20 Years of Insomniac Games (1994-2014): Part 2 Quiz

Answer: Quest for Booty

Lasting only a couple of hours from start to finish (if that), "Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty" sees Ratchet in search of Captain Angstrom Darkwater, a pirate said to know a fair bit about the mysterious Zoni who whisked Clank away at the end of "Tools of Destruction". The action takes place in the Azorean Sea and on Hoolefar Island on planet Merdegraw, as Ratchet deals with more pirates, including Rusty Pete and Captain Romulus Slag from the previous game, in the hopes of retrieving a Fulcrum Star and powering Hoolefar Island's Obsidian Eye, a device capable of opening communication with the Zoni.

Ultimately, Ratchet learns that Clank is in need of repair and that the Zoni have him in suspended animation while they search for a doctor. And who else should turn up than their old nemesis, Dr. Nefarious, setting up the events of the next game.

Answer: There is no subtitle

While the events of the first game primarily take place in the UK, "Resistance 2" takes the fight against the Chimera back across the pond to the US. Still resistant to the full effects of the Chimera virus, our protagonist Nathan Hale joins a band of other, similarly-resistant soldiers in taking on a much greater threat than was present in the UK. Unfortunately for Hale, his story ends in "Resistance 2", dying at the hands of his teammate having fully succumbed to the virus.

Answer: The Great Clock

2009 was a great year for gaming: Sucker Punch sent sparks flying with "inFamous", Naughty Dog continued Nathan Drake's adventures in the acclaimed "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves", and Insomniac's "Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time" was the most critically praised game in the series since "Ratchet & Clank 3".

"A Crack in Time", for much of its duration, switches between Ratchet and Clank as they go about their separate journeys. Ratchet explores various planets in search of something that will help him find Clank, while Clank gets to grips with the job he was created for: being Senior Caretaker of the Great Clock. The Great Clock itself is a huge station designed to maintain temporal normality across the universe, following the catastrophic effects on the time continuum caused by improper use of time travel by other races (particularly the Fongoids).

Ratchet and Clank are eventually united again and go after Dr. Nefarious together, to stop him from misusing the Great Clock and undoing the defeats of all the universe's villains. During the game, Ratchet meets another Lombax, Alister Azimuth, who was once part of the Lombax Praetorian Guard and a childhood friend of Ratchet's father. Alister, convinced that the Great Clock would be able to bring back the universe's lost Lombaxes, ultimately turns on Ratchet when he refuses to misuse the Great Clock and states it must not be used to alter time, only to keep it.

Answer: Joseph Capelli

Having been charged with the murder of Nathan Hale, our new protagonist, Joe Capelli, finds himself years later in a community of survivors, away from the full-on warfare that was the primary focus of the previous two games. Capelli's desperate struggle against the Chimera forces sees him travel from Oklahoma to New York City, culminating in the closure of a Chimeran wormhole, which deals a significant blow to the remaining alien menace in the US.

Despite positive reception for all three games in the main series, Insomniac announced in 2012 that they would not make any more "Resistance" games.

Answer: Talwyn Apogee

Though multiplayer had been a feature of previous games (namely "Ratchet & Clank 3" and "Ratchet: Gladiator"/"Ratchet: Deadlocked"), "All 4 One" marked the first time that a "Ratchet" game had been deliberately designed to be played cooperatively by up to four people. With the change of studio came a slight change in art style too, with a more cartoonish appearance and slight exaggeration of features for Ratchet and the gang (such as Clank being larger than usual so that he doesn't appear miniature as a playable character next to Ratchet, Clank and Dr. Nefarious). Yes, that's right, Nefarious is a playable character. After a strange turn of events, Nefarious reluctantly teams up with our heroes as they go after a mysterious Creature Collector, a great big spaceship which scoops up creatures from all over the universe.

Despite the emphasis on cooperative play, "All 4 One" is of course capable of being played solo, with a computer-controlled character joining you for the game. If you're playing with friends, the game supports instant drop-in and drop-out for local players and you can also team up with other PlayStation Network players for an online co-op session.

Answer: Stuart Zurgo, the Qwark fanboy

To celebrate, an HD re-release of the original trilogy hit the shelves as well as a new game. Always willing to innovate, Insomniac's latest "Ratchet" offering fused the series' core gameplay with MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) mechanics (a la "League of Legends") and tower defence. The result was "QForce"/"Full Frontal Assault".

