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Qwark: You know what this calls for?
Ratchet: Don't say it.
Qwark: I'll tell you what this calls for!
Ratchet: ...He's gonna say it.
Qwark: THE Q-FORCE!
Ratchet: ...He said it.
Qwark: ...HAIL!

The Ratchet & Clank series' second downloadable title, celebrating the series' tenth anniversary. Much like its predecessor, it can be played solo or with a friend. Though advertised as going back to the core gameplay, a new twist has been added in the form of Tower Defense elements. The plot centers around a series of Planetary Defense Centers across the galaxy that have been breached by a terrible foe from the series' past, putting said galaxy— and its inhabitants— in danger.

While, like Quest for Booty, the game was originally set to be download-only in North America, it's been set to receive a physical release as well as its original digital release in all regions. This is the first title in the franchise to be released on Play Station Vita (as well).

Not to be confused with Full-Frontal Assault, an entirely different matter.


Oh, boy! Not a good time to run out of tropes!

  • Ascended Extra: The Qwark Fanboy from Going Commando.
  • Bag of Spilling: Unlike every other game in the series, every time you enter a level you have to reobtain all your weapons and a number of your gadgets through various item pods strewn about the maps. Fortunately, your weapons still keep their upgrade progress.
  • Bottomless Magazines: The cheat that you get for earning 105 Skill Points. It applies to the story as well as multiplayer, so have fun tearing through the enemies with your weapon of choice.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: When the Big Bad appears to tell the heroes that he's deactivated the Planetary Defense Centers, Qwark is busy wondering what he wants. He comes up with money, power, or money and power.
  • The Cameo: Several supporting characters and villains from the series return as multiplayer skins, including (Ultimate Supreme Executive) Chairman Drek, Chainblade, the B-2 Brawler, a Qwark-bot, Alpha Clank, Emperor Percival Tachyon, Sigmund, Azimuth, and more.
  • Continuity Nod:
  • Color-Coded Multiplayer: There are two teams in versus mode, the red team and the blue team. The red team's players have red costumes (the bottom row compares the red and blue teams), bolts they collect have a red aura around them, nodes they capture are red, allied Grungarians are red, heck, even the health and ammo crates in their base are red (and the blue team can't interact with them), and the inverse can be said for the blue team. Uncaptured nodes and unallied enemies are green.
  • Co-Op Multiplayer: As in All 4 One, the game is playable alone or with a friend, although this time you can only have one friend.
  • Disney Villain Death: Zurgo apparently falls to his death after Qwark accidentally lets him go during the "Whoa, Q-FORCE" chant at the end of the game. Ultimately, though, this was subverted come Into the Nexus, which states that he survived with several broken bones. He was sentenced to 50 years of house arrest with his mother Lucille.
  • Escort Mission: The Hidden City of Balkai Snow Storm gets one at the end of the mission of the Nitro Express variant.
  • Failed Attempt at Drama: Zurgo is full of them. He usually foils his own efforts at drama by spouting internet memes. Qwark also gets a moment in his half of this exchange:
    Zurgo: What are you?
    Qwark: I'm the guy who doesn't live in his mother's basement!
  • Foreshadowing: If you're just hanging around the Phoenix II prior to Zurgo's takeover you can hear Barry wondering if somebody has a holo-guise active.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Stuart Zurgo went from a one-off, easily missable NPC in the second game that lost a fight his opponents didn't even participate in to becoming a full-blown galactic villain capable of taking over Planetary Defense Centers with an army of hired mercenaries. Slightly downplayed in that he's impossible to take seriously thanks to his personality, but even with that he still manages to put the heroes through their paces.
  • Hover Skates: The Hoverboots return in this game, and can be used by everyone. Like in ACiT, they also enable gliding, since Clank is a playable character.
  • Humongous Mecha: It doesn't rival most anime examples, but if a Grungarian Tank enters your base, it will attack your generators by turning into a robot that stands taller than the tank and shooting at the generators.
