Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Adam Hanson
Before I get started on Secret Agent Clank for the PSP I want to apologize in advance to anyone who has not played Daxter. I need to do this because for anyone who has played Daxter the comparisons between the two games are unavoidable. Both games are interquels to a long line of PS2 action games that are made by companies that were started by former employees of the companies that made the original games. Both games feature the sidekick character from the PS2 games in a starring role. Both games have to make some changes to the series gameplay to accomodate both the new hardware and the new main character. If one were to say that Secret Agent Clank is the next Daxter would not be entirely false but the game does have it’s own unique charm that sets it apart from other action platformers. . . . even those starring Ottsels.
The concept of Secret Agent Clank was first introduced in Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. In that game Clank had taken a break from his hero duties to star in a TV series where he played a James Bond style superspy. In Up Your Arsenal Clank was often mistaken by other characters for the character he played. Secret Agent Clank features the titular robot working as a real spy for an organization named “The Agency”. While investigating a disturbance at a museum Clank witnesses Ratchet stealing a precious jewel. The museum guards arrest Ratchet and as they are locking him up he makes a speech about crime being more profitable than heroism. Clank immediately knows that his friend would never commit such a crime so he sets out to prove Ratchet’s innocence. The game also follows Ratchet who is being held in the same prison as many of his former foes and Captain Qwark who is touring the galaxy and writing his autobiography.
The developers at High Impact Games have expanded upon the Superspy concept by designing new weapons and gadgets similar to what 007 or the Avengers (the british spies not the superhero team) would use. Like in any Ratchet and Clank game some of the weaons and gadgets will be more useful than others but due to a smaller number of gadgets and the fact that each typically has less ammo than one of Ratchet’s weapons means that almost every gadget will end up being used in combat at some point. There are also times when a certain gadget is required to pass an area. The game always give the player ammo for the gadget they need though so there is really no need to use your gadgets strategically.
The gameplay in Secret Agent Clank should seem familiar to anyone who has played Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters. In fact the controls for much of the game have been lifted directly from Size Matters. While all characters controls are the same the gameplay still varies depending on who you are playing as. Clank gets most of the gameplay time and as a result he has the most diverse gameplay.
A Clank level is a typical action/platformer level. Most of the time the player can choose to take a stealthy approach or to run in guns (or more accurately spy gadgets) blazing. There are some levels that end if the player is seen and others where the player is given no place to hide and therefore must fight the enemies. Most of the time players will find themselves using a combination of stealth tactics and direct combat.
Ratchet’s levels are straight combat. Enemies keep spawning and Ratchet needs to keep shooting. Some of the later levels have gimmicks such as trying to keep enemies from reaching a door or trying to defeat enemies while avoiding security cameras but even these levels are mainly arena combat levels. These levels are like the arenas in any Ratchet game; by that I mean they are fun but not as much fun as the normal missions.
The Captain Qwark levels are essentially boss fights. Qwark and his foes are placed in a small and the player as Qwark needs to fight all comers. Some of the levels resemble Ratchet’s arenas and others are straight up one on one boss battles. Qwark has the most limited selection of weapons as he only has one pistol and his physical attacks. Some levels offer level specific weapons in addition to Qwark’s pistol. The Qwark levels are easily some of the least fun levels in the game partially because they are so simple and partially becuase they tend to drag on.
The final playable characters are Clank’s Gadgebot sidekicks. These levels are much like the Clank levels in other Ratchet games. They combine platforming with puzzle solving. Gadgebot levles are light on combat and are usually much shorter than a Ratchet or Clank level.
In addition to the character levels there are minigames. One is a rythym based minigame that makes use of timed button presses. If the player succeeds clank is unharmed and if he fails clank takes damage. Another minigame involves driving through an obstacle course while avoiding pursuers. The third minigame involves flying giant clank through an asteroid belt and shooting enemy ships. Much like the Qwark levels these minigames tend to drag on and take away from the overall experience of the game. More often than not the parts of the story that are played out as minigames would be more fun as regular platforming levels or simply revealed as cutscenes.
The graphics are comparable to the graphics in R & C Size Matters or Daxter. Characters and backgrounds all look great and are well animated. The camera works well and the player will hardly ever die because an enemy was hiding just offscreen. The sound is good but with one major flaw. Character voices, the most important part of the sound in any game, are much quieter than everything else. Even with the volume on the PSP turned up all the way it is still hard to hear the characters talking if there is any sort of noise around. The subtitles help but the fact that the voices are hard to hear except in a quiet room does detract from the portability of the game.
In the end Secret Agent Clank is a game that fans of the series will love and fans of the genre will like. If you are not into action platformers than Secret Agent Clank will not change your mind but if you like this kind of game then it’s flaws are easy to forgive. With that in mind I give Secret Agent Clank. . .
a 4 out of 5.
