Ratchet & Clank have always been a rather fun double act, however Ratchet has always really been the all action hero, with Clank being his trusty sidekick. Now though this is about to change thanks to the release of Secret Agent Clank on the Playstation Portable. 

The story begins with the Eye of Infinity being stolen from a museum, and it seems that Clanks friend Ratchet is the one being accused of taking the artefact, in fact given that he is on TV practically admitting as much it is hard to believe that it wasn’t him. Anyway, Clank who is taking the guise of a Robot James Bond finds all this hard to swallow and given that it just happens to be his mission to investigate the theft, it means that clearing his friends name will be all the easier.

You mission starts off with you getting to the scene of the crime to investigate, this involves negotiating your way past robot dogs and all other manner of security which is in place to stop intruders. The game is played in the guise of both stealth and all out action missions, the stealth part comes when you are trying to avoid security guards flashlights, should you manage this then you are rewarded with bonus nanotech, however should you wander into the light then a whole bunch of robot dogs and gun fire will be coming your way, this is also the case in any scenario where you are suddenly outed while trying to sneak around.

Another part of the stealth side of things involves you trying to sneak up on guards and attack them from behind, should you be successful in doing this you will then follow the on screen prompt to take them down, however should you fail they will then attack you, so be careful. There is a slight flaw with attacking guards from behind, because if you are not in the exact spot to start the move then you will just hit the guard, meaning that you will go straight into combat, the only way to know when you are in the correct spot is when the screen prompts you to begin the attack, but it can be quite awkward getting into the right place.

Predictably the combat parts of the game are the most fun, this is in part due to the simple controls, and of course the excellent choice of weapons that you will get along the way, such as the Tie o Rang, which is in the shape of a bow tie and can be thrown at enemies, you can also download new combat moves, giving clank the stylish Clank Fu Kick. Combat really is quite addictive, meaning that any stealth is usually sacrificed for a good old fashion punch up.

Throughout Clanks adventures you will come across telephone booths which are actually agency vendors in disguise, here you can download new moves, reload your ammo and also buy new weapons, all of which is paid for by the bolts that you collect during your adventures. You can also collect weapons throughout the game thanks to agency drop off’s, basically little robots drop from the sky and leave a briefcase behind, which as you can imagine is pretty handy.

As well as combat and stealth, other parts of the game include a rhythm sections, in one level for example you have to dance through the lasers with Clank while hitting the buttons in time to the rhythm, with one false move meaning he catches fire and you lose health. You will also get to play as Ratchet, Gadgetbots and Captain Quirk. The Ratchet missions see him taking on fellow inmates (the guys he has put there), while the Gadgetbots are usually in your control when it is time to rescue Clank.

Captain Quirks missions are played in places that Clank has defeated, he is there to tell tales of his made up adventures, you play out these bizarre adventures, one of which includes some crazy cactuses, it’s all quite entertaining, if not a little strange. 

The problem with Secret Agent Clank is that after a while it just gets a little bit repetitive and for some reason the game just can’t seem to make up it’s mind as to whether it wants you to sneak around or fight, which is backed up by the fact that after sneaking around during most of the missions you are then asked to fight to win the game, with none of the sneaking skills you have used previously coming into play, very strange indeed.

Presentation wise the game does look great, however the camera can be a bit too close to the action, meaning that you will not always see what is up ahead, or indeed behind you. Whilst this issue is not a major breaking point for the game, it would have been so much better was there an option included to zoom it out a bit further.

Overall Secret Agent Clank is a fairly decent game, it is fun to play but is not without its flaws. Any fan of the previous game should like this title, I certainly had fun playing it, I just don’t know if I could justify the asking price that’s all.