Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, titled as Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty in Europe and Australia and Ratchet & Clank Future Gaiden: Kaizoku Dark Water no Hihou in Japan, is the eighth installment in the Ratchet & Clank series. It was released worldwide on the PlayStation Network on August 21st, 2008 and was also released on Blu-Ray Disc in Europe, on September 12th, 2008, and in Asia on September 25th, 2008. It continues from where Tools of Destruction left off. Clank was kidnapped by the mysterious Zoni, and Ratchet is determined to get him back. Due to its length, approximately 3-4 hours of playtime, it was released at a lower price than most PlayStation 3 games.

The Blu-Ray Disc release in Europe was reported to not include the United Kingdom, however the game was released in the UK at the later date of November 14th, 2008.

Plot
thumb|280px|left|Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty trailer. The story of Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty is focused on Ratchet searching for Clank and continues the story from Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Ratchet and Talwyn flew up to a floating pirate base on planet Merdegraw with the Aphelion and got on it. There they started searching for Captain Darkwater, who was an expert on Zoni culture, only to encounter Rusty Pete wandering while holding the head of Captain Slag. This attracted the attention of some pirates and Sprocket, a Rogue. Sprocket shot Ratchet out of a cannon only to have him land on an adjacent pirate ship. Ratchet and Talwyn fought through the fleet and Ratchet catapulted himself to another ship.

They fought some more enemies and Ratchet catapulted himself to another ship but ended up flying into a cannon. Talwyn was also thrown into the same cannon. Sprocket commanded the pirates to blast them towards Morrow Caverns so Pythors could devour them. Rusty Pete pretended to be Captain Slag by putting his head on and successfully attempted to fool the pirates. He commanded Sprocket to shoot Ratchet and Talwyn towards Hoolefar Island, where they 'would find exactly what they were looking for'. Sprocket mercilessly agreed and the pirates blasted Ratchet and Talwyn towards the island. Ratchet woke up on the shore of Hoolefar Island and saw Clank trapped in an energy field. Clank said something then disappeared. Ratchet and Talwyn traversed the wilderness and Ratchet zip lined toward the beach, where they were greeted by Barnabus Worley, the Mayor of Hoolefar Island. Mayor Worley told them the supply beacon didn't work so they could't send out messages. Ratchet fixed the five wind turbines, but the beacon operator told him that someone uncoupled the power couplings and that they needed a standard GrummelNet VersaBolt to reconnect the couplings. Ratchet bought one from the Smuggler for 10,000 bolts.

The operator fixed the bolt in and Ratchet cranked it. The couplings worked and a bridge opened to a Grav-ramp with a trapeze that led to the top of the beacon. Ratchet traversed it and cranked one final VersaBolt and powered the beacon. The Mayor showed Ratchet the Obsidian Eye, the most powerful lorernthzian telescope, but it didn't not work as the Obsidian Eye's power source; the Fulcrum Star was guarded by Darkwater's body in his ship. Ratchet decided to find it. Rusty Pete arrived at the island and told them of Darkwater's ship and brought them to Morrow Caverns where it was hidden. Talwyn accidentally got trapped behind a door. As soon as Ratchet boarded the ship, he found Darkwater's dismembered head. He picked it up and noticed a map that fell out which he also picked up. Rusty Pete told Ratchet that he would check for booby traps, so he sneaked over to Darkwater's body and suddenly stuck the head of Captain Slag on Darkwater's body. Slag now possessed the body, but so did Darkwater's cursed spirit. Ratchet freed Talwyn from a cave and ran from Morrow Caverns, with Slag/Darkwater sending re-animated pirates after them. They went to Hoolefar Island on a sail barge, just as Slag/Darkwater attacked and they defended the island from him. They then travelled to the Smuggler to decipher the map. It was the map to Darkwater Cove, an island where Darkwater hid his treasure. Ratchet proved himself as Darkwater to the many robotic security bots and they went in to the treasure room. But as Ratchet ran to the star, a hole opened up and he fell down into the Lythoin Caves. Slag/Darkwater appeared and took Talwyn as a prisoner. Ratchet escaped from the caves and flew with the Smuggler to Slag/Darkwater's fleet in Azorean Sea, where he freed Talwyn and they confronted Slag/Darkwater. They defeated him, which broke the curse that brought the pirates back to life. Slag fell into the sea and Rusty Pete dropped the Fulcrum Star and jumped in after him. Ratchet grabbed the Star and headed back to Hoolefar Island and powered up the Obsidian Eye. He saw Clank surrounded by numerous Zoni as he awoke for a brief moment and began to talk gibberish. The Zoni told Clank "The Doctor" was coming. A door opened and a figure descended down the stairs. He slipped on a duster, fell down and gathered himself up, revealing himself to be Dr. Nefarious, shouting for his butler, Lawrence. The coordinates led Ratchet to the Breegus Nebula and the game concluded with Ratchet vowing to rescue Clank from Nefarious and the Zoni.

