Ratchet: Deadlocked

Ratchet: Deadlocked (known as Ratchet: Gladiator in Europe and Australia; and known as Ratchet & Clank 4 in Japan) is a 2005 platformer in the Ratchet & Clank series, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) New to Deadlocked is the ability to select a difficulty, in which they can set the difficulty to Couch Potato (easiest), Contestant (easy), Gladiator (medium), Hero (hard) or Exterminator (hardest, and only playable once the game is completed).
 * 2) *Exterminator difficulty actually provides a good challenge for even the most experienced of players, keeping the game entertaining.
 * 3) Awesome graphics and polished sound effects.
 * 4) It is also the style of this soundtrack takes a darker rock-styled approach and compared to the earlier soundtracks it shifts away from the heavy orchestral elements. The heavy rock influence is contrasted by the addition of more ambient-driven tracks than in the previous games.
 * 5) Deadlocked features ten weapons total, of which all weapons are original but based on weapons in previous entries. Each weapon provides distinct offensive or defensive utility, and can be purchased from vendors. The Dual Vipers are unlocked from the start.
 * 6) *All weapons and armour used by Ratchet are manufactured by DreadZone, rather than Gadgetron, as are most of the enemies he encounters.
 * 7) *While the RYNO is absent, it is referenced and a RYNO equivalent is featured, manufactured by Dreadzone.
 * 8) While the arsenal is much smaller than previous titles, each weapon can be upgraded to a much higher level, and alpha and omega mods can be added and swapped out to the player's leisure, provide them with much more versatility and allow them to be unique.
 * 9) *While alpha mods simply augment the powers of the weapon (such as increasing its ammo or damage, or increasing bolts earned through using the weapon), the omega mods can fundamentally change the effects of the weapon (such as the Napalm mod that spawns pools of lava damaging enemies in an area, the Mini-bomb mod causing explosive weapons to launch mini-bombs after impact that do additional damage, or the Brainwash mod causing enemies to attack one another instead of the player).
 * 10) The player can begin with ten units of nanotech, representing his health. This is can be increased by earning experience points from defeating enemies, up to 999. It can also purchase armour from vendors which can reduce damage taken.
 * 11) There are four different vehicles that can be piloted: the Hoverbike, the Landstalker, the Puma and the Hovership. The Hoverbike is the fastest vehicle with a laser cannon on the front, which is fast and easy to manouvere but not heavily armored. The Landstalker is a four-legged vehicle with two machine guns and large plasma mortars that lock onto enemies, making it a slow moving but powerful vehicle dealing heavy damage. The Puma is a fast battle car with two small machine guns for the driver and a heavy duty cannon a passenger can use. Finally, the Hovership is a flying vehicle with a single cannon and lock on missiles that that is useful to pilot in the air.
 * 12) Combat bots can also be customized and upgraded from Big Al's vendor. Up to five weapons are available for them to defeat enemies, and five gadgets also available that allow them to help the player through various non-combat challenges. Upgrades that augment the bot's abilities can also be purchased, as well as various paint jobs and new heads to change their appearance.
 * 13) Returning gadgets include the Swingshot, Charge Boots, Gravity boots and Grind Boots.
 * 14) 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 provides additional alpha and omega mods, allows weapons to be further upgraded to level 99, and more armour, weapon, wrench and bot upgrades to be purchased.
 * 15) Ratchet visits planets as they are unlocked, in which he must complete a series of short combat-based sequences to complete the planet and unlock the next. These challenges can be replayed for extra bolts, skill points (which have requirements given to the player, rather than hidden as in previous games) and Dread Points if the player desires. Many challenges also take place in the DreadZone Station, which serves as the main hub in which the player can purchase weapons, armour, as well as combat bot upgrades and customizations.
 * 16) *Due to the huge number of skill points, having their requirements told to you is very useful, as it saves hours of blindingly guessing what to do based on their cryptic names.
 * 17) It is possible to play the single-player campaign with another player through co-op mode, in which the second player replaces the two combat bots. The second player can use unique skins such as Alpha Clank or Jak.
