The critically acclaimed Ratchet & Clank are back for a sequel but can it top the brilliant but disappointing sales-wise original?

The game starts off with Ratchet (the cat-like guy) & Clank (the small robot) having nothing to do after saving their galaxy in there previous adventure. That is until they get a call from a Mr. Fizwidget, the chairman of megacorp, for a mission in another galaxy to find his stolen 'experiment', all the while collecting bolts to buy new equipment. The game's main storyline is told with end of level cut scenes, which have some funny moments and brilliant characters. But like a lot of platformers the story isn't really that great, but it is enjoyable. A major part of the game is the weapons; there are 18 new ones, and 5 from the original Ratchet & Clank. The weapons are totally awesome ranging from blasters to rockets and even a cool lava gun that fires a stream of lava. My personal favorite is the plasma storm which is a ball of plasma, which when it passes enemies emits a powerful bolt of electricity. One of the excellent new features for R&C2 is that all of the weapons have an "experience bar" which increases every time you kill an enemy; once this bar is full your weapon upgrades itself to an even more badass piece of kit - for example the blaster upgrades to the heavy blaster and the gravity bomb upgrades to a mini nuke launcher. Ratchet himself also has an experience bar that when full gains him another hit point. There are also gadgets like slingshots and tracter beams to play with, as well as new boots, armour suits and new wrenches for Ratchet. The game plays excellently, nice simple controls and a great quick-select weapons and gadgets system.

   

The 20 levels are pretty varied and large in size, the missions themselves are action-packed with lots of stuff to destroy on your way to rescue the 'experiment'. Ratchet has a lot of moves at his disposal like backflips, strafing, high and long jumps and throwing his wrench. Some missions will find you controlling Clank, who can order around a number of small robots like bridge bots and lifter bots. There's also a lot of stuff to do if you want a break from the missions, two of the planets have a battle arena where you can fight for gadgets and bolts and there's also mining, racing, starship dog fights and collecting crystals, all of which give you loads of bolts. Also there are 'Skill Points' which are earned for doing random stuff which you'll have to find out for yourself, following the clues from the name of the skill point e.g. there is one called 'Vandalize' and all you have to do to earn it is destroy everything you can like lamp posts and lights on the walls. Once you earn enough skill points you get cool cheats like big heads and new comedy costumes for Ratchet. Another additional side-task to do is collect the Platinum Bolts, which can be used to give your weapons extra abilities like lock on and shock.

Graphically for a PS2 platformer this is top-drawer stuff, huge environments with buildings, robots and flying cars all over the place. Ratchet looks great and has loads of facial expressions - in fact all of the animation is beautifully done.

   

Overall R&C2 is one of the best games this year and if you're a platformer fan you have no excuse not to get this game, it really is that good. Some might find the game slightly short - my final time was 14 hours which is longer than most games but you'll want to play it again because you won't be able to buy everything the first time round. Once the game is completed you'll have another chance to play through the game with all your weapons plus a bolts multiplier and the ability to upgrade your weapons again making them even better (which you'll need for the harder difficulty). With great looks and characters added to slick gameplay (and enough improvements over the original) this game definitely deserves the Gamecell "Must Buy" rating.