10) Arbiter (Ratchet Deadlocked)
Ratchet Deadlocked slimmed down the amount of weapons in the previous games to 10, but the lineup was no slouch. Dual machine guns, flails, and turret launchers were the name of the game here, and one of the more impressive weapons was the deadly rocket launcher The Arbiter.
Sure, it launches rockets at high velocity like it does in any other game. Definitely deadly when taking on a horde of enemies, for sure. But its true use comes when you have a Time Bomb mod equipped, and a high velocity rocket becomes one with an even more explosive payoff. Just wait for it to attach to whoever you fire it at, count down, and BOOM! And when it’s fully upgraded to the Silencer and shoots three rockets at once, it’s triple the destruction.
9) Buzz Blades (Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction)
Is there anything more satisfying and fun than launching something at enemies and kicking back to watch the chaos all unfold? To just flick your wrist out and have something ricochet and strike everything that isn’t you, tearing it to pieces? Because that’s what you get with Tools of Destruction’s Buzz Blades.
The high speed sawblades made themselves incredibly effective in clearing out a room of enemies. Even though they didn’t multiply after each ricochet, it had a high ammo count and rate of fire that made it no less useful. Completely upgraded into the Doom Blades laced the blades with a biocidic acid that would whittle away health just like that. Talk about adding insult to injury.
8) Bee Mine Glove (Size Matters)
The Ratchet and Clank games are no strangers to deployable weapons. Agents of Doom, the Turret Launcher, Hunter Mine Launcher, all of these are deadly weapons in the Lombax and robot’s ever expanding arsenal. But none are quite as deadly or fear inducing as a gun that shoots bees.
Bees are terrifying, and that statement stays true in video games. You can launch a swarm of the little things at enemies to freak out as they’re stung over and over. To add insult to injury, the robotic swarm are explosive, and an upgrade allows the hive itself to explode when all of the bees have attacked. Those bees can create a space rift when they explode, further proving that bees are awful, just slightly above spiders.
7) Shard Reaper (Future: Tools of Destruction)
Nothing’s more painful than stepping on shards of glass (exception: Legos), and the Shard Reaper makes that even worse by firing shards at your entire body. The Trillium ore rounds make for one deadly shotgun, equally painful and in small and heavy doses when fired at short range.
This isn’t the first time the series has had shotguns; in particular, Up Your Arsenal’s Shock Cannon let you charge it up for a longer, deadlier reach. But the Reaper trumps that by adding a mod that fuses rounds with Nano Clusters that get into a target and explode. Not fun. Even more powerful was the Nitro Reaper, which fired shards of compressed liquid nitrogen and was perfect when going up against the tougher enemies and bosses.
6) Lava Gun (Going Commando)
Fire is the most common element used in games when the developers need a deadly weapon on hand. It’s the most easiest, given that flamethrowers are practically a timeless weapon, much like a bow and arrow and swords, but Ratchet and Clank don’t do simple. Why have a flamethrower when you can have a gun that fires hot lava?
It may have required you to get closer to enemies than you’d like and let them swarm you while they run around in circles, but that doesn’t make the Lava Gun any less deadly. This thing would scorch enemies like no other, and its reach only got greater with each upgrade. The only reason to prefer its version in Going Commando as opposed to Up Your Arsenal is because of its upgrade to the Meteor Gun. Lava is deadly, but flaming hot meteors at rapid-fire speed? Yeah, not gonna be fun if you’re on the receiving end.
5) The Lightsaber (Up Your Arsenal)
Lightsabers are cool, that’s an indisputable fact. Whenever you see one being ignited, you know it’s about to go down, and countless childhoods have been spent waving one around while making sound effects. Double-bladed lightsabers are even cooler thanks to Darth Maul, and there’s no better sci-fi weapon to join Insomniac’s already colorful and diverse arsenal than a double bladed lightsaber.
Sure, it’s referred to as a “double bladed laser sword” in the game, but make no mistake: this is definitely a weapon born of George Lucas’ mind. It’s a bit sad that it’s admittedly just a skin for your Omniwrench instead of its own legit weapon, because Ratchet with a lightsaber would be pretty amazing, but it’s still really cool to swing around. Too bad you couldn’t change its color, though. Nothing against purple, just that blue or green suits Ratchet better.
4) Groovitron (Future: Tools of Destruction)
While not technically a weapon in the traditional Ratchet and Clank sense–all it does, when you get right down to it, is open enemies up to get shot–that doesn’t make the Groovitron any less effective on the battlefield. Heck, it’s so effective that even our titular heroes can’t stop themselves from banging their heads to the beat.
Dance is a powerful form of expression. With just simple or complex body motions, one can convey emotions in a powerful way that’s equally poignant and fueled with emotion. Video games beg to differ, as they primarily use dance as forms of humor, as has been seen by GIFs of Commander Shepard’s dancing skills, or music videos made in Destiny. The same goes with Ratchet and Clank; in their PS3 debut Tools of Destruction, the duo gained the Groovitron, which launches a disco ball and causes any enemy in the nearest proximity to dance. Is it ridiculous to watch a space leviathan get its groove on? Yes. Does it make it any less funny? Not one bit.
3) Rift Inducer (Up Your Arsenal)
Black holes are deadly and absorb everything in their path, but that doesn’t stop the folks at Insomniac for making it incredibly fun to use. Who hasn’t wanted a gun that shoots tiny black holes and swallows up all the bad guys?
While nothing truly special until it hits level two, the Rift Inducer is still one of the best weapons to have at your disposal in Up Your Arsenal. During the Annihilation Nation segments, it’s particularly useful in sucking up enemies that come directly for you the moment they leave their pods. When it returns for another appearance in Crack in Time, it’s way deadlier, even going so far as to have an interdimensional monster with tentacles named Fred suck enemies into its rift. Oh, Fred. You’re so hungry.
2) RY3NO (Up Your Arsenal)
Nearly every Ratchet and Clank game has one of these bad boys: the gun that’ll Rip You a New One, appropriately titled RYNO. In Up Your Arsenal, it’s given the clever name of RY3NO, but the third iteration of the deadly missile launcher is no less effective when you can finally pay its admittedly high cost.
Available only until you beat the game and begin Challenge Mode, the RY3NO’s eight missile volley can take care of just about every enemy that occupies the screen right from the start. It’s one of those weapons where, if the game had a Horde mode, you could enter confidently knowing that you’d come out of it alive. As the RYNOCIRATOR, it becomes the ultimate weapon, firing all missiles that fuse together and create a blinding light and turning enemies to ash. Passing the missiles through enemies make them more powerful than just blind firing, so keep that in mind.
1) Mr. Zurkon (Future: Tools of Destruction)
Sorry Clank, you’re a pretty swell guy–of course you are, your name’s in the title of every game–but you may be upstaged by Mr. Zurkon. Like most robots in this universe, he’s cute, but not as innocent as his appearance would have you believe. In fact, if you called him cute, he’d probably shoot you in the face and laugh about it.
Deployable robot drones have been in the series before, but none of them have been quite as charming and entertaining as Zurkon. He’s more powerful than the other drones, for one thing, and he’s always got something on his mind. It just so happens that those things are almost always related to the enemy he just helped you kill. The only thing that could make Mr. Zurkon better than he already is, is having the Zurkon family join in on the fun. The family that kills together stays together.
What’s your favorite weapon from Ratchet & Clank? Let us know in the comments below!
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