History VideoGame / RatchetAndClankGoingCommando

* {{Foreshadowing}}: As left-field as the big ending twist seems on a first playthrough, there's actually a lot leading up to it if you look back. [[spoiler:[[ShowWithinAShow The Behind the Hero]] segments, for example, which only served to remind the player that Qwark still exists. The fact that Mr. Fizzwidget quite clearly wants to get rid of you right from the start, (evident from as early as the end cutscene of the first level) plus, if you listen closely enough, you can kinda tell that his voice sounds like Qwark's. Admittedly, Jim Ward does do the voice for both of them, and the real Fizzwidget only sounds slightly more serious.]] And there's the [[spoiler:false]] password Mr. Fizzwidget gives you for the Disposal Facility: [[spoiler:"Qwarktastic".]]
** The French version spills the beans immediately to anyone who played the first game: [[spoiler:Fake]] Fizzwidget sounds ''exactly'' like [[spoiler:Qwark]].

* DenserAndWackier: The game has a much more comical and less opressive tone to its story than the original game, and the darkelements are fewer and far in between.

** Absolutely no-one questions the appearance of a second Lombax. From ''Tools of Destruction'' onwards Lombaxes are established be ''incredibly'' rare, and Ratchet discovering Azimuth in ''A Crack in Time'' is a major plot point. In fact, Angela contradicts the lore so badly she's gone almost [[SequelNonEntity almost unmentioned since]], and a female Lombax seen in ''Rifted Apart'' has a completely different design.
* EarnYourFun: [[invoked]][[WordOfGod According to an interview]], the devs left the [[GoodBadBugs First Person Wallclimb bug]] in the game with the intent of it being this, since it requires the permanent first person mode, and ''that'' requires you to beat the game first.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: While this game does introduce the ability to increase your health, it comes in two forms; you can earn upgrades by defeating enemies, ''and'' you can find pickups that upgrade you by one then and there. The second method only appears in this game.

* RealMenWearPink: A RunningGag with Thugs-4-Less. They are vicious and ridiculously muscle-bound [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]] and even run their own [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels criminal biker gang]]. They also hold company picnics, adore fashion and cake, stop to pet kittens, consider feng shui SeriousBusiness and make sure anyone they imprison is provided with a personal fitness trainer and a life coach and gets to eat a species-appropriate diet, even offering vegetarian options for those that need them.

* RealMenWearPink: A RunningGag with Thugs-4-Less. They are vicious and ridiculously muscle-bound [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]. They also hold company picnics, adore fashion and cake, stop to pet kittens, consider feng shui SeriousBusiness and make sure anyone they imprison is provided with a personal fitness trainer and a life coach and gets to eat a species-appropriate diet, even offering vegetarian options for those that need them.

** The Megarocket Cannon is a downplayed example of this. It's a perfectly fine weapon, but its main upgrade from teh Minirocket Tube is the ability to hold down the firing button to charge it up in order to fire multiple missiles at once when you release the button. This is pretty much never useful, and in fact simply mashing the button will result in a faster firing rate anyway (since it also gets a boost to firing rate).

->[[spoiler:"So, you fellas new here? You boys should sign up for the Probe-O-Matic. That little baby cleans ya somethin' fierce!"]]

----

** The Zodiac. It can insta-kill virtually anything that isn't a late boss battle, and takes out all enemies onscreen with just one shot. However, not only does it only have four ammo slots, but the price of each shot at a vendor is ''ten thousand'' bolts. It also takes about two whole seconds to shoot, and will fail to fire if Ratchet takes damage before it goes off. The only thing that keeps the Zodiac from being flat-out worthless is that like most weapons, you can get ammo drops for it from crates.
** The Hoverbomb Gun [[IncrediblyLamePun hovers]] somewhere between this and DifficultButAwesome. It's obtained late in the game, costs more than the [[GameBreaker Shield Charger or Bouncer]], is slow, has only ten ammo, produces a bomb that can be controlled at distance but Ratchet cannot move, and unlike the [[ArrowCam Visibomb Gun]] you keep normal third person vision, making DepthDeception an issue. However, it ''is'' very strong and its mines can fly indefinitely, so if you're good at estimating the mine's position, you can destroy enemies with it at distance. It then upgrades into the Tetrabomb Gun, which produces ''five'' floating mines at one shot, and with the Mega upgrade, it deals more damage than the [[InfinityPlusOneSword R.Y.N.O. II]] per hit.

