Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando Review

One change reorganises everything: guns gain experience and evolve into stronger versions as you fire them. Suddenly the arsenal is not a novelty rack but a set of investments, ammunition scarcity stops punishing curiosity, and a playthrough develops a personality based on what you actually used. Ratchet levels too, health grows with combat, and armour is purchasable, which gives the difficulty curve somewhere to go besides enemy count.

The controls caught up at the same time, with proper strafing and a manual aim that no longer wrestles you for target priority. Around that Insomniac built more variety than the first game attempted, including space combat, arena challenges and vehicle sections, most of which are decent and none of which outstay their welcome. The story is thinner than the original and Clank gets less to do, which is a genuine loss given how good the pairing is. Some of the later planets are also visually samey. As a sequel it is a textbook case of identifying the one thing worth fixing.