Saturday, March 28, 2009

Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty


I was originally going to merge this with Tools of Destruction's post, but because I didn't quite feel ready to write about this one yet, I decided to wait and give it its own post, so as not to delay ToD.

Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty is the immediate sequel to the first R&C game on Ps3.  I won't spoil the ending of Tools of Destruction, but the Quest for Booty picks up almost right where it ends.

First and foremost, Quest for Booty is a PSN title.  That means you're not gonna get the epic length quest you normally would from a disc-based game.  This one you'll finish in about 4 hours tops, and unfortunately there's almost nothing to keep you coming back to this game once you complete it.  Personally I think it would have been cool if they had supplemented the campaign with multiplayer.

Besides being significantly shorter, the game also plays a little differently.  Though you'll still have weapons (they start at Lv3 and go up to Lv5), you have only a limited portion of the arsenal granted to you in Tools of Destruction.  No devices, either.  However, the focus this time around isn't on over the top weaponry and enemies to shoot up.  Rather, QfB's pacing slows down a bit to focus more on pure platforming, with some puzzles here and there.  Ratchet's greatest tool is once again his wrench, but it's put to much more use here than in other games.  Now you can use its kinetic grapple (I think that's what it's called?) to push and pull platforms and other objects, and pick up small green animals that illuminate dark areas.  You'll certainly need to fight often, but your wrench is at the center of the game this time.

Which isn't a bad thing.  Being a downloadable title, it supports the often considered idea of downloadable games putting a new spin on a genre.  It gives the game a fresh feeling.

The graphics remain almost the same on a technical level as Tools of Destruction, with a bit of sprucing up here and there.  The game's theme is, as hinted by the title, pirates.  You'll traverse dark caves and gloomy lagoons, duel robot pirates on their ships (and ghost pirates), and explore a decidedly more tropical setting.  This is comes out in the music too, even when you hover over the game in the XMB.

Quest for Booty is tough to recommend to most people.  It lacks much replay value, and is pretty short in the first place.  But it continues the surprisingly compelling story that started in Tools of Destruction, and offers a new spin on the series.  And it also confirms that a new game (just now revealed to be titled A Crack in Time) will be out this fall.  It sells for under $20 (about $15, if memory serves) on the PS Store.  You decide if that's worth it.  A 7/10.

Note: No, the pic is not a shop.  Though its a PSN exclusive in America, its sold as a retail item in Europe.

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