I honestly can not think of a single reason why you wouldnt enjoy this game. Not one.
User Rating: 9.5 | Ratchet & Clank 3 (Platinum) PS2
Playing this game is a blast. I haven’t had this much fun with my clothes on in a long time. In fact, the series as a whole is probably my favorite ever. If I had to narrow down why this is, I’d give credit to two basic qualities – flow and fun. Flow – This game zooms past at a breakneck speed. Hours would pass and I wouldn’t even know it. The controls are as good as it gets. The ability to switch between weapons is flawless. The load times are quite short. You’ll only ever see a loading screen when going from one world to the next. I pulled out my trusty stopwatch to time a few and none of them exceeded 18 seconds. And unlike some other games, there’s no real backtracking here, except if you want to go and get something you may have missed, but this is never a problem because it’s just so much ding-dang fun to play. Fun – I honestly can’t think of any game that has given me more enjoyment than this (or the first two games in the series either). You’ll zip through a bunch of levels (planets), all of which are in some way different from the others (even if it’s just aesthetically) which keeps things fresh. You have the ability to purchase tons of crazy weapons (bombs; rocket launchers; a gun that squirts goo and infects enemies to turn on one another; another gun that creates tiny black holes that suck your enemies in; a laser gun that turns bad guys into ducks…and many more). Collecting bolts (the game’s version of money) is quick and easy. Every enemy you kill and many of the things you’ll see along the way give up plenty of cash, which is good because you’ll want to buy all the weapons. And whereas in other games where you have to actually walk overtop of things to collect them, in this game they come flying across the screen at you. Every weapon can be upgraded multiple times and the differences are noticeable. Not only does a leveled up weapon cause more damage but its animation and abilities change as well. Automated robot companions that, at first, will only shoot at your enemies will eventually become nuclear devices that create mini-mushroom clouds. The enemies you initially turned into ducks will, over time, become small bombs that chase other bad guys and explode on contact and once you level the weapon up to its limit, you’ll have a personal fiery, hovering bodyguard that will zoom into and destroy any nearby enemies. There are different missions you’ll take on, each with a financial reward at its conclusion, that are varied enough to keep the game from becoming too repetitive. There are easter eggs and skins and secrets and even a museum dedicated to the game that you can secretly access that displays all sorts of neat, behind the scenes things. Some of the enemies that had to be taken out for various reasons, and a few of the mini-puzzles that were insanely difficult and thankfully yanked before the release of the game are here for you to look at and even play. The cutscenes range from humorous to downright funny and are never too long to impact the flow of the game. The acting is very good, nothing Oscar-worthy, but what did you expect? The writing is also well done and there were more than a few times I caught myself laughing out loud. As with the other two, there’s a bunch of replayability in this game. You’ll start over with the ability to upgrade your weapons even further, which is a good thing because the enemies become a bit tougher. Moreover, since you’ll have zipped through all the levels during the first go-through, playing them a second time won’t seem as redundant. But of course you don’t have to play it a second, third, fourth or fifth time…this is optional. However, you might just find that you’ll want to. If you’ve played the others in the series and thought they were good, you should like this game even more. On the surface, this game isn’t all that different from the other two, but to us Ratchet geeks, the enhancements are very noticeable. The graphics are sharper and the overall look is a bit improved. They’ve also refined a few of the minor flaws from the previous games – you can now auto lock-strafe, so maneuvering Ratchet and the camera while pulling the trigger is now easier than ever. You can also purchase ammo in one fell swoop – no more maxing out each weapon at a time, my friend. One button buys it all. Admittedly, these (and some of the other enhancements) might seem like minor changes to those unfamiliar to the series, but to those of us who’ve clocked in many, many hours on these games, it’s a blessing. But the most noticeable addition has to be the multiplayer and online modes. I’ve played around with the multiplayer games, but I haven’t jumped online yet, so I can’t really comment about it. The multiplayer is good, but frankly I don’t have much opportunity to use it all that often, so you’d better check a few other reader reviews for a good perspective on it. If, for some reason, you’ve never played either of the first two games in the series, you could still jump into this one without any problem. However, they’re only twenty bucks new nowadays, so it wouldn’t kill you to go out and pick one up. It will at least give you an idea if this game is for you (and it will definitely help to understand what’s up with Captain Quark and his monkeys). And for those that have already played and loved the first two...I’m sure you already own this one and are too busy playing it to be bothered by reading this review. All in all if you’re looking for a solid, exceedingly fun action game with a plethora of simulated cartoon violence and a crazy array of exciting weapons to pick through, you should get this game. Now. The only drawback – when you’re finished…you’ll have to patiently wait for the next one to come out… 