** Chainblade, B2-Brawler, Arachnoid and Megapede are all optional arena battles.

* GlobalCurrencyException: Slim Cognito takes two different currencies, neither of which is Bolts: Platinum Bolts for weapon mods and Raritanium for starship upgrades.

* HomingProjectile: The Minirocket and its upgraded forms can twist around to follow a target if necessary; contrast with the [=RYNO II=], which can only fire in a straight line. The homing ability can be invoked directly with the Hoverbomb Gun and its upgrades, as the player can remotely control its ammo when fired.

** This also applies to the returning weapons from the original game, the Bomb Glove, Tesla Claw, Walloper, Decoy Glove and Visibomb Gun. While somewhat useful in the early levels, they are outclassed by just about every other weapon in the game, and are practically useless in the later levels--even the once mighty Visibomb, despite its long range capabilities, deals very little damage per shot. The only one of them that remains remotely practical to use throughout the game is the Decoy Glove, but even it's benefits are quickly negated by how easy it is for enemies to destroy it.
* KarmaHoudini:

** Flying Lab, Planet Aranos. It seems to be traversing the entire planet.
** Planet Smolg is a variation, as some of the level isn't actually flying, per se; portions of it are just on ''very'' tall platforms, so tall that falling off is treated like a pit. That said, there are several portions that are flying, and the Levitator is often deployed to get from point to point in the level.

** A very odd example, since it doesn't come around until a NewGamePlus. The Gravity Bomb is an okay crowd control weapon early on. Its upgraded form, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mini-Nuke]] is great, but kinda loses out to other weapons later in the game. Then, in a NewGamePlus, you notice its Mega version costs a whopping 1,500,000 bolts, which is 500,000 more than the game's InfinityPlusOneSword. There is a good reason for this: let's just say that, once you buy it, the 'mini' in its name deserves to be dropped. It has more than twice as much ammo (20 as opposed to 8) and one shots nearly everything in the game (including [[DemonicSpiders Y.E.T.Is]]). And this is before it upgrades to Ultra.

** The arena battles can be ideal places to get experience points in the first runthrough, given the huge hordes of enemies you can slaughter there, but it tapers off in Challenge Mode.

** Planet Grelbin has the [=YETIs=], which frequently spawn in large groups that can be beat down with your preferred weapons for a good amount of experience.

* PlayerGuidedMissile: The Hoverbomb can be remotely controlled and does devastating damage, but its main drawback is that it the bombs move terribly slow.

** The Nuke you can buy for Ratchet's ship destroys every ship you can see

** The Bomb Glove, returning from the previous game, once again allows you to chuck small bombs. While it's free [[OldSaveBonus if you have a save file from that game]], it's rather weak before getting its Mega form.
** The Gravity Bomb (and its upgrade, the Mini-Nuke) fits the same archetype as the Bomb Glove, being an explosive-launching device that you start with. Unlike the Bomb Glove, this is a more traditional GrenadeLauncher.

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Planet Yeedil. It's just so dark compared with the other levels that even the entire planet itself is black on the ship's monitor. It also seems to be the biggest planet in the Bogon galaxy, and though no actual fighting occurs, Angela mentions "nasty" orbital defences. If that wasn't enough, the level is full of troopers who are not only insanely powerful, but just keep coming as soon as their comrades are finished off.

* GrenadeSpam: Megapede's main attack will keep releasing bouncing and floaty bombs which has a second delay of detonation when it comes into contact. Ratchet has to be on the move to avoid being hit.

* TheHeavy: [[spoiler:Captain Qwark. The games entire conflict is directly set into motion by him--even the Protopet crisis was close to being averted by Angela Cross until Qwark intervened to use it as part of his plans. He also drives a lot of the plot directly by [[PlayingBothSides secretly playing everybody, good and bad, to his own advantage]] under the guise of Fizzwidget.]]

** On the other hand, they host at least two BloodSport tournaments, the Tabora video shows a corrupt past, they have no qualms about getting Thugs to terminate a prior contract in order to protect the [=CEO=], they have a [[NoOSHACompliance weapons factory surrounded by fields of tourist-eating mutant test-squirrels]], they made unstoppable snowbeasts that got out of control on Grelbin, and most of the game's enemies consist of vicious Megacorp products that are either outright lethal or malfunctioning in some way, showing them as both incompetent and immoral. Under [[spoiler:Fake Fizzwidget's]] management, [[ApocalypseHow they even bring about a serious disaster across the galaxy, albeit unintentionally]], but it's implied that they deployed the Extermibots to take care of the problem.