 * 18) *Both players have a role in vehicle missions too, with player 1 driving and player 2 shooting, although players can swap positions if desired.
 * 19) *The integration of player 2 in general is ingenious. players share ammo and guns, meaning both cannot use the same weapon unless on a grindrail, and gadgets used by bots in singleplayer can be manually equipped and used yourself. both players are also held within a certain radius by their collars, and if one dies they have 5 seconds before respawn if the other player doesn't die.
 * 20) Both online (up to eight players) and local offline (up to four players, limited to two in the HD port) multiplayer can also be played, which features five different modes playable in maps based on planets in the single-player mode.
 * 21) The modes featuring are Conquest (a revamped Siege from Up Your Arsenal) in which the team must capture nodes and kill enemies to score points, Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Juggernaut. Players can equip all weapons from the single-player mode and pilot all vehicles from it depending on their chosen map.
 * 22) Despite the darker tone, the game still has lots of humour to balance it out, albeit darker.
 * 23) Despite the shift in focus to shooting, there is still a healthy dose of platforming in several challenges, adding variety.
 * 24) The player is able to check their rankings compared to other contestants on the show, and the way the computer's condescending mocking transitions to admiring praise as you climb the rankings is humorous.
 * 25) Despite not appearing physically, series staples Captain Qwark and the Plumber do get cameos at the end of the game.
 * 26) After the credits, Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence are shown on their asteroid from the events of the previous game, pleasing fans who completed Up Your Arsenal.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The campaign mode is only eight hours long, which isn't that bad, but when you compare it to A Crack In Time, Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal, and Tools Of Destruction, the difference is noticeable as those games are 10-15 hours long.
 * 2) The PlayStation 3 port has lots of visual and technical problems that weren't present in the original PS2 version such as the camera cutting inside of Ratchet's face in a cutscene, most cutscenes in general having characters twitch suddenly at fixed intervals, an unstable framerate, and the HUD being glitched so that the sides of the Nanotech health gauge are not rendered correctly, with it just rendering as a rectangle when the left side (and also the right side in multiplayer) are supposed to be rendered with edged out corners. Because of this, it's recommended that gamers avoid this version and instead play the PS2 Version.
 * 3) For the first time in the series, Clank is not a playable character and is delegated to being a supporting character only.
 * 4) This game moved away from balancing third person shooting and platforming, which is what made the series popular, and instead focused on almost exclusively third person shooting.
 * 5) Unlike other entries in the franchise, this game takes on a more darker tone with characters actually dying, a more complex plot, and much darker humour, which could be off putting for some.
 * 6) There are no puzzles in the game, unlike previous entries.
 * 7) Ratchet cannot swim, and will instead die upon contact with any water. This may please those who disliked swimming in the other games.
 * 8) Ratchet has been redesigned to match the darker tone of the game, and while he looks cooler during gameplay, looks a little off putting during cutscenes and when his helmet is off, since he doesn't emote when wrench swinging like previous games.
 * 9) Some family-unfriendly elements such as mild swearing, and graphic (albeit indirect) descriptions of various deaths. One character in particular gets ecstatic at the thought of ratchet exploding, describing her love of 'getting wet.'
 * 10) One of the skill points on planet Maraxus is actually impossible to obtain on difficulties 4 and 5, as the time given isn't long enough. This is extremely questionable design, and means that full completion cannot be achieved fully on maximum difficulty.
 * 11) Getting to 999 health takes an astronomical amount of grinding, since it only upgrades one unit at a time. It can be sped up a little with exp mods, but it still takes multiple playthroughs beyond challenge mode completion.

Reception
In 2006, Deadlocked was added to Sony's Greatest Hits range for North America. It was similarly added to Sony's Platinum range for PAL regions on May 12, 2006, and to Japan's The Best range on June 29, 2006.

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