Video Game Vintage Title: Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty is the second in the Ratchet & Clank Future series. It was released on PlayStation Network in Japan, North America and Europe on August 21, 2008 and on Blu-ray Disc in Europe on September 12, 2008 and in Asia on September 25, 2008. The game continues from where Tools of Destruction left off, where Clank was kidnapped by the Zoni, and follows Ratchet's quest to find him. Due to its length of approximately three to four hours of playtime, it was released at a lower price point than most standard retail games.

Insomniac Games confirmed that there will be a download code for this game for all physical copies of Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty Plot

After defeating the evil Emperor Tachyon, Clank has been taken by the mysterious Zoni race, and Ratchet and Talwyn are on the hunt for Captain Darkwater, who was considered an expert on Zoni culture. However, his crew reveal their former captain is dead. Ratchet and Talwyn are then captured and placed in a cannon by the bitter Rusty Pete and Slag. Pete attaches Slag's mute head on his body, and takes command of the pirates. He banishes Ratchet and Talwyn to Hoolefar Island. Together, Talwyn and Ratchet traverse the island and eventually reach the main settlement, where Talwyn hopes to contact Pete, but the supply beacon on Hoolefar has been deactivated. Ratchet is reintroduced to the Smuggler, from whom he must buy a Versabolt to repair the supply beacon.

After activating the supply beacon, the island leader shows Ratchet the Obsidian Eye, a device Darkwater used to contact the Zoni. However, Darkwater had removed the power source, a Fulcrum Star. Rusty Pete makes his return, and tells Ratchet that Darkwater kept a map with him, leading to the Fulcrum Star's hiding place. At the hiding place of Darkwater's body, Ratchet and Talwyn are separated, leaving Ratchet and Pete to continue on to Darkwater's ship, where the map is hidden. Here, Pete turns on Ratchet, and puts Slag's head in Darkwater's body which resurrects Darkwater in order to reconstitute Slag, unleashing a curse that resurrects Darkwater's crew at their command. Ratchet and Talwyn escape and return to Hoolefar Island, where he defends the island from "Slagwater"'s assault.

When the attack is over, Talwyn makes her return, and she and Ratchet head to Darkwater's treasure cove with the aid of the Smuggler. At the island's main vault, Ratchet falls into one of the island's traps, and Slagwater and Pete appear, taking the Star and Talwyn.

Ratchet escapes from the caves beneath the island, and he and the Smuggler make their way back to the Azorean Sea, where the story began. Ratchet frees Talwyn, and the pair fight Slagwater, defeating him and taking the Fulcrum Star. Back on Hoolefar Island, Ratchet activates the Obsidian Eye, and learns Clank's fate: the Zoni have him in alternate dimension, where he is malfunctioning and in suspended animation. The Zoni reveal that they have hired a doctor to repair Clank. Unfortunately it is none other than Doctor Nefarious, the archenemy of Ratchet & Clank. Ratchet and Talwyn set off to save Clank, and the game ends with Rusty Pete complaining to Slag's head, who survived the destruction of Darkwater's body.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty Gameplay

Gameplay was first shown at E3 2008. This game features more puzzle solving and platforming than previous games in the series and introduces new features, such as the ability to pick things up with the Omniwrench Millennium 12. There are also sections where Ratchet must pick up creatures called Heliogrubs in order to light up a dark area. The Omniwrench Millennium 12 also has a tether ability, which can be used to manipulate objects and move obstacles. The Combuster, Fusion Grenade, Nano Swarmers, Predator Launcher, Tornado Launcher, Shock Ravager and Alpha Disrupter make their return from Tools of Destruction.

Reception
1UP.com's Nick Suttner described the game as "a rollicking few hours, polished to a sheen and even better-paced than its full-length predecessors, although Booty tromps off with its own side story, ending on the same cliffhanger with little more resolved." Suttner also expressed that the game looks slightly better than Tools of Destruction due to improved lighting and better textures.

IGN reviewer Jeremy Dunham says "Quest for Booty has been designed as a quick four-hour experience and it feels shortchanged because of it. Though its shooting and platforming sequences are fun and of high production, it still seems like there's something missing," but said that "there are some really cool puzzles and new gameplay elements."