Aside from the sad fact that mankind still has an insatiable appetite for reality shows, the story itself provides a great opportunity to place Ratchet in some improbable levels against some tough opponents. What's new however, is that this time Ratchet is not alone. You are accompanied by two controllable Gladiator Bots that float by your side to provide added firepower when needed - which is often.

These bots provide an added dimension to the gameplay, however they are pretty limited as far as controls are concerned - there are only basic functions available to you, such as regroup, defend, etc.. You can also get them to undertake simple tasks such as activating door controls. Thankfully, though, the AI for the bots is very good and they seem to happily blaze away at any hint of an enemy. Often their added firepower is just what's needed to get you out of a tight corner.

A lot of noise was made at release of Ratchet: Gladiator regarding the new art direction and enhanced graphics engine. Although there has clearly been a huge step forward with the quality of the graphics, we found some of the levels quite bland; using a better paint brush does not always result in a better painting. Levels lack detail and often fail to support the level concept itself. For example, in a graveyard level where we battled undead robots, rather than the creepy atmosphere we were expecting, we could just as easily have been sparring in a spring paddock.

This time around the monsters in the game seem to be armed with a lot more intelligence and also more options. You will come up against some enemies who will hide behind walls and obstructions making them a lot harder to target. The enemies are varied and quite challenging at times, but often you have little time to appreciate the work that has gone into them as you are too busy trying to survive.

Luckily you have a wonderful array of weapons to thin out the hordes of enemies and these can vary from the upgradeable handheld variety to heavily armoured tanks. One weapon in particular quickly became our favourite, and that was the mine-dispensing hand gun. Shooting out homing mines that clustered then exploded near enemies was loads of fun -especially in multiplayer games.

Ratchet: Gladiator is not all blasting and shooting however, with some portions requiring traditional platform skills such as jumping and swinging to new areas. Thankfully these are not too challenging and you are soon launched back into the fray.

Throughout the game you are treated to a running commentary by the gameshow hosts. Although mildly amusing at first the lack of vocabulary and often repeated phrases and jokes quickly become irritating. Luckily you can blow up camera and gameshow props. While this won't stop the heckling it does go a long way towards delivering some payback.

Where the game really shines is in the multiplayer modes. You can choose to enlist a mate's help in the game campaign or challenge them to battles in a selection of arenas. Game types include the usual King of the Hill, Death Match and Capture the Flag, however the Juggernaught game is by far the most fun to play. One player is deemed to be "it" and in possession of all the weapons; on the downside you can only heal yourself by killing opponents. Kill the juggernaught and you become "it".