If there's one thing that's great about the winter, it's the glut of superb games that come out towards Christmas. And few are as funny, entertaining, engrossing and action packed as the adventures of that enduringly lovable duo, Ratchet & Clank. In fact, the only bad thing about Ratchet & Clank 3 is that its release date is so close to the third in the Jak & Daxter series, potentially forcing gamers to choose between them, when really they're both essential purchases.

If I was asked to pick between the two, I just couldn't do it. Sure, without Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank wouldn't exist, but both series have gone in distinctly different directions whilst keeping a staggering amount of evolution, variety and humour throughout the series. And if you are yet to find out what all the fuss is about (shame on you, call yourself a gamer?!) then this latest instalment is the perfect place to do it.

We're heading back to Ratchet's galaxy this time, right back to his home planet of Veldin in fact, as some blobby, one-eyed alien types are invading en masse. The intergalactic hooligans are rude enough to attack during an episode of Secret Agent Clank, much to Clank's dismay. Yes, Clank has been busy filming a new TV series and thanks to this, everyone now believes that Clank is the hero and Ratchet is his trusty chauffeur! Heading home at an impossible speed, Ratchet dives straight into the action and backs up the robot troops trying to fend off the invasion.

Upon completing this first mission, it's then off to Florana, a very fresh-looking jungle habitat, to find the mysterious stranger hiding there. There's no prizes for guessing that you find none other than Captain Qwark, who has hit a new low - he's gone a bit mental and thinks he's a monkey! However, he's the only one who has defeated Dr Nefarious before, the evil menace behind this new invasion, and the President of Veldin is determined that Qwark is the man for the job. Taking up residence on the very impressive Starship Phoenix, it's up to Ratchet and Clank to help restore Qwark's memory and then back him up as he attempts to thwart Nefarious's dastardly plans.

The story for Ratchet & Clank 3 is as lightweight and humorous as that of the first two - plenty of gags, lots of laugh out loud dialogue and a couple of twists thrown in just to keep you guessing. Many of the characters from previous games are back, including Helga, the robotic trainer, Big Al, the techno-geek inventor and Skidd McMarxx, the former hoverboarding champion and all round cool dude. This continuity is very pleasing and all the new characters are as distinctive and imaginative as the returning ones. There are plenty of cut scenes throughout the game and as usual they are as watchable and professionally produced as an episode of Futurama.

If anything, this is the funniest of the three games and there are several sections where Qwark, once restored to his impossibly egocentric self, outlines insane missions with the use of crayon drawings that a five-year-old child would be ashamed of! Seriously, they really are hilarious. Also, we get to see the past adventures of Qwark in the form of retro video games, which are storyboarded and narrated in very amusing fashion. However, Qwark isn't allowed to steal the show completely, as Ratchet and Clank get plenty of entertaining dialogue too - and that first episode of Secret Agent Clank really is great!.

The gameplay is quite simply better than ever. It was impossible to conceive how the original could have been improved upon, but R&C 2 blew it away in every respect. Amazingly, Insomniac Games have done exactly the same yet again. The levels are even bigger, more ambitious, more varied and might just even look a little bit nicer. Graphically, Ratchet & Clank has always been outstanding, pushing the PS2 to its limits with virtually no loading times (new planets still load behind animated starship travel screens and now there are other nifty animations, such as Ratchet freefalling, a dropship flying through the clouds and a submarine speeding deep in the ocean). There is big range of new worlds to explore, each as distinctive and pulsing with creativity as the last.

As I mentioned already, Florana, one of the first planets you visit, is very exotic-looking and different to anything seen before in the series. Then there is Aquatos, an underwater base with some of the coolest looking underwater backdrops I've ever seen and a simply massive sewer network beneath it with 99 crystals to find! Even the sewers look cool, with appealing music and shimmering, multi-coloured reflective surfaces on the pipes. I'd suggest you hang on until you've got the charge boots before spending too much time down there though, or it'll take forever!

There is a bigger range of enemies than before, combined from the various types of Tyhrranoids, the alien race that Nefarious has turned on Planet Veldin, the native wildlife of each world and a number of robotic foes. And there is yet again a new and very impressive range of weapons, each highly satisfying to use and each with wonderful graphical effects. The Suck Cannon is back and improved so it can carry more ammo this time and suck up crates as well as enemies. Then there's the all-new Plasma Whip, a smoothly animated long whip of blazing fire that crackles and sweeps around the screen knocking enemies flying. The N-60 Storm is a rapid fire energy weapon that, whilst not that interesting, packs a real punch and takes over from the heavy blaster, whilst the Shock Blaster is a super-powerful version of the Blitz Gun, inflicting serious damage. The Flux Rifle is the new sniper rifle equivalent and great for picking enemies off from afar, whilst new gloves include the Agents of Doom, which deposits four lethal kamikaze gadgetbots that charge at the enemy and explode and the Holoshield, which plants a temporary barrier to take cover behind. The Infector is one of the coolest new weapons, as it infects enemies and makes them attack their own kind - very handy when you're up against large numbers. And there are more but I don't want to spoil all the surprises. You'll also get back some old classics too, which are free if you have a Ratchet & Clank 2 save file - a very cool touch. You even get a 10% discount on most weapons if you have a save file from the first game!

