratchet made use of his Tyhrra-Guise to get past the small tyhrranoids.

Destroy the Momma Tyhrranoid cutscene

Qwark claims credit for the defeat of the Momma Tyhrranoid.

They met up in a room, where they discovered that Nefarious was a huge "Secret Agent Clank" fan. Clank then found an encrypted star map for the tyhrranoids' home planet Tyhrranosis. Nefarious was shocked and outraged to hear that his base had been infiltrated and that Qwark was behind it. After Al decrypted the star map, Qwark drew up another plan to invade it. After Ratchet, Clank, and Scrunch destroyed the planetary defenses, they infiltrated the control room of the tyhrranoid base to destroy it, but also had to battle against the Momma Tyhrranoid. Ratchet and Clank then returned to the Phoenix to share with his team the experience of the battle, shortly before Nefarious sent the Q-Force a transmission that Al soon traced to planet Daxx.

When the duo landed on Daxx, they explored the weapons facility, eventually coming across classified plans of a new superweapon capable of wiping out all organic life, known as the Biobliterator. Clank also found that a transport ship had just left for the Obani moon system the day before. They duo also found a music video by Courtney Gears showing her support for Nefarious. Ratchet and Clank explored the first two moons, and found Skid on the second. Unfortunately, the third moon was protected by a "Omega Class Disintegration Shield." Ratchet then received an urgent call from the Galactic Rangers begging for assistance against a tyhrranoid invasion in Blackwater City. They were then forced to leave and assist them, but Skid decided to stay and attempt to break the shield with a crowbar. Ratchet and Clank arrived on planet Rilgar and were able to help the Galactic Rangers defend their base.

Film a Secret Agent Clank Episode cutscene 1

The Director fires Ratchet.

The pair soon discovered that they needed to find Courtney Gears. Ratchet and Clank returned to Annihilation Nation to, once again, receive a prize from Courtney. They were able to successful in the challenge and met Ms. Gears. Clank then asked her about Dr. Nefarious' whereabouts. The two worked out a deal, in which she would tell him if he got her a part on Secret Agent Clank. Clank told her to meet him at Holostar Studios, where they shot the scenes for the film. During the shooting, Ratchet, playing as Clank's chauffeur, was fired for accidentally pressing the ejector seat and was forced to wait at Clank's trailer.

Film a Secret Agent Clank Episode cutscene 4

Clank with Nefarious and Courtney Gears.

When the filming ended, Clank asked Courtney for information on Nefarious, but Gears incapacitated him and brought him directly into the Nefarious' office. He gave Clank two choices: to either join him in killing all squishies and ruling a galaxy full of robots, or to die with the "Squishies" and become a traitor to his own kind. Back at Clank's trailer, Ratchet was ambushed by the tyhrranoids. After fighting his way back to the ship alone, he found Clank. When Ratchet asked him about the whereabouts of Nefarious, Clank said he found that Nefarious was on a star cruiser called the Leviathan, although when Ratchet entered his ship, Clank's eyes turned red.

Beat Courtney Gears cutscene 2

Courtney Gears testing the Biobliterator on Skidd.

The two landed on Obani Draco, the third moon, after Skid revealed that he was able to bring the shield down, but while sharing this information with them, he ended up kidnapped. This moon was revealed to be Courtney's hideout. The two also discovered that the Biobliterator was currently stationed there. They quickly traversed the moon and defeated Gears. Upon finishing her off, they received a transmission from Sasha, who tracked the Leviathan to the Zeldrin Starport. They left behind Skid—who had been transformed into a robot by the Biobliterator—so that the Q-Force could retrieve him later. The two headed for the starport to meet up with Qwark.

Escape the Starship cutscene 1

The Leviathan blowing up, with the Starport in the background.

The three boarded the Leviathan and fought their way through hordes of enemies until they found Nefarious waiting. Nefarious revealed that the Leviathan was placed as part of a trap before he activated the self-destruct system and teleported away. Ratchet and Clank escaped to the Phoenix, but Qwark stayed behind, claiming he saw something important that he could not leave without. Ratchet and Clank flew off just as the Leviathan exploded, still debating whether to leave Qwark behind.

Escape the Starship cutscene 3

Qwark's funeral.

