Platform: PlayStation 3

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1

Support: HD 480p, 720p

The end of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction left fans knowing one very important thing; we could expect a sequel. This really came as no surprise however, and I really don’t think that Sony or Insomniac would be willing to kill off one of the PlayStation’s most successful and well-received franchises. The follow-up though isn’t even slated for release until fall of 2009, and that’s if everything goes on schedule. In the meantime we’ve found Clank in his own adventure on the PSP and this years E3 also gave us another surprise; a downloadable Ratchet & Clank title on the PlayStation Store.

Quest for Booty takes places shortly after the events seen in Tools of Destruction as Ratchet and Talwyn and searching for clues regarding where the mysterious Zoni might have taken Clank. This has brought them face-to-face with pirates, the former crew of Captain Slag. After being hastily fired from a cannon, the pair find themselves on a small island where the local villagers seem to have the necessary mean to locate Clank, but in order to do so Ratchet must find the Obsidian Eye which was hidden by Captain Darkwater long ago and is said to hold a curse. Even Rusty Pete agree to help them, but it’s all so he can resurrect Slag, who has also been joined with the spirit of Darkwater, and Ratchet must find a way to stop the undead pirates from overrunning the island and retrieve the means to hopefully locate Clank.

This isn’t really a Ratchet and Clank title so much as it is just a solo adventure for Ratchet. Clank does make a few cameo appearances, but really the game is a means to continue the story. Even the presence of Talwyn isn’t anything special, and she does nothing more than offer advise here and there and inexplicably arrive at the area that you’ve just worked to reach. The set of moves is more or less the same as what you’ve experienced in the other titles, though Ratchet has been given a few new abilities that more than likely will carry over into the next game. The OmniWrench now has what is known as a Kenetic Tether attached to it. By crouching in certain areas, you will see a wrench icon light up and by “attacking,” a beam of light will extend which allows you to manipulate these objects. The wrench can also be used to pick up small creatures in caves which emit light. This acts as a means not only to find your way around but also to some creatures which despise the light at bay.

Unlike the games on the PlayStation 2, Quest for Booty doesn’t read your previous game save file to import weapons but instead you will have a selection of weapons that were seen in Tools of Destruction immediately available to you. Weapons like the Fusion Bomb, the Raptor Launcher and even the Alpha Cannon are a part of your arsenal and each is only powered down to about level three or four making it quite easy to build them up to their maximum level. In fact, it’s not really that difficult to build weapons or your health meter up. Ratchet also has gizmos like the hypershot, grind boots and gravity boots at his disposal.

The Gagetron Help Desk is gone so Talwyn will offer a few hints. As far as gaining more ammunition, this is done in the traditional way of simply breaking open boxes. While you still collect bolts, they are used sparingly and only to exchange with the Smuggler who was seen in Tools of Destruction. Familiar faces like Quark are also absent in this game as is the arena combat, something that has always been a nice touch to the series. You could think of this as being a much more stripped down version of the game which relies on combat and puzzle solving, though puzzles are really more of the key to this particular game.

The idea of a downloadable Ratchet and Clank didn’t seem like a bad idea and with the promise of three to four hours of gameplay, it seemed even better, but that’s not really the length of the game at all. I managed to finish Quest for Booty in just over two hours, though I didn’t spend nearly the amount of time trying to track down additional things as what I have in past games. The lack of both skill points as well as trophy support is truly a let down and this is a game that really feels like even if trophies were added, it might have fans playing the game quite a bit longer and more frequently just to add more into their collection.

Quest for Booty isn’t a huge change over from Tools of Destruction when it comes to graphics, though the development team does toy with lighting effects quite a bit more than they have in the past. But, I don’t think that the game needs much visual improvement, though I’m sure that Insomniac will do something with the sequel that will impress us all and have us wondering why we thought Tools of Destruction was so amazing. I did see a few glitches though, such as pirate skulls which you will use as projectiles later in the game getting stuck, Ratchet actually being stuck in areas, and pieces of robots that I had destroyed hovering above the ground. The same engine was obviously used, but there weren’t any major improvements as some of these same errors tended to pop up on occasion in Tools of Destruction.

I really have loved the Ratchet and Clank series since the first game, but Quest for Booty really feels like means to make some quick cash of fans of the series and delivers very little for the charge. This is probably the best example of a digital booty call, though no one left me any cab fare when I was finished and apparently the real pirates might be the developers who are now hording our financial treasure in some hidden location, downing a pint of grog and singing songs about their conquest.

-mike-