A short adventure that bridges Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time. We follow Ratchet and Talwyn as they go in search of a dead pirate's treasure in the hopes of obtaining an item that will help them locate Clank. It is a deliberately short game, easily able to be finished within 3 to 4 hours. When you think about it, it does seem too short, just when you feel like you are sinking your teeth into it, the game ends and it doesn't satisfy your hunger of Ratchet & Clank action. The gameplay is similar and there aren't many changes to the formula found in previous games. Ratchet still blasts weapons at enemies, do some platforming and collect bolts. While Quest for Booty isn't a bad game, it leaves a lot to be desired. First of all, it feels to be the weakest Ratchet & Clank game yet, the action never elevates to the level of other games. It stays flat and you're just trudging from one place to the next without feeling excited or experience the joy of finding some hidden secrets. The areas are small and uninspired.
The only new gameplay mechanic is something called the kinetic tether which is basically using your wrench and attaching it to platforms from a distance, allowing you to manipulate it. It is nothing groundbreaking. Second, a big part of the games is the crate destroying and bolt collecting. You use these bolts is to buy more weapons and defeat enemies to level them up. However, due to the short length, a concession had to be made... You'll still collect bolts but you don't use them to buy weapons (well, you can buy one near the end of the game), rather, the weapons are given to you as you progress along the story. Weapons also level up very fast such that all of this combines to the fact that you lose all sense of satisfaction of your progression. You don't feel the surge of excitement when your weapons level up. The variety of weapons is limited and are ones you have seen before in Tools of Destruction, they are literally the same weapons. Bolts are used as the story dictates so it feel arbitrary and contrived. What's the point of collecting bolts when it doesn't do anything meaningful? Platforming plays a huge part in the game, with most of your time taken up by traversing the environment.
You grind rails and solve simple puzzles but all of this doesn't feel clever or ingenious. There has been so many good Ratchet & Clank games that this feels uninspired and pales in comparison. Something is missing in this game; it doesn't feel like the Ratchet & Clank experience that we crave. Combat still forms a decent chunk of the game but shooting feels awkward and not as smooth as it could be. For some reason, Quest for Booty likes to place you in dark places where you have to use your wrench to get a glowing being to be able to see (and not die an instant death from creatures afraid of the light). There are some questionable segments where you have to walk on thin planks, easily falling to your death or when you have to use your kinetic tether to pull platforms down but there's an enemy shooting at you. The recoil you get when you get hit makes you fall off to your doom, *sigh*. The graphics are okay but it feels as if we have regressed back to the late PS2 days, the environments aren't the bright colorful backgrounds but rather more drab and looks flat.
The game also has a few glitches such as sound not playing in cutscenes (or getting out of sync) and non-responsive buttons. Another sad thing is that Clank doesn't help out his partner. As the story involves tracking down Clank, we don't get to see much of him. Ratchet doesn't have the helipack to glide around and no funny quips between the two. The story isn't terribly crucial but it ties off the pirate theme. The whole point of this game is the ending in which it presents a nice twist and surprise. The music is quite nice. Unfortunately, there's no further incentive to play the game once you finish it because you can't go back to areas and there are no collectibles or skill points at all. It's just one playthrough of 3 hours and that's it, it sure feels like there isn't much value for money considering how expensive this game was when it was first released. In the end, Quest for Booty doesn't have the soul of a Ratchet & Clank game, it's missing something crucial that makes this series fun. It felt like you are blazing through the game without any meaningful reason. Only recommended for R&C fans who has to play every single game in the series, otherwise, you aren't missing much.
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