'Commando' arsenal is tops

"Ratchet & Clank" was a good adventure game, with plenty to see and do. The sequel, "Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando," is better.

The difference is in the weapons. This time around our friend Ratchet (Is he a fox? A cat?) and his little robot sidekick Clank are commandos, working for Abercrombie Fizzwidget, commissioned to find a small furball of an "experiment" called a protopet that has been stolen by amazingly unattractive bad guys in a galaxy far away.

Ratchet's undergone some heavy-duty training. But the best part is the arsenal he can buy with the bolts he collects along the way.

There's a spider-robot-bomb device that's my particular favorite. You just turn it loose and it seeks out its target, sneaking up to bomb it. And I loved wreaking havoc with a device that turns into lots of bouncing balls that have their own explosive power. You can also shoot lava or toss a mini-turret glove that becomes a weapon on a tripod. When it lands, it sprays ammo at the target. You don't even have to be close by. Another favorite was the kilinoid, which puts four little fighters in the air above you to help you in battle. They shoot independently and sometimes spot problems before you do.

"Going Commando" is a sequel of sorts, but it's really more of the same with better weapons. That's OK. Both "Ratchet & Clank" games are a lot of fun. And someone who's shelling out the fairly hefty price of a videogame appreciates one that lasts a while (about 20 hours in this case) and holds your attention.

The action takes place on various planets, and that was one of the few complaints I had. I don't like the way the game loads between settings. Ratchet (with Clank on his back) hops into his spaceship and blasts across the galaxy like a star shooting through a field of stars. But it's pretty repetitive after a while. Fortunately, it doesn't take long.

There's a lot of humor in this game, with "ads" for Megacorp that play periodically. You see, for instance, kid products that were rejected, like the nuclear mouse trap. They're clever and brief.

It's also a meaty game that requires some time and skill to beat different challenges. If you can't stay on the rail (it looks like half of a roller coaster track), for instance, you're going to have to work on it until you can. There aren't any work-arounds. You have to develop the skills you need.

The settings are creative and varied. In one planet, you need your gravity boots because it's like walking on the outside of a box and it wouldn't be hard to fall off the edge.

It's really not hard to learn to use any of the equipment, but it takes some skill to decide what's your best choice in a particular situation or battle.