Quest for Booty is an excellent game, but it doesn't give that full Ratchet and Clank experience.
Clank mysteriously gets kidnapped by a mysterious race of robots known as the Zoni. What are the Zoni's intentions, why are they robots, who in the halibut would call themselves the Zoni? Sadly, Quest for Booty doesn't answer any of these questions; in fact, it creates even more of these convoluted questions. Ratchet, shocked, saddened, and angry, goes on a frantic quest to find his missing trash can….I mean robot friend. His search brings him to the most vile, disgusting and despicable bunch in all the galaxies: pirates. These pirates hold the key to the location of Clank, and it's up to Ratchet to "peacefully compromise" with them to obtain that information- one cracked skull at a time.
Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty is a platformer, one of the video game industry's least favorable genres and the most stepped on as well. You will spend most of your time running, jumping, and shooting your way through a variety of levels. It's a pretty simple formula, but Ratchet and Clank does it incredibly well. The levels are nicely varied which means one won't find him or herself tiring of the same old routine.
What makes the Ratchet and Clank series phenomenal is the unique variety of weapons at your disposal, and Quest for Booty is no different. There are plenty of ways to dispose of your pirate friends, some are more hilarious than others but in the end you'll feel satisfied as you collect the nuts and bolts of their tattered remains. The weapons range from the devastating Tornado Launcher (yes you can actually control a tornado) to the destructive prowess of the NanoSwarmers, a device that allows you to unleash the painful stings of justice upon your foes or to put it more simply it releases bees that attack your enemies. As you use each weapon you earn experience points; which in effect, will cause your weapons to level up and grow even more powerful. Who would have thought that killing robots had so many benefits?
Quest for Booty is an incredibly gorgeous game; it feels like you're inside of a Pixar movie. The combination of cartoonish visuals and lush environments make Quest for Booty a sight to behold. Although some may argue that it can't hold its own against games like Gears of War and Killzone 2, it separates itself by going where no other game wants to go, into the deep blue depths of the cartoon world. To top it all off, Ratchet and Clank offers a surprisingly robust in-game soundtrack that really brings out the feel of, prepare yourselves for a bad pun, PIRACY! ARGGGGHHHHH!
Overall: Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty is an excellent game with great visuals and engrossing gameplay, but it lacks the fulfillment of a true Ratchet and Clank title. Maybe it's the fact that it's downloadable content, or the fact that it takes about 5-6 hours to complete, but Quest for Booty feels like a stripped down version of a Ratchet and Clank game.