Sadly there are some good games out there that are quickly and shamefully ported to other systems and are not even half the game that the original was. This is the case of Secret Agent Clank which was an above average and very fun game on the Playstation Portable which has been ported to the Playstation Two by Sanzaru Games for publisher Sony. Not building on the Playstation Two’s strengths but having it limited to what the Playstation Portable was capable of leaves this game feeling like a quick port that never should have happened.

The story of Secret Agent Clank is a good one. Ratchet has been jailed for a crime he did not commit and Clank is on a mission to save him before the prisoners get their hands on Ratchet. Lucky for Ratchet, Clank is a smart, quick thinking and brave little robot who is out to find who framed his friend and save the day once again.


Gameplay

Porting directly from the PSP to a PS2 should result in some solid gameplay or even superior gameplay because of the 2nd thumb stick and the Dual Shock 2 controller is one of the best controllers out there. But this game just controls poorly and with the 2nd thumb stick for camera control the games camera becomes a total hindrance rather than something useful. Making jumps, maneuvering quickly and fighting multiple bad guys is difficult but you also have to do some sneaking around and stealth kills. The controls make this much more difficult than it needs to be.

You have several cool gadgets in the game from Bow Tie Boomerangs, Jet Boots and various mines, bombs and the like which look more at home in a James Bond game. They all work well and you should find them second nature in seconds and useful throughout the game.

The games gameplay can be fun at times and the first few stealth takedowns work well but after your 2nd or 3rd you realize it’s nothing more than a quick time event bore-fest. The rest of the mini games feel just as bad and out of place in the PS2 version of the game. This is a major reason not to ever port a game like this directly and build it based on the systems strengths.

You just do not play Ratchets abused robot Clank in the game but also that cool character Qwark and clanks jailed friend Ratchet. Sadly while Qwark was awesome in other games again in this PSP port on the PS2 he feels trapped and lame. I wouldn’t mind seeing a full game based on Qwark though on the PSP or PSN but it’s time to stop porting PSP games to the PS2.


Graphics and Audio

The PS2 is capable of some incredible graphics for how old the system is and the hardware’s short comings compared to this generation of hardware. As a game released nearly a full decade after the PS2 launched this game looks like it was one of the first games released on the system. Just poor quality textures, models, animation and camera controls mar this game and yes, I know it is a port of the PSP version so we are dealing with the Playstation Portables art assets, this is proof we can no longer have direct ports.

The audio in the game is bad except for the voice over work which is just as good as the PSP version, of course. The music and sound effects seemed muted, almost like how the old 16 bit games sound today. At first I thought my PS2 was malfunctioning but I tried it on the PS3 and my PSTwo and had the same results.

Value

Honestly there is zero value in this game and in the end I would recommend playing one of the other far superior Ratchet and Clank games or mow the lawn. It is up to you but there was nothing rewarding in playing this game in fact it made me wish it was never made.


Bottom Line

As a huge fan of the Ratchet and Clank games and I thoroughly enjoyed the original game on the PSP to see this sad port makes me think that this was nothing more than a money grab for those gamers without a PSP who wanted to play this game. Only a rental if you cannot find anything else to play and if you are a completely forgiving gamer regarding bad games.