The story starts several months after [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 the defeat of Chairman Drek]]-- Ratchet and Clank are now celebrated as heroes across the Solana Galaxy, but the duo's lives have since fallen back into a rather humdrum lifestyle now that things are at peace, with a bored Ratchet bemoaning how no one needs a hero at present. As if by chance, the duo are abruptly summoned by teleportation to the neighboring Bogon Galaxy by one Abercrombie Fizzwidget, the eccentric and bumbling head of the galaxy's Megacorp company, who seeks Ratchet's help in retrieving an experimental "protopet" from a terrorist. Unfortunately, after they return the critter, the two learn the protopet is actually a hostile and easily provoked predator, and they must retrieve it again before Mr. Fizzwidget releases it on the market and dooms the galaxy.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: While the bolt economy in this game is more generous than in the first game, offers many ways to stack up on bolts via the arenas, spaceship and hoverbike missions and the crystal sidequests, and [[OldSaveBonus throws you a bone with the classic weapons]], theres still some serious cash roadblocks. The weapons and armor quickly escalate in price, with several weapons and the Carbonox armor costing over a million bolts apiece. The [[CashGate Cash Gates]] from the first game return with a vengeance as well, with one instance requiring a whopping 40,000 bolts just to make progress. Mitigating this is that, like the first game, the game never actually forces you to buy a weapon, meaning a player can skip one weapon and save up for a preferred one. [[NewGamePlus Challenge Mode]] also helps mitigate the bolt collecting by adding the Bolt Multiplier, which allows you to rake up huge amounts of cash in a short time if you play carefully.

** Ratchet now has the ability to strafe as a default move and can modify certain weapons to lock on to targets, making him much more manuverable and the combat more streamlined and faster paced than in the first game.
** The Quickselect menu now pauses the game to make things easier on the player, though an option exists to turn it off.

** Two Skill Points require playing through levels under strict conditions - "Old Skool" requires completing the Dobbo Testing Facility while using only weapons from the first game and "Wrench Ninja II" requires completing the trek to the Megacorp Games on Joba using only the wrench. If you complete the levels once then return to their worlds the amount of enemies in these areas are heavily reduced thereby making the levels easier to complete. In addition, you can also go and get the second wrench upgrade before trying for "Wrench Ninja II".

* ArmorOfInvincibility: The Carbonox armor. Which is just as well, as it costs a million bolts.

** Giant Clank and both of the Thug Leader mechas carry over the SquareCubeLaw issues already present in the first game (the proportions of the robots, with top heavy bodys and smaller, thin legs, would make it impossible for them to even take a step without falling over, for starters), but throw out any pretense of weight that the first game attempted by having them [[ImpossiblyGracefulGiant be far more nimble and manuverable than something their size has any business moving]], to say nothing of the fact that it would be absolutely impossible for Giant Clank to jump as ludicrously high as he can, much less jump at all. Something of that much mass would weigh several hundred tons, and yet he jumps like gravity is reduced for him. The second Thug Leader mecha is a particularly egregeious offender, as its several stories high and is taller than it is wide and only somewhat proportioned to match, yet it not only stands and walks under its own power, it moves almost as nimbly as the far smaller Giant Clank.
** Ratchet walking around the outside of the Aranos Flying Lab. Due to the speed the thing was travelling combined with the very high atmosphere, he would have been blown clean off the thing in real life. The game at least acknowledged the very thin atmosphere of that height, as Ratchet wears an O2 mask whenever he steps outside, only to forgo using it at the end of the first level and on the labs second visit when he steps outside.

* AttackDrone: There are three versions of this. The first is the Miniturret Glove, which deploys turrets that fire at enemies automatically. The second is the Synthenoid, which deploys four flanking robots that shoot and when upgraded into the Kilinoid, they will occasionally drop a bomb on enemies that get too close. The final is the Tankbot Glove, an upgrade of the [[ActionBomb Spiderbot Glove]] which allows you to control a SpiderTank with two types of guns.

** The Synthenoids and the Shield Charger ammo can't be replenished except at a vendor, making them quite expensive if overused.