After an impromptu funeral for Qwark on the Phoenix, Ratchet and Clank flew to the city of Metropolis, the next city that the tyhrranoids attacked. During the battle, Nefarious used the Biobliterator to turn helpless citizens and tyhrranoid invaders alike into robots. Ratchet battled his way to a hovering train, where it was revealed that the real Clank had been the prisoner of Dr. Nefarious since the filming of Secret Agent Clank. Clank had been replaced by a clone made by Nefarious named Klunk. After defeating the now enlarged Klunk, Ratchet and Clank were reunited and flew to Zeldrin to investigate the wreckage of the Leviathan, hoping to find what Qwark was looking for.

Find Captain Qwark cutscene

Qwark in hiding.

On Zeldrin, they discovered an encrypted data disc (the master plan) and a recording that revealed that Qwark had escaped when the cruiser went down. Fearing that the team would lose hope, they resolved not to tell them that Qwark was alive until they found out why he had faked his death. After playing a vid-comic that contained possible information as to the whereabouts of Qwark's hideout, they flew to the Thran Asteroid Belt, where they found Qwark himself, who had abandoned his fight against Nefarious in favor of the comfort and safety of his hideout. Ratchet left in disgust, but Clank made one last appeal to Qwark, claiming that he had the chance "to become the hero [Qwark] had always wanted to be."

Get to the bridge cutscene

The Q-Force in hiding.

When they returned to their ship, they received a garbled transmission from Sasha, warning them that the Phoenix was under attack. Ratchet and Clank sped to the Starship and helped the Galactic Rangers regain control of the ship and free the captured Q-Force members. After being rescued, Al told Ratchet that he had finally cracked the encryption on the data disc, which contained a complete copy of Nefarious's battle plans. Ratchet and Clank had to fly to the planet Koros to destroy the Biobliterator before it was unleashed on his home, Veldin.

Defeat Dr

Nefarious and Lawrence escape.

After battling hordes of Nefarious's troops on Koros, Clank used the ion cannon there to destroy the Biobliterator. However, Sasha soon reported that a second Biobliterator was housed at a command center on Mylon, guarded by an entire army of robot tyhrranoids, who expected the duo's presence soon. Ratchet and Clank flew to Mylon, fought through the Command Center, and confronted Nefarious and Lawrence, who began to make their escape. Luckily, a Galactic Ranger dropship arrived for Ratchet and Clank to pursue Nefarious to his launch site.

Defeat Dr

Nefarious begs for mercy.

At the launch site, Ratchet and Clank battled Nefarious. After a short duel, Nefarious fooled Ratchet into a false sense of victory by falling down and begging for mercy. With Ratchet distracted, Nefarious made another escape. The two pursued him through the large fields of enemies that tried to stop them. With the help of the Galactic Rangers the duo managed to catch up to him and defeat him for real. Nefarious and Lawrence then warped into the Biobliterator, which transformed into a giant mech. When the battle seemed lost, Qwark flew in to help fight alongside them. Ratchet and Qwark engaged in aerial combat against Nefarious and the Biobliterator, eventually destroying it. The Biobliterator entered a sixty-second self-destruct mode, forcing Nefarious and Lawrence to teleport into the depths of space on an asteroid.

The ending fades to the premiere of the latest Secret Agent Clank holofilm, where Clank and Skrunch faced off against arch-enemy Maximillian's forces within a snowy world. Following this, Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence were sitting on an isolated asteroid with no chance of escape.

Development[]

Background[]

Up Your Arsenal was the primary focus on Insomniac's team of 115 during development.[1] Several new developers were hired, including a dedicated writer,[2] though this caused them to occasionally fall behind schedule due to lack of training.[3] Multiplayer was developed separately by a small dedicated team,[4] consisting of one designer and four programmers,[2] and a small group of developers were working with the PlayStation 3 hardware alongside development for "I8" (the internal title of what would become Resistance: Fall of Man), developing a physic engine, for which elements such as the realistic whip physics were borrowed and used for enemies (as seen with Helen and many of the Annihilation Nation enemies).[5]

The game was developed and released around the time of Jak 3, though the developers did not consider themselves rivals. When asked in an interview, Ryan Schneider of Insomniac said, "The analogy that I like to use is that at Insomniac we like to look at it as how Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant act when it comes to their professions. We don't really look at it as how we compare to other athletes or other games, we just try to do the best that we can and elevate the sport."[1]

Storytelling[]

Unlike previous games developed by Insomniac, where the majority of the writing was handled by both animators and programmers, a full-time writer, Brad Santos, was hired, allowing him to handle the writing workload so that the story was less rushed. While developers feared he would not keep the series' traditional humor, they later found his script to be the funniest so far. The goal was to mix several creative ideas, including the concept of the Secret Agent Clank show, the Q-Force and the villain planning to turn everyone into robots, into a compelling storyline that was integrated further with the gameplay.[2] Secret Agent Clank was introduced to give Clank more solo time, due to how well received he was as a character.[6]

