Aug 24

Quest for Booty is Sony and Insomniac game’s first foray into episodic-type content for PSN, but at a premium price of $15, should you add it to your download queue?

In QfB, Ratchet & Clank Future’s forgiveable controls remain the same, the graphics still have that almost-Pixar quality to them, but it’s now shrunken down to a quick adventure that loosely follows the main story.

For those of you who haven’t followed the series, its charm and simple story wont be lost on you as Insomniac brought out the A-team for the team’s latest game and it shows. A healthy amount of hilarious moments are littered throughout the adventure — you’ll actually “lol” more than a few times.

Probably the main difference being that the length and overall progression of the game isn’t as deep as the full, retail game but the same fun you’ve come to expect from the series is retained. Effectively making it feel like the game proper.

Right off the bat, you’ll notice that you don’t have your full range of weapons and skill set as your tiny robot pal is still lost. This, in turn, makes the game more of a puzzle-platformer affair; the trademark funky weapons take a backseat in this installment of the series.

The use of weapons, for the most part, is substituted by fun, new game play additions such as the “Kinetic Thether” that makes the environments interactive. The point being that you have to find ways to manipulate it and get through the game’s clever puzzles. The formula is tweaked enough to make it more conducive for a game like this.

If you really enjoyed the shooter aspect of past Ratchet’s, you might be disappointed, but otherwise it’s a great game. The progression goes smoothly and there are even a few pleasant surprises. And like the case with any great game (or movie, for that matter) it ends with a conclusion of epic proportions. Well, maybe not as dramatic, but close enough.

About the only drawbacks to the game is that it does lack some of the deep aspects of weapon customization and has some odd mechanical ommissions that made Future fun. Besides the “tornado launcher’s” motion controls, there is little else to take advantage of a the Sixaxis controller — something Future did well. Also, it would’ve been cool to support the aforementioned game’s save file and have it tie into Quest for Booty.

The Good Stuff:

More of a puzzle-platforming outing, but with enough shooting to keep newcomers happy and fans nicely teased.

The Bad Stuff:

It lacks some of the depth and replayability of its big brother, Ratchet & Clank: Future.

The Neutral:

The series’ forgiving controls, humor, and graphics remain intact for this piece of downloadable goodness.

In the End…

Quest for Booty’s short sampling will resonant the most with non-believers of the series and fans will walk away still salivating after a sweet, if brief, episode that runs along R&C:F’s storyline. Despite being a short little game (most will finish it in 3-4 hrs), it still has its share of memorable moments — more than justifying the $15 asking price.

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 18

We were once excited about Too Human but since we’ve heard so many “so-so” impressions of the game lately, we’ll be spending those sixty dollars elsewhere.

A good substitute would be Quest for Booty, which aims to give Ratchet & Clank fans a much-needed fix continuing the story immediately after last year’s furry-animal outing on PS3. Galaga Legions should be good, too, as it throws in the now familiar neon-techno coat of paint to the classic arcade game.

(The following scores were “aggregated-tive-ized” as of August 18, 2008 via Metacritic)

The Good…

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The Bad…

  • Two Worlds: Epic Edition (PC) - Metascore: 65
  • Smash Court Tennis 3 (360) - Metascore: 63

The Unrated…

Xbox 360

  • Too Human
  • Galaga Legions

PS3

  • Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty

Wii

  • Super Pick Ups
  • Anibus

PC

  • Shattered Suns
  • MindHabits
  • Tank Universal: Challenger Eight
  • Sinking Sand
  • Dracula 3: Pathe of the Dragon

DS

  • Commando: Steel Disaster

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 01

Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty, Insomniac Games’s bite-sized $14.99 adventure, will be hitting the PlayStation Network on August 21 in North America and Europe — Japanese gamers get the game a day later.

We’re big fans of the team’s first Ratchet outing on the PS3 and are excited to be getting our fix of mascot action along with Resistance 2 this year. While the game may be released in digestible form (it will likely be 3-4 hours long), it further cements Sony’s drive to create compelling DLC on its system.

The game starts right after the events of the PS3 game, do you guys plan on quest-in’ for booty?

Via PlayStation Blog

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jun 28

‘Booty Sweat Energy Drink’ advertisements popped up a while back to promote Ben Stiller’s new comedy, ‘Tropic Thunder’. At the time, it was just a fake drink created from the mind of some wacked out Hollywood writer. Apparently, people liked the idea so much that Paramount has licensed the brand and it will be a real drink on shelves in the near future. Should we really be drinking something called ‘Booty Sweat’? Probably not, but why should common sense stop us?  The drink may even provide an edge the next time you fire up Wii Fit and race your closest friends.  If you actually want to purchase this drink, keep an eye out for it at Hot Topic, Hastings or Amazon.

Via Perez Hilton

As a side note, Perez stated “Hopefully it doesn’t taste like ass. No pun intended”.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,