** This is partially justified, as Abercrombie Fizzwidget teleported the duo to another galaxy on short notice. However, the Swingshot and Grindboots can be obtained again as though Ratchet had simply brought them along, which raises the question of why he couldn't bring his other weapons too. At least the vendor on Planet Barlow gives him a chance to buy some of the better weapons of the previous title.

** A stranger thing regarding the Thruster-Pack. While it does return, it loses some of the abilities that set it apart from the Heli-Pack, such as the stomping maneuver and the air dash.

* BonusBoss: The Swamp Monster II in Oozla can be found by going up a wall near the end of the Megacorp Outlet route with the Gravity Boots. Killing it gives you the Box Breaker.
** Also Chainblade, B2-Brawler, Arachnoid and Megapede as far as arena challenges go.

** The Decoy Glove, returning from the first game, is not quite as useful as before due to it's low durability, but unlike the other heavily nerfed returning weapons, it can still prove surprisingly useful in certain situations, most notably the second Swamp Monster fight on Oozla, and the Impossible Challenge on Joba.

* CensorBox: "All right... JUST WHAT THE [[SoundEffectBleep *honk*]] IS GOING ON?!"

** [[spoiler:The pink robot with a crush on Clank ends up becoming quite important later on. Twice!]]
** [[spoiler:The Qwark Fanboy returns in ''Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault''.]]
** The robotic Abercrombie Fizzwidget who gives tour guides on Todano [[spoiler:reappears on Boldan handing out Protopets, and ends up being used to frame Ratchet "for attempting to bump off Mr. Fizzwidget".]]
* CityOfCanals: The aptly named Canal City on Notak.

* ConvectionShmonvection: The Jobian arena is surrounded by lava, though the closest this game gets to this trope is Grelbin, where one underground passage leads into a cave and a facility very close to a large pit of lava. There are also the lava pits on Aranos' Flying Lab, some of which Ratchet can fly over.

** On Boldan, Ratchet mows down countless numbers of heavily armed Thugs-4-Less mooks--and when he's cornered by the Thug Leader and two normal mooks to be falsely arrested for "attempting to bump off Mr. Fizzwidget" [[note]]Nevermind that the Fizzwidget they were about to attack is blatantly a robot, but it's really just a flimsy excuse for the Thugs to get Ratchet out of Megacorp's way [[/note]], they throw in the towel without even putting up a fight.

* DamageSpongeBoss: The Thug boss on Snivelak is not particularly difficult, but the healthbar on that thing is huge. Even the [=RYNO II=] takes upwards of 200 shots to take it down.

** Theres also a more literal example with the Star Explorer's Nuke upgrade, which can be acquired with a bit of Raritarium grinding in the Feltzin System. Getting it pretty much turns every single space mission into a cakewalk and makes it super easy to grind for bolts and raritanium from then on, since it can kill most if not every single enemy in the level with a well placed shot.

* DroughtLevelOfDoom: Grelbin's open snowscapes can act as this if you're really unlucky. Fortunately, it's just part of an optional sidequest.

* DynamicDifficulty: Depending on your skill, the Unknown Thief boss fight will either get easier (less enemies show up) or harder (more enemies show up as soon as the fight starts) as it goes.

* ExcusePlot: The game is something of a subversion. At the beginning of the game, the plot is set up very quickly and seems to just be a typical video game rescue mission, with the Thief's motive for stealing the Experiment and the Experiment's actual purpose not even being explained. It's only after defeating the Thief that the complexity of the situation is revealed.
* FalseFlagOperation: [[spoiler:Captain Qwark's entire scheme hinges on this. Being disgraced in the first game due to aiding Chairman Drek and on the lam due to the fallout of his Personal Hygenator scam, he hatches a surprisingly well thought out and executed plan to make his own comeback--hijack an entire corporation by kidnapping and impersonating its CEO, take Megacorps unstable Protopet experiment and rush it out for release with full knowledge that its a dangerous and unstable creature, frame Ratchet and Clank for causing the disaster, and then [[EngineeredHeroics end the crisis himself by curing the original Protopet of its vicious nature with Angela's Helix-O-Morph gadget.]] The only reason the plan falls apart is because of a tiny misstep Qwark made--putting the batteries in backwards in the Helix-O-Morph, which turns the Protopet into an even ''more'' vicious creature that eats him alive.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: As left-field as the big ending twist seems on a first playthrough, there's actually a lot leading up to it if you look back. [[spoiler:[[ShowWithinAShow The Behind the Hero]] segments, for example, which only served to remind the player that Qwark still exists. The fact that Mr Fizzwidget quite clearly wants to get rid of you right from the start, (evident from as early as the end cutscene of the first level) plus, if you listen closely enough, you can kinda tell that his voice sounds like Qwark's. Admittedly, Jim Ward does do the voice for both of them, and the real Fizzwidget only sounds slightly more serious.]] And there's the [[spoiler:false]] password Mr Fizzwidget gives you for the Disposal Facility: [[spoiler:Qwarktastic.]]