The use of the Starship Phoenix as a hub world was a grounding point for the story, allowing the team to build character development, and keep the player eager for the next scene.[2] This led to more dialog and action per page of script put on screen, and despite budgeting for 70 minutes of cinematics, the team created 100 minutes worth.[3]

The team created Dr. Nefarious when planning the story for the new game, wanting a new threat for the plot.[7] This led to a story around a war, in which the player aligned with Galactic President Phyronix and the Galactic Rangers, and led to many battlefield missions. The Galactic President, a Cazar, was inspired by Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States,[8] notable both in his voice and jokes about his triangulation and appeasement of everyone, particularly when becoming half robot to appeal after Nefarious' Biobliterator attacks.[9]

Dr. Nefarious and Courtney Gears in particular were popular among developers.[10][11]

Gameplay[]

Up Your Arsenal included widely varied gameplay that the developers felt needed to appeal to a number of genres.[1] Multiplayer, an element Insomniac always saw potential in for Ratchet & Clank,[12] also had a large impact on the game after Sony had requested its inclusion,[4] and impacted the development in several ways, leading to a few sections being cut[4] but also a significant factor in the inclusion of lock strafe mode.[13] The controls were also tweaked to be more similar to those of a third person shooter, a strategic move as platformers were fading in popularity while third person shooters were on the rise.[14]

Compared to previous games, there was a slightly new approach in design of levels, in that each level was designed with a certain set of secrets in mind, as opposed to in previous games in which secrets were not planned and often included in locations not planned to be visited but that testers had entered by accident.[15] Clank missions were not altered too heavily from the previous games, though there was an effort to make them more similar to his fictional Secret Agent Clank persona.[16] In addition to Gadge Bots, the banana gun with Skrunch was included as Gadge Bots alone were not very interactive.

When designing weaponry, the developers wanted to drip feed upgrades to make the gameplay more fun and addicting.[5] There was also a goal to obsolete weapons to encourage players to obtain new ones.[5] For gadgets, the developers were running out of ideas for new ones.[13] The Refractor was an idea inspired by The Legend of Zelda light refraction, and implemented as it was still considered easy to do.[13] Many gadgets changed heavily during development. The Tyhrra-Guise was planned to be a rhythm based game similar to Space Channel 5, though its final appearance was close to the original design.[16]

Battlefield missions, based around the story, were a key new inclusion. The battlefield segments of planets were often managed by totally different developers of the main section of planets,[10] and as enemies could not be scripted as in the previous games for normal levels, could sometimes take weeks.[13]

The Qwark vid-comic levels were based on an idea of a hybrid of 2D sidescrollers and comics were a concept that Insomniac had for a standalone release, though the company was too busy with Ratchet & Clank to start a second team.[2] They were inspired by Mega Man X and the early Metroid games.[17] The first ever level designed was the original version of the space pirate level, which was cut and significantly altered due to difficulty but remained in the Insomniac Museum.[18] The levels saw many other changes throughout, with a boss originally included in the third vid-comic in the caged area that in the final level featured normal bomb dropping enemies,[18] and a whole level cut with its soundtrack being featured in the Museum.[9]

The game developers attempted to bring back much of the side content from Going Commando but using fewer resources. This is why the Aquatos sewer crystal collectibles reuses the Amoeboid and features repeating sewer pipes, as a more lightweight version of the collectible planets in Going Commando.[16] Some side content from Going Commando was planned for Up Your Arsenal but cut due to a lack of resources. It was planned for on-rails space combat similar to the Star Fox series, and it was given an honest effort by the developers, but this did not materialize.[4][18] Additionally, the turboslider was originally planned to be used for racing missions, and a finished track was made for Florana and can be accessed in the Museum, but was cut due to multiplayer, and the turboslider was instead reused for non-linear levels such as Tyhrranosis.[4] The online multiplayer took 13 months to develop, and consisted of a small core team of one designer and four programmers.[2] However, the online lobby had been developed too late, and had to be outsourced to BuzzMonkey who developed it in 60 days.[19] Furthermore, a programmer for multiplayer had been pulled off from the eight month head start to help finish Going Commando.[3]

