Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty Review

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a $14.99 CAD downloadable game with the production values of a $59.99 CAD game. The catch with Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty is that this pint sized version of Ratchet & Clank is a mere three to four hours in length. It’s a title that is treading new ground for console downloadable titles, but is this worth your time and hard earned fifteen bucks? Well that depends on how much you adore the Lombax.

Despite its standalone stature, I wouldn’t peg this 3 gigabyte game as solo act. Quest for Booty picks up after Tools of Destruction’s cliffhanger ending and pits the heroic Lombax in a pirate filled adventure. Those who’re looking for answers and revelations will leave Quest for Booty disappointed. You still don’t know the whereabouts of Clank or why the Zoni kidnapped him. One could perceive this installment’s story arc as filler in the grand scheme of things, but I found it to be an amusing side story involving Rusty Pete and his desires to return his beloved Captain Slag to glory. If you’re wondering, Captain Quark doesn’t make an appearance. It’s a damn shame, I know.

Talwyn also returns as Ratchet’s nonintrusive sidekick. She has her pistol and offers miniscule amounts of assistance, but ultimately she’s just there to fill in for Clank. Her pistol may be standard fare, but the same could be said about Ratchet’s arsenal – he’s sporting a small subset of the weapons found in Tools of Destruction. You can perform two level’s worth of upgrades to them, but you won’t be able to be able to wield their more powerful forms like the dual Combusters. So did this game offer anything new? Well, Ratchet’s wrench can now manipulate certain platforms and switches via its tethering abilities. It gives the platforming bits more flavor and was definitely better integrated into the gameplay than the predecessor’s Gelanator. Oh, and the wrench could also pick up specific items such as explosive rocks and incandescent grubs known as ‘Heliogrubs’. Both which were required for level progression.