Gameplay
Gameplay was first shown at E3 2008. This game features more puzzle solving and platforming than previous games in the series and will also introduce some new features, such as the ability to pick things up with the new OmniWrench Millennium 12. There is also Light/Dark gameplay where Ratchet must pick up creatures called Heliogrubs with the OmniWrench, in order to light up a dark area. The Omniwrench also has a kinetic tether gadget, giving it new abilities. The top of the wrench comes off and an energy tether beams out. It can be used to manipulate objects and move obstacles. The game features 5 levels, starting and ending above the Azorean Sea, providing 3-4 hours of gameplay. You can't return to locations for fun, instead you can play only missions. There isn't a challenge mode either. For the first time in the game series Captain Qwark and the Plumber were neither seen nor mentioned in the game. Though a statue a Qwark can be found in the at the bottom of the lake on Hoolefar island. It is shiny silver and is buried from the waist down. Ratchet starts off with the Combuster, Fusion Grenade, Tornado Launcher, Shock Ravager, Predator Launcher, and Nano-Swarmers all at V3. The Alpha Cannon is brought from the Smuggler and is already fully upgraded.

Characters



 * Apogee, Talwyn
 * Beacon Operator
 * Clank
 * Darkwater, Angstrom
 * Nefarious
 * Ratchet
 * Rusty Pete
 * Slag, Romulus
 * Smuggler
 * Wind Turbine Operator
 * Worley, Barnabus
 * Zoni

Weapons



 * OmniWrench Millennium 12
 * Combuster
 * Fusion Grenade
 * Nano Swarmers
 * Predator Launcher
 * Shock Ravager
 * Tornado Launcher
 * Alpha Disruptor

Note: All weapons in this game started at V3, because it was so short, and was the sequel to the events of Tools of Destruction.

Gadgets



 * Gravity Boots
 * Grind Boots
 * Kinetic Tether
 * Swingshot

Items

 * VersaBolt
 * Darkwater's Treasure Map

Reception
Nick Suttner from 1UP.com described the game as "a rollicking few hours, polished to a sheen and even better-paced than its full-length predecessors." He also praised the game's graphics, crediting improved lighting and better textures. IGN reviewer Jeremy Dunham said that the shortness of the game can leave players feeling "shortchanged". He also stated that the gameplay is fun and "of high-production" but that there was something missing, his review had an overall rating of 7.4 out of 10. It received an overall score of 76/100 "generally favorable reviews" from Metacritic.

Download Space
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty needs 3181 MB download space and 3789 Kb free save space is recommended.

Trivia

 * The game is called Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, yet Clank only appears twice in the game, both times in cutscenes.
 * Just like in previous games there is a Dan easter egg - an action figure in a plastic packaging found in the secret area in the cave under Hoolefar Island.
 * The full moon behind Rusty Pete has a resemblance to Insomniac Games' full moon as their logo.
 * In a few brief shots, Ratchet's eyes were aqua.