* ForWantOfANail: The reason the BigBad's plan failed in the end? [[spoiler:Qwark put the battery to the Helix-o-morph in backwards.]]

* GlobalCurrencyException: Slim Cognito takes two different currencies, neither of which is Bolts: Platinum Bolts for weapon mods and Raritanium for starship mods.

* GrenadeSpam: Megapede's main will keep releasing bouncing and floaty bombs which has a second delay of detonation when it comes into contact. Ratchet has to be on the move to avoid being hit.
* HadTheSillyThingInReverse: [[spoiler:Why the Helix-o-morph backfires at first; Qwark had the batteries in backwards.]]
* TheHeavy: [[spoiler:Captain Qwark. The games entire conflict is directly set into motion by him--even the Protopet crisis was close to being averted by Angela Cross until Qwark intervened to use it as part of his plans. He also drives a lot of the plot directly by [[PlayingBothSides secretely playing everybody, good and bad, to his own advantage]] under the guise of Fizzwidget.]]

* HitPoints: You start with 4, and can end up with 80.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Captain Qwark's plan to pacify the Protopet and take credit for "saving" the galaxy from it backfires horribly when using the helix-o-morph causes it to become a giant monster and eat him.]]

** [[spoiler:Considering Captain Qwark kidnapped and impersonated a corporate CEO and engineered a crisis that endangered the lives of ''billions'', getting a job as a Megacorp test subject afterward (albiet with some [[GroinAttack painful aspects to it]]) is basically a slap on the wrist in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention he still got away with '''six billion bolts''' worth of grand larceny and didn't have to face prison time for it again either.]]

** MegaCorp, too. They basically rule the entire Bogon galaxy. Its products tend to malfunction, often explosively. It runs [[BreadAndCircuses gladiator tournaments]] on public television. They've [[HostileTerraforming hostile terraformed]] at least one planet so that it would be easier to mine it using slave labor. Are they the villains? No, they're the ones who ''hired'' Ratchet! Even once the dust settles and all the plot twists have resolved themselves, the company gets off [[KarmaHoudini scott free]] (unless you count all the bolts [[DestructiveSavior Ratchet]] [[RewardingVandalism must have cost them]]).

** Planet Smolg, which involves floating platforms everywhere, jump pads, and the Levitator.

** A very odd example, since it doesn't come around until a NewGamePlus. The Gravity Bomb is an okay crowd control weapon early on. Its upgraded form, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mini-Nuke]] is great, but kinda loses out to other weapons later in the game. Then, in a NewGamePlus, you notice its Mega version costs a whopping 1,500,000 bolts, the same as the game's InfinityPlusOneSword. There is a good reason for this: let's just say that, once you buy it, the 'mini' in its name deserves to be dropped. It has more than twice as much ammo (20 as opposed to 8) and one shots nearly everything in the game (including [[DemonicSpiders Y.E.T.Is]]). And this is before it upgrades to Ultra.
** The Lancer goes through a similar process, becoming increasingly useless as the game progresses, and only really earning its keep in the NewGamePlus when it receives an upgrade. Its final Ultra form finally brings it up to be nearly on par with the Blaster in the first game, which could one-shot most enemies, and grants it a generous 500-round ammo pool.
** The [[DeflectorShield Shield Charger]] is a traditional example. It is weak as a weapon and a pain to upgrade, as you have to [[ViolationOfCommonSense walk into enemies in order to damage them with it]]. This is not helped by the fact you can't get its ammo from crates. But stick with it, and you'll be treated to the Tesla Charger, which has a larger ammo capacity, eventually tripling from 5 to 15 in its Ultra form, and will zap any enemies that come close to you with powerful electric arcs, practically rendering you invincible. The Ultra version ''tears through Y.E.T.I.s like butter.''

