Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Bootiful
It is probably best, in the interests of full disclosure, that I start this review by pointing out that I'm a huge fan of the Ratchet and Clank games. From the series debut on the PS2 all the way through sequels and PSP efforts to last year's fantastic PS3 release I've jumped, shot and chuckled my way around their colourful world enjoying pretty much every second of it over the years. All of which brings us neatly to Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty, the mini sequel to Tools of Destruction.
At the end of ToD we saw Ratchet's lovable robot sidekick Clank whisked off into who knows where by the mysterious Zoni, who had been following him all game. Quest for Booty picks up the baton from that point with barely a pause before dropping you into the action as if the previous game had never ended, and you start your search for Clank with a trip to a pirate fleet.
To start with the positives, Quest for Booty instantly feels like an R&C game. The basic 3D platforming engine is still the best in the business and the only really noticeable difference is that somehow Insomniac have taken one of the best looking PS3 games and made it look even nicer. There's also no more of those horribly annoying circuit making or space shooting mini games to break up the levels, which keeps things feeling far more focused on the core action-platforming side of things.
One of the best things about the R&C games has always been the array of weapons at your disposal, and you start QfB with a decent selection of the fire power you finished ToD with. Unfortunately within minutes its all gone, lost at sea when you're fired from a pirate cannon.
With the weaponry severely restricted it falls to Ratchet's humble wrench to take on new abilities to keep things interesting. As if by magic you can now use it to pick up things which means you can carry flaming rocks to hurl at enemies and locked gates as well as glowing critters to light your way in the dark. You'll also find the wrench can now fire some kind of energy beam which can be used to push and pull things around allowing you to move platforms and such to add a new angle to puzzle solving There's a little voice in the back of my head that keeps muttering how a cynic could see QfB as nothing more than a glorified focus group experience for these new wrench abilities, a way to see how fans take to them to determine if and how they're used in the future while making them pay for the privilege. But we don't listen to the voices now do we.
It is unfortunate however that for all the things QfB gets right the bits that stand out like a sore thumb are the bits that are absent. With Clank gone the witty banter between the two leads is missing along with the enjoyable Clank-centric levels of earlier games. There's also no room for characters from the game's wider world to make an appearance, Captain Quark is the most noticeable absentee, again removing some of the humour R&C games have become known for.
Gone too are the beautifully produced often amusing cut scenes to be replaced by (nicely drawn) static images with the story narrated by the ever so slightly annoying Rusty Pete. To be fair this is an understandable loss considering the need to keep things suitably download-sized but you still miss it just the same.
The game is also very short, we're talking four or five hours here which I accept is reflected in the budget price but even then, its possible some will still feel a little short changed by the time they reach the end. There's also no gold bolts to hunt for, skill points to earn or arena missions to complete which unfortunately removes pretty much all of the replayability factor which is a shame.
It's this continual feeling of things missing that tugs on your shirt sleeves the whole time you're playing QfB, and stops you enjoying it quite as much as you should. Everything just seems a little bit too stripped down, in fact it feels a little like the R&C equivalent to the Daniel Craig Bond films, lean and mean and thoroughly enjoyable but perhaps missing a little of the soul that made the franchise stand out in the first place.
I seem to have been very critical of QfB which is a little unfair, the problem here is that Ratchet and Clank have raised the 3D platforming bar to such a height that anything less than the full experience is always going to fall a little flat, however good it may otherwise be. As current gen platform games go this is still one of the best even in a bite-sized package. As a Ratchet and Clank game however you're left yearning for all the bits they've left out. If you're a fan then there's enough platforming fun here to warrant its purchase just don't be expecting Tools of Destruction 2. If you're new to the world of Ratchet and Clank then this diluted iteration of the formula isn't the place to start, pick up a copy of ToD and experience the proper thing.
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