bit-tech Shopping: Sony Secret Agent Clank

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths: Innovative level design, switches focus from multiple characters

Weaknesses: Game is pretty short

Summary: If you've played all the previous Ratchet and Clank games, this one might throw you for a bit of a loop. It's hard not to get the impression that the designers were testing out new ideas for future games since there are a lot of new gameplay elements. While the focus is on Clank as a bond-style secret agent, Quark and Ratchet also have their own parts to play. The designers added new weapons galore, mostly for clank who in the past has had to depend on his robot fists. This time around he gets around a dozen new pieces of equipment to blast enemies and help complete missions. The Ratchet levels are pretty much what you'd be used to if you've played any previous R&C games. Mostly the weapons are just renamed versions of previous incarnations. The Quark levels are thematically hilarious and vary greatly in content. In one part you spend a good amount of time just defending a cutout of his left buttcheek. In addition to the shoot 'em up, beat 'em up, you've come to expect, there is also a clank based rhythm game, stealth game (where you have to try to avoid detection), gadgetbots, and multiple racing games. There is a heck of a lot of new content to try with this game. It's great as a pickup for those who've played every game of the series or those who are brand new to it. I only wish that it had been longer in gameplay. Many of elements involve replaying the same level for bonus points, which is nice but all new levels would have been better.