* MakeMyMonsterGrow: [[spoiler:What happens if you misuse the Helix-o-Morph.]]
* {{Malaproper}}: Mr Fizzwidget, quite frequently. [[spoiler:Though in a bit of FridgeBrilliance, as he's really Captain Qwark, he obviously [[DelusionsOfEloquence never knew what any of those words meant, he just wanted to sound smart]]. Note that, in what little we see of him, the REAL Fizzwidget never does this.]]
** He says "imbecilic" instead of "imbecile" in the French version.
* MarathonBoss: The Thug Leader mecha battle on Snivelak. If you fail at any point, you have to fight him again with all of his health intact.

** Fizzwidget seems a decent enough guy at first, and the employees at the Megacorp Outlet largely meet their ends because the Thief's goons deactivated the perimeter defences, not because of the company's neglect. At best, their robots were made with good intentions but poor test control, suggesting incompetence rather than outright malice. And [[spoiler:despite the suspicious behaviour of Fizzwidget, they turn out to be [[UnwittingPawn Unwitting Pawns]] to Qwark's insane plan]].

* MonsterProtectionRacket: [[spoiler:What Captain Qwark's EvilPlan boils down to combined with a FalseFlagOperation; hijack Megacorp and the Protopet project before its [[KillerRabbit vicious nature]] can be fixed, unleash millions of them on unsuspecting citizens across Bogon, frame Ratchet and Clank for causing the crisis, fix the crisis by using Angela's Helix-O-Morph, and gain instant fame and reward.]]

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: The second arena announcer refers to the titular duo as "Ratchet... and some metal guy." (Winning a battle: "Ratchet and the metal guy win the prize!") It's still a big step up from the first announcer, who always referred to Ratchet as "This...guy." ("This guy's on a rampage!")
* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:For all of his buffoonery, Captain Qwark's revenge scheme was nothing short of impressive in scope or execution, and he very nearly defeated Ratchet, Clank and Angela. The only reason his scheme fell apart was because he put the batteries in backwards in the Helix-O-Morph, mutating the original Protopet (instead of pacifying it and the rest of the Protopets as planned) and causing it to eat him, buying Angela time to find and free the real Mr. Fizzwidget and thus pull the rug out on his entire sham.]]

--> [[http://youtu.be/M3NNTayrvIs?t=33m50s No sheep were harmed in the making of this game. For the most part. The one that was had it coming.]]

** Cities like Megapolis on Endako feature walkways suspended over [[BottomlessPit white void]] without any grindrails whatsoever. Makes the possible {{Shout Out}} of Megapolis to [[Franchise/StarWars Coruscant]] all the more [[HilariousInHindsight funny]].

** The Wupash Nebula also becomes untouchable once the main fight is over.
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Qwark using the Helix-O-Morph on the Protopet causes it to become giant and monstrous, setting the stage for the final boss fight.]]

** The arena battles can be ideal places to get experience points, or "nanomites", given the huge hordes of enemies you can slaughter there. Planet Grelbin is also this in theory, depending on how much you can tolerate the [=YETIs=].

* PlayingBothSides: [[spoiler:Captain Qwark plays ''everybody'' for a sap to his own advantage as part of his grand comeback plan with the Protopet scheme, from all of Megacorp, the Thugs-4-Less organization, and even Ratchet & Clank themselves, under the guise of Mr. Fizzwidget. In the end, he didnt give two craps about who lived or died as long as he got to be the hero again.]]

** Also a partial case of OvershadowedByAwesome because of presence of Shield Charger/Tesla Barrier, which cuts all damage and costs only tenth of Carbonox armor plus ammo while being obtainable four planets earlier. Partial because it needs ammo which ''isn't'' obtainable from ammo crates, and some attacks cut right through it.
* PunBasedTitle: On GoingCommando. Thankfully, Ratchet doesn't run around without underwear in this game (as far as we know) --he actually becomes a commando.

* ARareSentence: Ratchet cracks up when Captain Qwark claims he's come to shine the "FLASHLIGHT OF JUSTICE" on the Bogon Galaxy.

* RecursiveAmmo: (Heavy) Bouncer.

* ReverseThePolarity: [[spoiler:Qwark [[MakeMyMonsterGrow made his Protopet grow]] instead of making it docile because he apparently inserted the batteries backwards into Helix-o-Morph.]]

