Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, the second installment in the adventures of the lombax Ratchet and the robot Clank, significantly expanded the concept of the first game and transformed the series from a linear platformer with shooter elements into a more open action-adventure with RPG elements. For the first time, players could return to already-visited planets, buy weapon upgrades with experience points, and watch as their arsenal gradually evolved, changing both appearance and effects, bringing deeper motivation for repeat play and experimentation. The hero himself also gains experience, so his stamina gradually increases, turning a simple action game into a title with tangible progression.

Insomniac Games also added so-called research missions and minigames, expanded space combat, and introduced arena battles in which the player fights through waves of enemies using their collected arsenal for rewards of money and rare items. The series' humor, built on Clank's sarcastic quips and the genre's self-irony about space adventures, remained core to its appeal and was backed by quality voice acting and cinematic cutscenes full of fictional advertisements and media inserts.

Visually, the game raised the bar for colorful, intricately animated worlds, from snowy planets to industrial complexes, and technically ranked among the best PS2 had to offer at the time; the engine handled sprawling locations with dozens of enemies and effects without noticeable stutter. Going Commando is still viewed by many fans as the peak of the trilogy thanks to its ideal balance of action, humor, and meaningful character progression, and it cemented the series' position as one of Sony's flagship franchises for the generation. Critics today still often call it the best-balanced entry of the entire original trilogy and the moment the series found its definitive shape. It's here that the principle the series still builds on today took hold: every weapon has its own personality, grows along with the player, and it pays to rotate through all of them instead of relying on a single tried-and-true favorite.