A nice junction between the Future and a Crack in Time....
When you begin a new game, you are given several different difficulty levels: Easy, Normal and Hard. Ratchet & Clank veterans will find the Hard setting a good challenge as the enemies have a lot more HP and hit harder where relative newcomers may find Easy or Normal more their style. Once you're in the game, the difficulty can be adjusted on the fly if you find it too difficult for you.
Your adventure starts with you and Talwyn aboard the Robot Pirate's ship where, after a short skirmish with the Pirates, you meet Rusty Pete and what's left of Captain Slag. You were looking for Captain Angstrom Darkwater as he may know how to find Clank. Naturally, things don't go as planned and you find yourself washing ashore on Hoolefar Island. This is where the bulk of the game takes place.
Hoolefar Island is a small island with a secret hidden on it. The island, which gets its power from the 5 wind turbines scattered across it, has been plagued by a run of sabotage by someone. You are asked to help the locals out by repairing the wind turbines and restoring power to the beacon which is supposed to allow you and Talwyn open communications for rescue. You'll quickly notice that your weapons have been "claimed by the sea" and that all you have is your wrench, but that's okay for the time being.
Each turbine tower requires you to climb to the top via a series of gravity ramps, platforms and jumps. Most of them are easy enough to get up but some of the others do provide a bit of a challenge. Getting to the towers and up the towers requires use of the games one new ability for Ratchet: the Wrench Tether. With this, you can shoot the head of Ratchet's Omniwrench to attach to bolt-like objects at a distance and move them around or rotate them. This is a great new ability for the game, but still cannot make up for the lack of Clank.
After the wind turbines and other things are fixed around the island, you are taken to Morrow Caverns by Rusty Pete to find Darkwater's treasure. Here you're given some of your weapons back that "washed ashore". As with previous games, each weapon, as well as your health, can be leveled up via Nanotech from fallen enemies. When a weapon reaches Level 5, their maximum level for this game, they gain a new ability. There are also hidden mods scattered throughout the areas that you can find and add even more abilities to the weapons. The selection of weapons is small, but does offer a good variety. From this point on in the game, you'll find yourself shooting your way through the game in good old Ratchet style.
In the Caverns, you will encounter areas that are pitch black. In these sections, you will need to find either red magma rocks or green Helio Grubs and pick them up using your wrench. These act as torches above your head and light the way for you as well as scare away bats that otherwise are un-attackable by you, but can attack you and drain your health quickly. In addition, if you have a magma rock in your wrench, you can throw it to break through certain doors.
The control scheme is identical to Tools of Destruction with a few adjustments for no longer having Clank on your back. Everything feels natural and plays really well. The levels are also beautifully detailed and have very vibrant colors. All of this is excellent, especially for a download-only game. There are a few graphical hitches here and there, but they are few and far between. Frame rate issues were never encountered during my experience with the game, even when there were a huge number of enemies on the screen and explosions at once. The music, atmosphere and sound effects in the game were beautifully written and fit the world great. Just make sure you have the hard drive space on your Playstation 3. You will need roughly 3 GB for all this high-quality detail.
The biggest disappointment with Quest for Booty was the lack of real replay value. Unlike all the previous games, there is no challenge mode or anything to make you want to come back for more. All of the weapons are easy to upgrade to their max and bolts are easy enough to collect to buy everything you can in the game. Also, once you know the whole story, there really isn't much left to go back for except for another 4 hours or so of good Ratchet gameplay.
Once it's said and done, however, Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty is well worth the $15 price point. It is a fun game that provides great entertainment and does indeed answer the question, "where is Clank." Believe me, when you see the ending cut scene, you won't believe it…