It's tempting to start this review off in the same way as I began Jak X. Oh, what the hell! I love the Ratchet & Clank games - oh, how I love them! Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked & Loaded, Ratchet & Clank 3 - if you're somehow not familiar with just why this gaming series has been the cutting edge of weapons-based action adventures for the last few years, then go and see what you've been missing out on.

If I was pushed to pick a favourite between the Jak and Ratchet series, it would be at gunpoint - and even then, only with the loaded barrel pointed at my head, would I dare to pick one (if you want to find out which one, then you'll have to get hold of a gun and hunt me down!) Ratchet: Gladiator has a lot in common with Jak X - it's a spin off game, rather than a full blown sequel, and it's not quite as good as the rest of the series. But that doesn't matter, because the gladiator style combat that features in the Ratchet & Clank games is put to great use here, and it makes for the perfect filler entertainment while we await the next instalment in the series, which will almost certainly be on the PS3, if my tingling Spidey sense is anything to go by!

Having saved the galaxy yet again, Ratchet and the gang are aboard the Starship Phoenix, enjoying some well earned R&R, when the villainous organiser of an underground gladiator tournament kidnaps our hapless heroes and forces Ratchet to compete, with Clank and Al playing back up. The story isn't as funny or varied as the other games, as it simply follows the progress of Team Darkstar, as they're called, through a series of lethal tournaments and challenges. However, there are still plenty of trademark cut scenes, loads of humour in the game itself and a simple plot that's enjoyable to follow through to its conclusion.

I was a little concerned (needlessly so) that Gladiator would be somewhat repetitive and consist of enclosed arena deathmatches, but so much effort is put into keeping things varied that the action will keep you entertained right until the end. As well as the main Dreadzone arena, which plays host to a series of increasingly fiendish tournaments, there are a number of planets for you to work your way across, each comprising a series of objective-based missions.

The first change is the addition of two floating droid companions, who back you up with increasingly heavy firepower, as you can upgrade their armour and weapons as the game progresses. Clank is relegated to a support role back at base, where he chips in with useful information from time to time and guides you when needed, while also attempting to hack into Dreadzone's system and find a way to escape the nightmarish tournament. Exploration is kept to a minimum, leaving you to concentrate on the action - which is pretty much non-stop!

You gradually build up an excellent array of weapons, consisting of many old favourites, along with a few new ones, such as the excellently barbaric Scorpion Flail. The weapon system has been nicely streamlined, with the range being reduced and combined with the introduction of mods, which endow each weapon with an extra power. You'll get such beauties as dual machine guns, the Magma Cannon (a close-range shotgun style weapon), homing mines, the Arbiter (homing rockets), the B-6 Obliterator (powerful grenades), Mini-Turrets, the Flux Rifle (sniping) and a new and improved Holo Shield, which is tremendously handy and can block almost all projectiles for a limited time.

Various mods can be assigned to each weapon, and they include shock, acid, napalm, brainwash, morph and mini bombs, taking some of the best elements of old weapons and allowing you to customise to your heart's content. So, you can give your machine guns the ability to do ongoing acid damage, beef up your magma cannon with a freeze mod, make your hunter mines morph enemies into exploding animals (!) and cause your missiles to deliver shock damage to all enemies within range. The way you can change the mods at any time is a masterstroke, allowing you to develop your own unique style of play and alter things if you feel like mixing it up some more.

Once into a level, the enemies are varied and come thick and fast, be they hordes of small, weaker enemies or large droids that pack some serious firepower, plus dropships armed with missiles, big and lethal alien scorpions with death rays and huge spider-like tanks that you need to command your droids to attack with an EMP blast to temporarily deactivate them, if you're to have a chance of surviving. Your droids are also handy for hacking into terminals to open gates, turning bolts to activate nodes and even casting grind rails at key locations to allow you to progress, while the swingshot is automatically activated now - no more fiddling around selecting gadgets in place of weapons.

Each of the ten planets is brilliantly designed, with a number of varied missions that link nicely together, giving a real feeling of progression across good sized maps. Most feature vehicle based combat - you'll speed around on a buggy, lurch around in a heavily armoured landstalker with deadly firepower and even fly around some levels in a hovership. The vehicular combat is great fun and the amount of carnage you can cause is awesome. Combined with the various objectives of activated nodes, hacking doors and destroying waves of enemies, no two missions are quite the same.