  • It's Personal: The Big Bad is, in fact, Stuart Zurgo, otherwise known as the Qwark Fanboy from Going Commando. His motive is actually very similar to Ratchet's response to the first game's reveal about Qwark.
  • Jumped at the Call: The game opens with Qwark in a funk over having lost his reelection bid for Galactic President. When Clank suggests that some of the ship's cleaner bots in the docking bay have gone rogue, Qwark dashes back there before Clank can even finish his sentence, and when the Big Bad sends a transmission to the ship, Qwark is ecstatic over finally getting to fight again.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: If you didn't know about the villain being the Qwark Fanboy from Going Commando prior, the fact that he has a spot in the Museum in Into the Nexus would tip you off.
  • Magikarp Power: If you stick with the Combuster until Level 3, it gets a spread shot that makes it more effective. Once it gets to Level 5, it'll have a fire rate and damage that allows you to decimate pretty much anything at close range. Combine that with some Bottomless Magazines and you can make the Combuster the only weapon you need.
  • Market-Based Title: "Ratchet & Clank: Q-Force" in Europe.
  • The Mole: The Plumber on board the Starship Phoenix II isn't the real one. He's actually Zurgo using a holo-guise.
  • No-Damage Run: The Skill Point "The Bully" is earned by defeating the final boss in this fashion.
  • Oh, Crap!: Ratchet's reaction after he helps the Plumber fix his broken ship near the Korgon Refinery, where he claimed to be stuck all morning, and then realizes that the Plumber has been on the Phoenix II all morning.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Early in the game, Qwark is shown wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe. On top of his regular costume.
  • Remixed Level: The Hidden City of Balkai, Snow Storm, which is exactly what it sounds like. In addition, the mission is changed too; you now have to destroy the 10 weather beacons, defend your base while it assembles a bomb to destroy the Planetary Defense Center, escort the bomb there, and then protect it from an attack until it can explode.
  • Shout-Out: Check them out here.
  • Spread Shot: Once you upgrade the Combuster to Level 3, you net a triple-shot for it, as is tradition for the Combuster.
  • Squashed Flat: Grungarian Tanks don't care if you're in their way. They'll just go over you and make you into a pancake on the ground (which doesn't kill you, but does hurt).
  • Totally Radical:
    • The ship's AI, Barry, is an incredibly chill guy who says stuff like "dude" on a regular basis.
    • Zurgo isn't any better, dropping memes like "you mad?" and calling himself "leet" frequently.
  • Tower Defense: Though the game goes back to the series' classic gameplay style, it also incorporates tower-defense-style gameplay, as you need to keep the generators in your base alive while you're not there. This can be accomplished with things like turrets, barriers and mines that you buy with the Bolts enemies and crates drop.
  • Unstable Equilibrium: The online mode can become this. Owning nodes will generate money for you, and capturing a node you haven't had in the game yet will let you acquire a new weapon. However, it's possible to shut the other player out by killing them when they try to get nodes and taking them for yourself. This will allow you to get new weapons and more money, which will let you put up barriers over the nodes you own and capture the other nodes faster due to being able to kill the enemies that spawn near them quicker. By doing this, you can leave the other player stuck with their starting Combuster (pistol), and no money to buy base defenses, player upgrades, or an invasion force to attack the enemy base.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
    • The Plumber has become this, to the point that the characters don't even question the fact that he's hanging around the Phoenix doing maintenance work.
    • The description for the Psychedelic game filter tells you to turn it on when your friend walks into the room and act like nothing's changed.
  • Warp Whistle: In story mode and versus, holding Down on the d-pad will warp you back to base after two seconds. It's useful if a sudden threat makes itself apparent at home and you need to be there now, or just if there's somewhere close to base you want to be and don't feel like walking.
  • Weather-Control Machine: Qwark used one for his presidential events and Zurgo later uses it to cover Balkai in a snowstorm.

"Woah, Q-Force!"

Alternative Title(s): Ratchet And Clank Q Force

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