Secret Agent Clank (game)

Secret Agent Clank is a spin-off action game developed by High Impact Games for the PlayStation Portable. The game was released on 17 June 2008. It stars Clank as the main character. It was re-released on the PlayStation 2 on May 26, 2009 as a port created by Sanzaru Games.

As the title suggests the game has a secret agent storyline where Clank works for a government secret agent group known as the Agency. At times it spoofs the James Bond, 007 series. To fit with this theme Clank wears a tuxedo throughout the game. Like the original 007, Clank has an array of helpful gadget, such as a bow tie that he can use as a boomerang (the Tie-A-Rang), and a Blowtorch Briefcase. Clank has at a previous point in the series been on a Holo-Vision show where he played the main character, Secret Agent Clank, which the game is based on.

Gameplay
Secret Agent Clank sticks with the series gameplay types of action, shooting and platforming genres, while also featuring a new stealth and melee element to fit Clank's secret agent status and abilities. An example is that the game features sections where the player must press a sequence of buttons correctly to sneak through an area, or defeat an enemy.

Giant Clank, Clank's giant rocket-firing transformation also appears in the game. He has the same abilities from Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters along with a new weapon called the Super-Colliding Super Laser. As with Size Matters Giant Clank is mostly used in outer space.

Besides Clank, Qwark, Ratchet and even Gadgebots are playable in the game. Qwark's gameplay sections are based on his glorified and false accounts of his own exploits and are more action based with small tasks to complete. Ratchet's segments in prison force him to fight with enemies from previous games in arena combat similar to that seen in previous games in competitions such as the MegaCorp Games, Imperial Fight Festival, Annihilation Nation and Dreadzone.

Story
This game focuses for the first time in the series on the adventures of the beloved robot sidekick, Clank, and his secret alter-ego, Secret Agent Clank, as the main playable character. The premise behind Secret Agent Clank surrounds Ratchet as he's framed for a crime that he didn't commit. Unfortunately for the hero the trial is skewed against him and he is found guilty. To save his friend, Clank dons his Secret Agent Clank persona and investigates who's behind the accusations. Along the way, he acquires new abilities, such as Clank-Fu. He'll also receive, find and buy new weapons, such as the Tie-A-Rang and Cufflink Bomb. While Clank investigates, Ratchet fights previous henchmen he defeated and Captain Qwark travels across the galaxy while having a reporter bot write his autobiography. Ratchet was found guilty because of his "being a hero really doesn't pay" speech. The first area Clank explored was the Boltaire Museum which was where Ratchet was caught.

As Clank went to the Boltaire Museum to halt the theft of a priceless jewel known as the Eye of Infinity, he saw, to his shock, Ratchet (in his Mastermind persona) fleeing the scene of the crime. Mastermind Ratchet was promptly found and arrested by local law enforcement. While retinal scanned proved that the thief was indeed Ratchet, Clank was convinced of his friend's innocence. While Ratchet was sent to prison, Clank investigated the theft further, traveling to various locales until he came across an enigmatic figure known only as "The Kingpin." While going through an abandoned space facility, The Kingpin revealed himself to be none other than Klunk, Clank's evil doppelgänger, first introduced in Up Your Arsenal. Klunk stole Clank's transport, forcing him to enlarge and track the vehicle.

In the meantime, Ratchet confronted some of his old enemies he had placed in prison while Qwark traveled around the galaxy to start his autobiography with a less-than-thrilled reporter-bot, Biographical Analysis Robot Neo Eight Yellow or B.A.R.N.E.Y., coming along for the ride. When Clank finally confronted Klunk, the evil mastermind revealed his plan: he had stolen the Eye of Infinity to use as a refractor for a massive laser system perfectly poised to destroy every planet in the galaxy within a single shot. Klunk, acting through Ratchet (via a mind-control helmet), would threaten to use the laser for a planet to rule. Just in time, Klunk, posing as Clank, would stop Mastermind Ratchet from destroying the galaxy, placing the hero in jail forever while Klunk, as Clank, would be idolized by the populace.

Halfway through their battle, Klunk activated the laser, knowing that only he knew the password. Clank knocked out Klunk and managed to deactivate the firing sequence while Qwark accidentally beamed himself aboard the satellite, retrieved the Eye of Infinity, and dismantled the device. Ratchet was exonerated of the crimes filed against him, B.A.R.N.E.Y., secretly working for Klunk, tried to assassinate Qwark, but was stopped by Clank, and Klunk was placed in Ratchet's custody, being turned into a new vacuum cleaner to use in the apartment in the city of Megapolis.

Timeline placement and canonicity
The events of this ambiguously canon spin-off game happen after Ratchet: Deadlocked, as demonstrated by Reapers appearing in prison. The stories' events act as a sequel to what happened in Size Matters (which seemingly happened in between Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked).
 * Timeline

If the events of this game happened then they needed to also happen before the Future series, as those games take place in a different galaxy from Solana, follow on directly from each other, and reference Klunk as being thought to be deceased.

This game's upcoming release is referenced in Tools of Destruction. Clank utilizes his Clank-Fu skills from this game in All 4 One.
 * Canonicity

The issues with acknowledging this game as canon are that The Plumber acts extremely out of character compared to his other appearances, that Qwark is a capable swimmer - when later games state he cannot swim, and several other inconsistencies.

Development
The game has been in development since before the release of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. In July 2007, rumors of the game's existence surfaced when David Bergeaud, who composes music for the Ratchet & Clank series, accidentally revealed the game in his online resume. The actual game was not confirmed by Sony until a pre-TGS 2007 conference In March 2009, the PlayStation 2 version was confirmed.

PlayStation Portable
Secret Agent Clank on the PSP has got mid to high reviews, ranging from 6.5/10 from IGN to 8.5/10 from Game Informer. Most scores fall in the 6-8 level with a Metacritic score of 71/100 based on 56 reviews. News for gamers (N4G) also gave it a 4/5.

PlayStation 2
Secret Agent Clank on the PS2 received lower scores, with 6.0 out of 10 from IGN and 61 out of 100 from Metacritic based on 9 reviews.

Interconnectivity between other games
A code found in the IRIS Supercomputer in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is included for this game, when the code is typed in on the game the Zoni skin is unlocked.

In Secret Agent Clank's Treehouse there is a code that unlocks the Convict skin for Ratchet in Tools of Destruction.

PSP users who have a Size Matters save file are given special bonuses-the skins from that game.

Trivia

 * This is the only game in the series where Ratchet is not the main playable character.
 * This is the only game where Ratchet's real hands are shown, which is in the Shower area, when he meets The Plumber.
 * This is the only game where Giant Clank speaks.
 * In the European and North American versions, the title only uses Clank's name. The same applies for Ratchet: Deadlocked when only Ratchet's name is used. However, in this game Ratchet is a playable character and in Ratchet: Deadlocked Clank is not.
 * Those who pre-ordered the game from Gamestop received an action figure of Secret Agent Clank.