* SegmentedSerpent: Megapede will send its segments down to fight you if Ratchet has done considerable amount of damage. The segments will grow legs and shoot with its mounted machine gun. After Ratchet has successfully depleted Megapedes, the main body will split into three segments as a last ditch effort. The battle will end once Ratchet finishes off all the segments.

** You can completely bypass the glider and hypnomatic parts of Grelbin by exploting a clipping glitch with the Heli-Pack, giving you quick access to Angela's home.

* ShortRangeShotgun: The Blitz Gun/Cannon.

** Megapolis is obviously patterned after Coruscant from the Star Wars prequels.

** The map of Tabora is modeled after Jimi Hendrix's head.

** How the Zodiac works.

* SoLastSeason: You can get [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 the Walloper, Bomb Glove, Visibomb Gun, Tesla Claw and Decoy Glove]] from the Gadgetron vendor. They're pretty weak compared to what you get in this game.

* SpringJump: This is the first game to introduce the triangular jump platforms, triangular green structures that give Ratchet a fixed boost jump in order to reach otherwise-unreachable places. They first appear on the Jamming Array.

** Maktar Nebula - SpaceZone
** Barlow - ShiftingSandLand

** Notak - PortTown

** Joba - JungleJapes

** Smolg - ContainerMaze
** Damozel - GhostCity

** Yeedil - VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:The Thief AKA Angela Cross turns out to be this.]]
* WhipSword: Chainblade, one of the two bosses of the Maktar Resort arena, '''dual-wields''' two.

* ObviousBeta: Not the game itself, but the PS3 remaster. While the new glitches are limited to visual ones, the "subtitles" option in settings is always unavailable, implying that the remastering team was planning to add them[[note]]The original game has no subtitles[[/note]] but ran out of time. Oddly enough, the Vita version ''had'' subtitles at launch, but can only be toggled from the main menu.

--->'''Ratchet:''' What's so funny?
--->'''Thug Leader:''' Er... Nothing, I guess.

* MagikarpPower: A very odd example, since it doesn't come around until a NewGamePlus. The Gravity Bomb is an okay crowd control weapon early on. Its upgraded form, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mini-Nuke]] is great, but kinda loses out to other weapons later in the game. Then, in a NewGamePlus, you notice its Mega version costs a whopping 1,500,000 bolts, the same as the game's InfinityPlusOneSword. There is a good reason for this: let's just say that, once you buy it, the 'mini' in its name deserves to be dropped. It has more than twice as much ammo (20 as opposed to 8) and one shots nearly everything in the game (including [[DemonicSpiders Y.E.T.Is]]). And this is before it upgrades to Ultra.

** [[DeflectorShield Shield Charger]] is more classic example. It is weak as a weapon and a pain to upgrade, as you have to [[ViolationOfCommonSense walk into enemies in order to damage them with it]]. This is not helped by the fact you can't get its ammo from crates. But stick with it, and you'll be treated to the Tesla Charger, which has larger ammo capacity and will zap any enemies that come close to you with powerful electric arcs, practically rendering you invincible. The Ultra version ''tears through Yetis like butter.''
** [[AttackDrone Synthenoid]] is even worse. It costs a lot when it becomes available, has even lower real ammo count than Shield Charger (and its ammo is not obtainable from ammo crates either), doesn't last that long and its damage isn't that great. Killonoid upgrade however considerably ramps up its damage and duration.
** All of the returning ''Ratchet and Clank'' weapons count, as Challenge Mode introduces their Mega variants. Although still not quite as powerful as before, and unable to be upgraded beyond that, the weapons finally become viable options in combat.

** The path on Tabora [[spoiler: where heroes fall after having their ship destroyed by Mr. Fizzwidget]] cannot be accessed later in the game either.

* RealMenWearPink: A recurring gag with Thugs-4-Less. They are vicious and ridiculously muscle-bound [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]. They also hold company picnics, adore fashion and cake, stop to pet kittens, consider feng shui SeriousBusiness and make sure anyone they imprison is provided with a personal fitness trainer and a life coach and gets to eat a species-appropriate, vegetarian diet.

* ReverseThePolarity: [[spoiler: Qwark [[MakeMyMonsterGrow made his Protopet grow]] instead of making it docile because he apparently inserted the batteries backwards into Helix-o-Morph.]]

-->'''Ratchet:''' "It's payback time."
* {{Roboteching}}: The Seeker Gun/[=HK22=] Gun fires floating spheres that homes in on their targets once it detects them.