Each level has the same basic premise: restore the area's planetary defence centre whilst defending your own base from waves of advancing enemies. Each level can be essentially divided into two phases: recon and defence. During the recon phase, you can venture out of the base and go in search of weapons (unusually, you have to retrieve them from weapon pods rather than having them automatically) and bolts (with which to purchase, upgrade and repair base defences). Of course, you can also go straight for the key nodes and deactivate them, which allows access to the planetary defence centre. An on-screen meter will indicate the proximity of enemies to your base and thus the start of the defence phase. Barriers, turrets and mines can all be purchased to keep your base safe but it's always best to get in there yourself and bust some chops. When all is safe, the recon phase begins again. This cycle will continue indefinitely until you complete the level's main objective and survive a final onslaught of enemies.

Medals are awarded for your performance in the level, ranging from keeping all your base's generators intact to completing it in record time. Collecting these medals unlocks special passive bonuses such as increased hoverboot speed and better bolt pickups. A bevy of skill points are also available to tap away at, though you'll find most of them come naturally just by playing (such as getting a certain number of kills with a weapon or hoverbooting for a set distance).

Answer: As a Facebook game

Ever keen to experiment, Insomniac set up a small division within their company to develop a game for Facebook. The result was "Outernauts", built on Flash and reminiscent of the "Pokemon" games. Its premise is simple: you venture out into the universe, catching and training creatures to battle against other 'nauts. As with many other Facebook games, it was free to play with optional purchases built in to allow immediate continued play (certain actions within the game consumed energy, which was slow to replenish and limited the number of actions you could do per session).

Despite its popularity on Facebook, Insomniac decided to pull it and instead reworked it for mobiles. It was re-released on the Apple App Store in February 2014.

Answer: "Overstrike"

Originally announced at E3 2011, "Overstrike" looked to be a fun, colourful cooperative game with Insomniac's trademark humour thrown in for added effect. However, a year later, it was revealed that the original "Overstrike" project had been overhauled to become "Fuse", a game more reminiscent of other popular shooter titles on the market. Opinion was divided as to whether this was a result of EA intervention or a creative decision on Insomniac's part.

"Fuse" revolves around a volatile substance (aptly called Fuse) that can bond with anything it touches. The central group of four agents that form Overstrike 9 acquire Fuse-infused weapons with unique functions. For instance, the Warp Rifle can create singularities and miniature black holes, while the Scattergun can crystallise enemies and shatter them.

"Fuse" also marked the first time that Insomniac released a game for a non-Sony console (excluding "Outernauts"). Thanks to its partnership with EA, "Fuse" was brought to both the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

Answer: "Nexus" or "Into the Nexus"

Ratchet, Clank, Cronk and Zephyr are tasked with escorting a dangerous space witch and criminal called Vendra Prog to prison on the Nebulox VII prison ship. Events turn awry as Vendra's brother, Neftin, and an army of hired thugs attack the Nebulox and help Vendra escape, killing Cronk and Zephyr in the process. Stranded in a haunted sector of the galaxy, Ratchet and Clank discover creatures bleeding through from another dimension known as the Netherverse, and Vendra wants to bring through the entire race of Nethers. In a turn of events, Neftin agrees to help Ratchet and Clank obtain the original Dimensionator to banish the Nethers and save Vendra.

Billed as an epilogue to the PS3 "Ratchet" games, "Nexus" is considerably shorter than "A Crack in Time" but by no means an inferior game. From the ruins of an abandoned orphanage to a ghost-filled metropolis, "Nexus" to some extent wraps up the duo's adventures on the PS3, while also leaving some threads dangling for potential use in future games.

Answer: Xbox One

After a glittering history of quality PlayStation video games, Insomniac took the opportunity to develop a game specifically for Microsoft's Xbox One. October 2014 saw the release of "Sunset Overdrive", Insomniac's first proper foray into developing exclusively for another console (one of the many advantages of being an independent studio).

In "Sunset Overdrive", a brand new energy drink has been released, OverCharge Delirium XT, and it has turned much of the city's population into ravenous mutants. Players are tasked with escaping the city and blasting these mutants into oblivion with an array of weird and wonderful weapons (this is an Insomniac game, remember; creating wacky weapons is in their blood). With Insomniac's trademark humour and a dazzling array of crazy weapons, never has a zombie-like outbreak been so colourful or so fun.