Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal -Remastered-

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal -Remastered- (known as Ratchet & Clank 3 Reloaded in Europe and Japan and Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal -Remastered- in Australia) is the enhanced port of Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and the third installment in the remastered Ratchet & Clank series developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.. It was released in June 2018 for the PlayStation 4.

The game follows Ratchet, Clank, Cherry, Reiana, Lily, and Violet 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 team will then ally with the Galactic Rangers, teaming up with characters such as Sasha Phyronix, Big Al, Skid McMarx, and even their former nemesis Captain Qwark, to fight Nefarious' army of robots and Tyhrranoids in a war against Nefarious.

Up Your Arsenal -Remastered- is a third person action adventure game 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 the team 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 upgradable weapons, use gadgets to traverse large environments, and drive ground and air vehicles.

Overview
Up Your Arsenal -Remastered- is a third person three dimensional action game with elements of platforming, shooting and role playing, 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, while the rest of the team is controlled by computer players. 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. The team's arsenal is now able to upgrade weapons up to four times, has expanded and numerated nanotech, and will often drive the Turbo Slider and the Hovership.

The team travels between planets in Solana on the ship, the Star Explorer, and will 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.

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 the team is transported to a map and will 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. 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 side scroller 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 the team takes a hit.

Equipment
The team begins with ten units of nanotech, representing their health. This is can be increased by earning experience points from defeating enemies, up to 100. In challenge mode, it can be further increased to 200. The team 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.

Up Your Arsenal -Remastered- features a wide variety of weapons both original and returning from previous games, in both its single player and multiplayer, though its single and multiplayer arsenals are different. In single player, the team can obtain 22 weapons, of which five return from Going Commando -Remastered (and can be purchased on Aquatos from Slim Cognito or earned for free if the player has a Going Commando -Remastered- save file once available) and two return from Ratchet & Clank -Remastered- (as upgradable and more powerful versions obtained from Gadgetron vendors). 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. In multiplayer, Ratchet features a different arsenal, and each weapon can be upgraded once, and obtained at points on the map rather than purchased, and everyone else except him feature the same arsenal in the single-player mode.

Up Your Arsenal features ten gadgets in singleplayer, 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 -Remastered-. In multiplayer, only the Swingshot (which uses the Hypershot's aesthetic, rather than that from Going Commando -Remastered), Charge Boots and Gravity Boots can be obtained.

Clank gameplay
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
In multiplayer and during several missions in the single player campaign, the player can operate vehicles. They can pilot the Turbo Slider and the Hovership. The Turbo Slider 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.

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 and the team will 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.

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.

The Insomniac Games website featured a ranked online leaderboard for registered community members, until the servers were shut down on April 23rd, 2018 for the original game's enhanced port, though no multiplayer was featured for PlayStation Vita port. The old servers were set to shut down on June 24th, 2018 alongside Deadlocked -Remastered- multiplayer.

Setting
Up Your Arsenal -Remastered returns to the Solana galaxy from Ratchet & Clank -Remastered-, while it is fighting a losing war against Nefarious' army of Tyhrranoids. Many planets revisited fromRatchet & Clank -Remastered- 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 explored than in Ratchet & Clank -Remastered-, and while Gadgetron are still the main supplier of weapons and gadgets, they feature 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.

Overview
Up Your Arsenal is a third person three dimensional action game with elements of platforming, shooting and role playing, 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 often drive the Turbo Slider 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.

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. 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 side scroller 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.

Equipmentedit
Ratchet begins with ten units of nanotech, representing his health. This is 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.

Up Your Arsenal features a wide variety of weapons both original and returning from previous games, in both its single player and multiplayer, though its single and multiplayer arsenals are different. 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). 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. In multiplayer, Ratchet features a different arsenal, and each weapon can be upgraded once, and obtained at points on the map rather than purchased.

Up Your Arsenal features ten gadgets in singleplayer, 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.

Clank gameplayedit
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 minigamesedit
In multiplayer and during several missions in the single player campaign, the player can operate vehicles. They can pilot the Turbo Slider and the Hovership. The Turbo Slider 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.

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.

Multiplayeredit
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.

The Insomniac Games website featured a ranked online leaderboard for registered community members, until the servers were shut down on June 6, 2012. The new servers were back up on August 28, 2012 for the PlayStation 3 HD remaster, though no multiplayer was featured for PlayStation Vita. The PS3 servers are set to shut down on February 15, 2018 alongside Deadlocked multiplayer.

Setting
Up Your Arsenal -Remaster ed- returns to the Solana galaxy from Ratchet & Clank, while it is fighting a losing war against Nefarious' army of Tyhrranoids. Many planets revisited 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 explored than in Ratchet & Clank, and while Gadgetron are still the main supplier of weapons and gadgets, they feature 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
After playing a game of Galactic Chess in Clank's apartment in Megapolis in the Bogon Galaxy, Ratchet,Clank, and the gang argued about the rules before Clank decided to turn on their Holo-Vision. While channel-surfing past Clank's new show, "Secret Agent Clank" (as Ratchet was portrayed as a clumsy chauffeur), Ratchet found a news report stating that his home planet in the Solana Galaxy, Veldin, was under attack by an army of Tyhrranoids. The gang immediately raced to Veldin, despite Clanks protests, and upon landing, Ratchet was confused to be the new sergeant for the Galactic Rangers and forced to lead the defense force. Upon clearing the Tyhrranoid threat, Ratchet was contacted by the Galactic President. The President explained that a mysterious supervillain known as Nefarious was the mastermind behind this attack. The President then asked the gang to find the only man to survive a fight with Nefarious, who was believed to be living on planet Florana. After watching an episode of "Nature's Mysteries" about this person, known as the "Florana Tree Beast," they flew to the Nabla Forest where the Tree Beast forced them to cross the Path of Death. Afterwards, Ratchet said, "you're dumb as…" Clank interrupted, "Captain Qwark!" Ratchet chuckled and agreed with him just before it kicked the gang and unmasked itself, revealing its true identity: Captain Qwark, causing Ratchet to say, "That's it, Qwark. You've had this coming for a long time.", as the team and he got up. Qwark 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. After 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, she gave them the coordinates to her ship.