* SegmentedSerpent: Megapede will send its segments down to fight you if Ratchet has done considerable amount of damage. The segments will grow legs and shoot with its mounted machine gun. After Ratchet has successfully depleted Megapedes, the main body will split into three segments as a last ditch effort. The battle will end once Ratchet finishes off all the segements.

* SpiderTank: When the Spiderbot Glove upgrades into the Tankbot Glove, the glove sends out controlable mini spidertank [[ActionBomb action bombs]] mounted with a machine gun and grenade launchers.

* StationaryBoss: The Swamp Monster I, the first boss battle.

* ThrowDownTheBomblet: The Bomb Glove from the previous game, and it's free [[OldSaveBonus if you have a save file from that game]], but unfortunately it's rather weak. The Gravity Bomb (and its upgrade, the Mini-Nuke) essentially serves as its replacement. The Bouncer is an extreme version of the trope: it launches one huge grenade, which then breaks into a number of smaller grenades, which, as the name indicates, bounce around for a second or two before they all explode. Comes in real handy when you need to do some crowd-clearing.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Synthenoids deal out a respectable amount of damage and become much more helpful when they upgrade to Kilonoids, but they have a low ammo count (deployed 4 at a time), and the not-exactly-cheap ammo ''has'' to be bought at vendors.
** Shield Charger too, to a lesser extent, for the same reason. Not really an issue anymore once it upgrades to Tesla Barrier, since its ammo clip gets bigger.

** Some would mistake planet Snivelak to be this at first.

** You gain access to the Levitator which allows you to fly anywhere... but you can only take off from special pads, and your fuel decreases rapidly every time you ascend.
** A lesser example would also be the Glider which allows you full flight control, but your speed sharply decreases the more altitude you have. Go past your maximum height (which has no indication) and you'll be sent careening towards the ground (or lava, on certain occasions).

* RealMenWearPink: Thugs-4-Less. Vicious and ridiculously muscle-bound [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]. They also hold company picnics, adore fashion and cake, stop to pet kittens, consider feng shui SeriousBusiness and make sure anyone they imprison is provided with a personal fitness trainer, life coach and gets to eat a species-appropriate, vegetarian diet.

* RealMenWearPink: Thugs-4-Less. Vicious and ridiculously muscle-bound [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]]. They also hold company picnics, adore fashion and cake, stop to pet kittens, believe in feng shui and make sure anyone they imprison is provided with a personal fitness trainer, life coach and gets to eat a species-appropriate, vegetarian diet.

* SelfImposedChallenge:
** Beating the game with the bare minimum of weaponry--your Wrench, the Heavy Lancer and Mini-Nuke, and the Heavy Bouncer.
** Its possible to beat the entire game using ''only'' the Omniwrench, with only three very specific exceptions [[note]]The out of range hovertank inside the factory at Dobbo where you have to kill it to get the swingshot ([[DungeonBypass unless you climb up part of the scenery nearby and use the charge boots to bypass it]]), the two robots high up on the roof of the courtyard after the bank on Damosel (which can be destroyed by exploiting the fact that a nanotech upgrade kills every enemy on-screen), the two tanks on the other side of ravine on Yeedil which need the Minirocket Tube to be destroyed since theyre out of range of the wrench and your starting weapons are way too weak on them--but take note that all three of these can be bypassed with the wrench wall jump glitch in Challenge Mode[[/note]], but it makes the game extremely difficult. It also makes some optional challenges, like the Arena challenges where you can only use a certain weapon or killing the Arctic Leviathans on Grelbin, impossible.
** Beating the game without buying any armor upgrades. This makes the later levels extremely hard (especially on Challenge Mode), since Ratchet can only take a couple hits from any attack before keeling over.
** Theres also the No Ammo Challenge (no getting ammo from vendors, only crates).
** Hilariously enough, abusing certain glitches, (such as wall climbing and wall clipping) allows one to beat the entire game without ''rescuing Clank''. Escaping the prison ship adds him automatically into Ratchet's back, but even this can be bypassed.

* RareSentence: Ratchet cracks up when Captain Qwark claims he's come to shine the "FLASHLIGHT OF JUSTICE" on the Bogon Galaxy.

* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The arena battles can be ideal places to get experience points, or "nanomites", given the huge hordes of enemies you can slaughter there. Planet Grelbin is also this in theory, depending on how much you can tolerate the [=YETIs=].