Each of these new weapons has several levels of enhancement and the more you use them, the quicker they auto-upgrade and become even more powerful, often gaining new functions, like lock-on abilities and residual energy charges that blast multiple enemies. Suffice to say, every weapon effect looks amazing and when you're in the thick of it, with you and three or four allied robots firing against a dozen or more enemies, half of which are firing back at you, and there is weapons fire of various kinds flying everywhere, there is still not even a hint of slowdown, which to my mind is a very impressive achievement.

However, it's not just the weapons that make this game even better; it's the level designs. Some levels see you dropping in from high above and freefalling into a shower of missiles, all flying up towards you, dodging around as the level below gets closer, smoothly scaling into view before you land seamlessly and start blasting at the ground forces. Some levels see you accompanied by allied forces, so you feel like a part of a team for a change. A number of levels also have multiple objectives - early on you'll be required to stay in one area and protect allied robot troops against the onslaught of foes flown in by enemy dropships. Then there are other missions where you must man a mounted gun and shoot down the dropships, protect the allies repairing the broken gun and finally activate a series of aerial defences whilst fending off the biggest assault yet. These types of missions get increasingly tough and bigger as the game progresses, providing one of the best new parts of the game and giving you the chance to use your weapons until they upgrade. The death arena returns in the form of Annihilation Nation, which now not only has a big arena full of traps, energy fields, flames and a variety of gladiatorial foes, but also has a couple of obstacle courses full of flaming platforms, falling platforms and more. And there are some all-new bosses to defeat too.

And the innovation keeps on coming. You're only a few levels in when you head to Aquatos (after Qwark's truly inspired briefing) and halfway through the mission, you and Clank split up. We then get to play as Clank again and the gadgetbots are back for him to command as his own personal army. However, possibly the funniest weapon in any of the games is the banana gun, which you fire to send Qwark's pet one-eyed monkey (now dressed in his own Q-Force green Qwark suit!!) to stand on switches that open force fields and activate lifts. Even more priceless is when you get to security bots. Fire a banana to send the monkey charging in and whilst the bots are firing at the monkey (who runs around shrieking madly) you sneak on past! When you switch to Ratchet, if anything the gameplay becomes funnier still. You are now disguised as a Tyhrrannoid and you must converse successfully with other Tyhrranoids to get them to let you past forcefields and across bridges. You do this by pressing buttons on the controller in time to the symbols on the screen, forming a little mini-game in the process and if you get it wrong you end up saying some very insulting things. I kept getting it wrong just to see what I'd say next! The English translations of the language are again laugh out loud funny to read and I found this level to be one of the quirkiest and genuinely amusing sections of any game I've ever played.

And there's more! You soon assault the Tyhrranoid homeworld and after freefalling in and working your way into their base to deactivate their mortars, a dropship brings you a vehicle to drive. It's a jeep with a heavy-duty cannon on the back, manned by our one-eyed monkey friend! So you speed around a huge level, with the monkey firing at enemy guard towers and dropships flying all around above, caught in a mad firefight. It feels like you're in the middle of a full-scale battle. There are four areas to work through on foot here to destroy the power sources of the big guns, so you're your dropship can swoop in and blow the door to the innermost area, where you'll face off against a massive alien foe in a very cool boss battle, some of which is viewed from the alien's eyes as you run around dodging the missiles it fires. Just as you finally defeat the thing, Qwark appears from nowhere to take all the credit, much to Ratchet's annoyance! Speaking of Qwark, there is even a series of comic books to play through, which come in the form of 2D retro style platform games with lush graphics and hidden secrets to find. These sections perfectly capture the fun and style of that era of games (take it from an old git that knows!) and provide a very satisfying blast from the past without becoming too frustrating.

The sound effects and music are as excellent as we've come to expect, with every weapon sounding just right, explosions booming everywhere and enemy grunts and cries being suitably alien and amusing. The voice acting is of a very high standard, delivered with real zest and perfect comic timing as usual. And those distinctive themes we know and love are all here, with variations on previous themes and plenty of brand new tunes, each as pleasing on the ears as the last. The music really adds to the atmosphere and excitement too in places like the arena battles and in the hectic battles, whilst complimenting the atmosphere in other locations like the sewers in the depths of Aquatos and the deep jungle of Florana.

As if all this wasn't enough, there is now a fully-fledged multiplayer mode, supporting up to four players split screen and eight players online. There are a number of well-designed levels and whilst the game modes are limited to deathmatch, capture the flag and siege, there are nodes to be captured for weapons upgrades and spawn points, vehicles to use where one player drives and another shoots, mounted cannons and a big range of your favourite weapons, old and new, to use in demolishing the opposition. There is just no denying that this is a massively cool addition to an already stunning game and there's nothing quite like this out there - it's not quite a traditional first person shooter style and the weapons are so outlandish that you really will have tremendous fun. There's nothing like morphing your enemies into sheep and then smacking them with your wrench!! So full marks for this very unexpected addition, which ups the lifespan of this already huge game quite considerably. Suffice to say, this is one that you'll be playing with your friends for some time to come, offline and online if you have a network adapter.

What more can be said about this gaming wonder? We all knew that Ratchet & Clank 3 would be just as ingenious, innovative, imaginative and entertaining as its predecessors but Insomniac Games has excelled all expectations and surpassed themselves yet again. Luscious looking levels that are bigger than ever, a wonderful range of new and old weapons, a multitude of gameplay styles, vehicles, freefalling, 2D retro action and a fully online multiplayer mode where you get to use those wonderful weapons against friends and strangers alike. This is without doubt one of the finest games of 2004 and a must have for every PS2 gamer; if all games were crafted with this much intelligence and loving attention then nobody would ever get any work done!

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).