The attention to detail in every respect for Ratchet Gladiator is outstanding; the various environments are beautifully rendered as always, and while they are perhaps a little on the gloomy side at times, they never fail to impress, with plenty of destructible scenery to get extra bolts, the currency used to buy new weapons and mods, as well as replenish ammo and upgrade your bots. The weapon effects are fantastically colourful, and when you're blitzing through dozens of enemies, most of which are firing back at you, with a range of bombs, missiles and guns, it's almost like watching a spectacular fireworks display, always moving as silkily smoothly as it looks, with no hint of slowdown. The enemies are well designed and nicely varied, with a range of types that use different approaches to taking you out, and the bosses you face are impressive, if perhaps a little on the brainless side (dodge and shoot, rather than exploit weaknesses).

As with the series, the cut scenes are wonderfully put together, featuring great direction and dripping with style. The superb voice acting returns, with Ratchet, Clank and Al all as amusing and likeable as ever, although they're upstaged by the commentator team of a green-skinned alien and an organic-hating female robot, who are constantly entertaining, with plenty of remarks during the matches that will have you chuckling as you blast your opponents into the ground. The aim of this tournament is to attract viewers and make the shark-like organiser a fortune, and it's presented as a satire of TV shows like Gladiator, but with fights to the death and safety very much not a priority! There are so many great one-liners in the introduction to each mission and during the gameplay that I lost count of how many times I laughed - the humour works very well and is really refreshing in a genre that, other than in the R&C series, is normally pretty serious. Everything else sounds wonderful too - the weapons effects and explosions really hit the mark, perfectly complementing the on-screen carnage, while an assortment of catchy and memorable tunes accompany the action.

When it comes to longevity, Ratchet Gladiator has it in spades. For starters, there are 15 skill challenges to achieve in each level, and thankfully they're stated for you (rather than the cryptic hints of the other games), such as surviving a mission without sustaining damage, destroying a certain number of enemies with a certain weapon, only using one weapon (or not using certain weapons), getting multiple kills with a single shot for a specific weapon, using a combination of mods to kill within a time limit and even things like smashing the hovering cameras. There aren't many games that bring out the completist in me, but like the main series, where I squandered hours figuring out the skill points, finding the secret bolts and collecting every last crystal in that damn sewer, this is definitely one of them! Also there are no less than five difficulty levels, so if the middle one isn't challenging enough (it's fairly tough) then you can at any time change to another, to make it harder or easier on yourself (and the game keeps track of the highest difficulty you've completed each mission on too). Missions can be played multiple times to complete the trickier skill challenges and there's also a detailed stats breakdown showing weapons usage, total number of each enemy type killed and loads more, if you're interested.

However, the real jewel in the crown is the assortment of multiplayer modes. The biggest surprise is an excellent co-op mode, where you and another player (taking the role of Clank in a robotic gladiator suit) can work through the whole game as a team. Although the split screen is a bit small (it doesn't stretch right across the TV screen), this mode really is fantastic fun with a friend. Offline, multiplayer caters for up to four players split screen, but double that number for online play and the carnage really begins! All ten planets, plus the Dreadzone Arena, are here for you to play on, complete with power-ups, an assortment of weapons (not all weapons are included, but the range is good enough) and vehicles, with a host of options to tweak to get the match just how you like it. Five modes are available, including Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, King of the Hill and Conquest, the latter of which is all about capturing nodes, and the more nodes you capture, the better the defence options available to set up against attackers. With team games available as well as free-for-all, for the first time the Ratchet series brings brilliantly strategic play to life - get online and into a good game where players work together, and this is some of the best fun you can have on PS2.

Ratchet Gladiator isn't quite up there with the rest of the series on the single player side of things, although it is still an entertaining blast fest, packed to the brim with exciting weapons, masses of enemies to kill and an assortment of great features, like your droid companions and the various vehicles to use across a range of imaginative locations and missions. The trademark graphics and humour are all in place, meaning that it's as lovely looking and funny as the other games, but the multiplayer is where Gladiator keeps on giving, especially for those of you hooked up for online play. As with Jak X, it's a must have for fans of the series and should be on the priority list for everyone else, because the arcade style action makes for some fantastically entertaining gameplay. And those commentators are just crazy - "Wow, look at the destruction, I'm glad we're out of range, Wanita! We are out of range, right Wanita?"

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