Ratchet & Clank - Going Commando

The detail that sets this sequel apart is how it handles your guns. Weapons level up through use, and once a gun has soaked up enough kills it evolves into a stronger version with a new name and a bigger punch. That one decision changes how you shop, how you fight, and which toys you reach for when a room fills with enemies. You start using the weak gear on purpose, because you want it to grow.

Insomniac built this right after the first game, and the confidence shows. Ratchet now has health that scales with experience, so the same encounters feel different as you gain levels. Clank gets more to do than ride along on a back, with separate segments that cover puzzle-style play, and there are also space combat sections, hoverboard races, and arena challenges between planets. Some of that padding is stronger than the rest. The flight sections are serviceable rather than great, and the arena fights can feel like a toll you pay to reach the better stuff.

The core is still the jumping and shooting, and it is sharp. Movement is quick and forgiving, the camera mostly behaves, and the weapon wheel keeps a big arsenal manageable. The humor leans on cartoon satire of corporate greed and heroics, and it lands more often than it misses. The game also ties its opening to a job that turns into a mess, which gives the early planets a reason to exist without bogging things down in plot.

It has aged in small ways. Some checkpoints are stingy, a few missions overstay their welcome, and the visual polish that wowed in 2003 now reads as charming rather than astonishing. Still, the loop of earning bolts, buying a new gun, and watching it grow holds up better than most of its era's platformers. Few sequels on this console fixed what needed fixing and made the player care about their own arsenal this much.