"You're not just corrupt, you're stupid!"
Ratchet's got a lot of guts to say that to someone who could kill him at the touch of a button.  But he does have a good point.  Corruption and stupidity often go hand in hand!

I think this game was the most adult rated and the darkest game of all the ratchet and clank games. So much sex jokes and profanity like a lot than normal lol and I LOVE every second of it!

I remember realizing one if the announcers (Dallas) is Timmy's dad.

"Ratchet Movie Deals"

...

The image of Dr Nefarious floating on that asteroid is seriously one of the funniest things from my childhood. I lost my shit when they appeared at the end of this game.

I think I speak for all of us Gladiator/Deadlocked Veterans when you play this game 5 times over on Exterminator Rank, you tend to think literally all the enemies are just one big joke. And when you then play on Couch Potato mode, you feel like Doomguy going for a very enthusiastic walk.

The strange thing that I've only come to realize later in life, is that in terms of the original themes and concepts of the earliest R&C games, Deadlocked actually makes way more sense as the third entry in the Trilogy than Up Your Arsenal ever did.

The original R&C had a cynical edge to it, and it presented a world where Corporate power and Consumerism has basically run amok (shoutout to the Plumber who can't evacuate Novalis because, no joke, he can't afford an escape ticket and has to "wait for Captain Qwark" to save him, "Socioeconomic Disparity" indeed). Chairman Drek is part mafia boss, part corrupt CEO. The whole reason he needs to build a new homeworld is because he polluted and soiled their old one. He reveals in the climax of the game that his whole evil plan revolves around making obscene amounts of money:

"You see, I've been paid for every square inch of my new world. Once the inhabitants move in, I'll begin polluting this world as well. Then the whole thing starts all over again"

It's all about money for Drek. He's a greedy Corporate CEO. This is the first stage; fighting the corporation.

Now on to Going Commando. Consider just how powerful MegaCorp is. One of the slogans on MegaCorp's Weapon vendor is "MegaCorp: your best choice, your only choice"

Qwark, whilst posing as Mr. Fizzwidget, films a commercial for a MegaCorp weapons facility that begins thus:

"MegaCorp keeps you warm, keeps you healthy, and now, keeps you safe"

MegaCorp really does seem to produce pretty much all goods and provide all services you can find in the Bogon Galaxy, with small companies like Thugs-4-Less providing some very scant few exceptions. Essentially, MegaCorp is one huge, galaxy-wide monopoly, which is honestly a pretty scary thought. Qwark himself exploits MegaCorp's immense reach to engineer the Protopet menace in the first place. Going Commando then becomes the second step in this chain: Being employed by, and doing underhanded work for, the corporation.

And then we have Deadlocked, where this chain culminates the only way it could: being exploited by the corporation.

Gleeman Vox is a megalomaniacal multimedia mogul (say that three times fast) who quite literally puts people's lives on the line for the sake of profit, and pursues new ways to squeeze money out of his "contestants" with sicophantic zeal. His outburst detailing all the merchandise he would make off of Ratchet's image ( Action Figures, Breath Mints, Sports Shoes, Earmuffs etc.) is a case in point. The cynical perspectives on corporatism and consumerism are taken to their logical extreme here, with literal gladiatorial combat to the death being sold and marketed to children without a second thought.

"That's right kids: Exterminator trading cards are here..."

"The little Billies and Susies of the world are spending a trillion bolts a day on worthless swag..."

Etc.

I gotta say: talk about things you never noticed as a kid.

I was very surprised to find that Ratchet: Deadlocked, the FOURTH installment in the series probably has the best storytelling of any game in the franchise. The plot was interesting, characters were memorable and it came to a very satisfying conclusion at the end when all the people who were against you started supporting you. I feel like this could of easily been adapted to be the ratchet & clank movie instead of what we got. The fictional robocop-esque ads would of even made more sense in that context.

9:22
R&C Fans: "You think this is funny?"
Insomniac: "In a cosmic sort of way, yes."
R&C Fans: "Well, Mr. Steve McQwark, is this how you get your sick kicks?!" (Shows them PS3 port of Ratchet: Deadlocked)
Insomniac: "What, its just an HD port of Ratchet--OH MY GOODNESS! Idol Minds!"

4:15 I'm no dentist, but I'm pretty sure teeth don't go like that.

I like how Insomniac and Naughty Dog make us love to hate the villians of their games.

Deadlocked might have the most consistently funny cutscenes. What a great game

3:35 is the closest we got to ratchet sweating his tail off. And validly so

I like that Ratchet's relationship with the Mayor's daughter(now the Mayor) carried over to this game. Just a wholesome touch.

8:18 It's funny how he said "uncensored" right after being censored

When Vox tries to get Ratchet to be a sellout he offers video games and movie rights, I fall off my bed and say "He already has those dummy!" lol

This game kind of brought back the themes of greed and corporatism that were in the first two games and missing from all other entries, glad it did

I always loved how this game starts right after Ratchet 3. Makes it feel like Ratchet and Clank 4 or something lol.

9:29
Cartoon Network trying to sell Teen Titains Go Merchendices

28:57 Vox getting a hard-on for gratuitous Capitalism is my absolute favourite. Honestly these guys had enough material & V.A talent to make a pretty decent show. I'd seriously throw my moneys at a Ratchet TV show with this kind of writing.

Too bad the series became extremely PG after this & the series got slapped with the "pixar of videogames" label by critics everywhere.