Insomniac made use of sixteen internal testers, up from five during development of Going Commando. Online multiplayer required eight testers on its own. The project took 1,700 discs burnt, nine play tests, three localized demo discs, an online E3 disc, and finally, alpha, beta and gold localized for seven languages.[2]

Technology[]

Up Your Arsenal was the first time Insomniac used their own internal level editing tool rather than Autodesk Maya, thus reducing dependence on it.[20] As it was being developed simultaneously with the games' development, however, several features were incomplete in the middle of designing levels, and they needed to hire new testers.[20] Maya was still used as the main gameplay editor.[21] As Insomniac had optimized development for the PlayStation 2, planets could be more diverse, vibrant, and larger than before.[22]

The developers targeted a five-second load time, which they aimed to achieve by storing data on specific parts of the DVD to load faster.[23] As the vid-comics featured far less on screen, the developers were able to get away with loading in and rendering much higher resolution textures.[24]

When designing enemies, much more consistent design was used between them and more enemies were reused, particularly the Tyhrranoids. This was to save animation resources.[10]

The shadow volume effects were new for the game, and were used to disintegrate dead enemies and fade out characters while teleporting.[8] The water effects were completely new and based on a displacement technology.[25] However, many effects would have been broken for the PlayStation 3, and needed to be recreated by Idol Minds when working on the Ratchet & Clank Collection port,[23] although the PlayStation 3 did free them to use higher resolution textures and graphics that were previously only possible in the vid-comic sections.[24]

Soundtrack[]

The soundtrack was composed by David Bergeaud. Unlike the first two games, no music changes with different segments in levels were included, as the developers felt the transition was too jarring.[9]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Aggregator Score
GameRankings 91.54% (based on 66 reviews)[26]
Metacritic 91 (based on 65 reviews)[27]
Publication Score
Eurogamer 8/10[28]
Game Informer 10/10
GameSpot 8.7/10[29]
GameSpy 5/5[30]
IGN 9.6/10[31]

Up Your Arsenal received positive reviews from critics. The newly added multiplayer was praised as a welcome addition, and the incremental changes were viewed as a positive refinement of the experience seen in prior installments.[28][29][31] Upon release, IGN noted that readers "MUST buy this immediately".[31]

Reviews noted that many of the weapons fall into "standard" categories, while others were unique.[29][31] GameSpot claimed that the "variety gives you a lot of different ways to take on the opposition", but concluded that "the standard weapons, like the shotgun and machine gun equivalents, are definitely the most useful".[29] IGN praised the Plasma Whip and the Infector in particular, and praised the strategy involved in using weapons, claiming that certain guns "will be damn near ineffective against specific opponents, for example, so you had better be ready to use your brain as well as your trigger finger".[31]

Many reviewers claimed that the game had moved past the platforming roots of the series. GameSpy stated that "Going Commando saw R&C evolve into something of a hardcore action / shooting game, and Up Your Arsenal follows faithfully in its action-packed predecessor's pawprints",[30] while IGN noted that the game had "almost completely moved away from its status as a platformer".[31]

IGN described the missions as "more varied" than past games, giving praise in particular to the Qwark vid-comics, and called the mission variety "phenomenal".[31] Eurogamer also praised the Qwark vid-comics, and claimed that "Insomniac has been careful to intersperse a few well-crafted and thoroughly enjoyable interludes that do the job of breaking the game up without making it feel contrived", as oppposed to "trying to shoehorn multiple genres into the game".[28]

The multiplayer was also well received as a great addition to the game. GameSpot described it as "definitely fun and brings some additional variety to the game", while noting that it wasn't the "deepest mode".[29] Eurogamer stated that the multiplayer works because "the combat and weapons are enormously well realised" but also because "you're not here for imagination or originality" stating that "it's a welcome bonus" even if they "wouldn't go as far to say that it's worth buying the game for this mode alone".[28] IGN compared the multiplayer to Unreal Championship, and the base siege aspects to Star Wars: Battlefront and Battlefield 1942, claiming that the weaponry, bases, vehicles and auxiliary add-ons gave it "all the ingredients necessary for some crazy online action".[31]

IGN listed Up Your Arsenal as the 18th best PlayStation 2 game released,[32] while GamesRader listed it as 9th best,[33] Complex listed it as 12th best, [34] and Destructoid referred to it as a "pinnacle of the 3D platformer for its generation".[35]

Commercial performance[]

Up Your Arsenal became Insomniac's fastest selling game ever made at the time, which they attributed to Sony's marketing for the game.[36]

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