PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Ratchet & Clank: Quest For Booty
by Jem Alexander 
{ Jul 21st 2008 at 7:30PM }
It's clear from the start that the emphasis is placed more firmly on exploration in Quest For Booty. There are plenty of characters milling around with which you can chat and as you perform the necessary tasks, a larger and larger area will open up to you. After a Metroid-style "oh noes, I lost all my weapons!" opening, your wrench is your only friend. You'll collect a few weapons as you progress, but much of the game's emphasis is on using the wrench's new ability.
Your wrench is infused with electromagnetic energy, which allows it to manipulate objects from afar. There are plenty of puzzles that utilize this in order to open your path as you try to find your pal Clank. It's not a huge addition, but it does the job of breaking up the usual rail-grinding, platforming and energy-tether swinging.
Quest For Booty is an experiment of Insomniac's; the game has been in development since more-or-less the end of Tools of Destruction and, depending on its reception, could be the first in a series of episodes. Or it could just be a one-off bridge between two Blu-ray games.
At "around the 2 gigabyte mark," Quest For Booty is a large download, but when you consider that it currently playtests at between three and four hours, this is a small price to pay for the game. As is the $15 cost. Instead, the game could probably have been downloadable content for Tools Of Destruction, but as a standalone game it has the potential to pull more people into the series.
Sadly, Quest For Booty will not support trophies and, while it will be out before the end of the Summer, there's no solid release date. They're aiming for a worldwide simultaneous release and Europeans will be able to pick the game up as a Blu-ray disc as well as downloading it from the PSN. This is something SCEE specifically asked Insomniac for and the disc will not feature any extra content.
I'll take all the Ratchet & Clank I can get, so this is a must-grab. If you're not into the series, this game won't be for you. If you haven't yet given it a shot, $15 seems like the perfect price to dip your feet and give it a go.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Quest @ Jul 21st 2008 7:50PM
Size Matters was my first R&C game, and I loved it. I played the demo for Tools of Destruction, and will definitely be getting that, as well as Quest for Booty.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 21st 2008 11:56PM
the PS2 R&C games are great as well. you can find them pretty cheap now, i would recommend picking them up if you have a BC PS3 or PS2. i would try eBay.
Quest @ Jul 22nd 2008 8:21PM
Thanks, SoCoolCurt . I think my son may have them, actually! I will ask him for sure!
crazypenguin @ Jul 21st 2008 7:52PM
looking forward to this. i just don't think i'll be used to the fact that i can't use clank's helicopter mode thing. i mean for those couple of minutes of me using ratchet w/o clank were weird enough. also i may just wait for a review before buying the game, even though i plan to buy it anyway.
JamesL007 @ Jul 21st 2008 7:59PM
If only PSN cards could get here faster, I want this game so badly I can taste it, it looks great and the R&C series is allways a blast to play and enjoy.
Popfrogs @ Jul 21st 2008 8:08PM
No trophies? WTF?
dip @ Jul 21st 2008 9:10PM
Meh, it kind of makes sense since it's more like an episode than a full game.
LAZoftheTamarinds @ Jul 21st 2008 8:32PM
Insomniac already said they are focusing on there biggest game for this year, Resistance 2. Which means they won't add trophies to other games released before that.
Wrathbringer @ Jul 21st 2008 8:46PM
Remember, Sony DID say that several games that are already in development are too far gone to include trophies now, so I'm not all that surprised.
I liked ToD, it was a good game though I was kind of annoyed with the sheer amount of items in the game, many of which quickly become useless. I'll definitely be giving this game a try since it looks to be a true R&C game.
Phantom @ Jul 21st 2008 8:48PM
once they finish this the team will likely make patches for ALL of the games tho , since a different team is in charge of Resistance 2 .
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:50AM
"Quest For Booty is an experiment of Insomniac's; the game has been in development since more-or-less the end of Tools of Destruction"
i wish it had trophies too, but Insomniac already said it wasnt going back to add trophies to its older games, and i would assume that this one was too far along to add trophies when Sony finally told devs they would be adding the feature.
Sinistar @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:23AM
I'd rather have a multiplayer mode than trophies
Daniel @ Jul 21st 2008 8:23PM
Too bad Americans can't buy it on a disc. Ah well. Sound like a great game and great price. I still need to play a LOT of R&C. I recently bought the first one and loved it. I haven't actually finished it yet, but got almost all the way through. Other than that I haven't played the others. I want to get this and Tools of Destruction though and may get Size Matters eventually. As far as the other PS2 ones, I may go back and play them eventually. Glad to see this series is sticking around though because it's really the only one of it's kind right now.
John @ Jul 21st 2008 8:43PM
I'll def. be getting this and telling my R&C friends about it. Starting out without Clank's rotors is like how the very first game started. Recently had a friend from work play Tools, and he loved it, made the usual Toy-story-esque references.
Kellian @ Jul 21st 2008 8:54PM
As a fan, I really can't wait to pick this up hehe. There's just something inherently fun in the Ratchet and Clank series, and it's nice to see Insomniac utilizing the PSN to experiment with the gameplay a bit.
Makidian @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:15AM
I really like this more as an idea to bridge the gaps between the games but I would really rather have a fully robust disc based adventure than episodes that I have to sit around and wait for. I will make the concession that if the episodes are coming at a rate of two to three months, I'm all for it, anymore or longer than that they may as well make a BD version. I would spend a hundred bucks a year on R&C if they made it so I could
Ty @ Jul 21st 2008 9:53PM
Tools of Destruction was the first game I bought when I first got my PS3 in December. I can't wait for this.
kiros @ Jul 21st 2008 10:53PM
I love Ratchet! I have them all, and I can't wait for this one! Too bad about the trophies though
Caleb154 @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:46AM
I am just worried about Episodic content after R&CF:ToD great game i loved it but if you dont count replaying the game to get all omega weapons the game was shy of 5 hours GP(when exploring) and there talking of making it shorter? I understand its gonna be much cheaper but im not gonna get excited about 2 and a half hours game play.
On that note i will buy it when it comes out (good review or bad (hell its a ratchet game)) im just not going to count days or even bother checking for a release date
immikeulate @ Jul 22nd 2008 3:08AM
No Trophies, No Blu Ray Disc = No Buy
grabt @ Jul 22nd 2008 9:20AM
Why?
tooeasy? @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:57AM
Here's to hoping that QFB isn't as easy as tools of destruction. TOD was simply way too easy... the enemies were jokes. We need more challenge like UYA. Any how I will get this for sure.... also must pick-up SM as soon as me PSP arrives in the mail (today I believe!)
I don't see the big deal with trophies....