The spy story has been and is one of the most popular genres for longer than most of us are able to remember. It has been been in the subject of suspense in films like Three Days of The Condor and The Man Who Knew Too Much, of deep introspection in films like The Manchurian Candidate, of intense action such in the James Bond films, and also the target of limitless parodies such as the Austin Powers films or the recently cinematic adventures of Maxwell Smart now showing on movie screens all across the country. Hollywood isn’t the only one who has a handle on the full martini shaker that is the spy genre, however, as there have been many videos games that take players into the dark and shadowy word of espionage that has now become occupied with such figures as Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid, Gabariel Logan from the Syphon Filter series, and mostly recently Jason Bourne of The Bourne Ultimatum. This week, however, a diminutive tuxedoed hero joins the ranks of the legendary covert operatives in High Impact Games’ Special Agent Clank for the PSP.

Ratchet has been arrested for a crime he was seen to commit but doesn’t recall, and since he can’t clear his name from maximum security, Clank decides to take matters into his own servo-powered grasping mechanisms. Donning, or perhaps painting, a tuxedo filled with plenty of pockets for spy gadgetry, Clank goes out to engage in the spy game all on his own...well, for the most part. You see, the game just isn’t about Clank, although he does play a larger role in Secret Agent Clank then in his other appearances (giant robot transformations not withstanding) because numerous other characters make cameos throughout the game. There is Ratchet, of course, locked away in his prison cell. There is Captain Qwark, clad in a green suit filled with an immense ego, moving around the galaxy taking credit for what you do. Many other minor characters from the other Ratchet and Clank games, such as Silm Cognito, make an appearance here but if you’re anything like me you probably won’t have a clue as to who they are.

Secret Agent Clank also represents what is an attempt at a new gameplay shift for the Ratchet and Clank series. I say attempt because it seems that High Impact Games, much like the traveler who can’t decide what to take along, couldn’t bear to leave the old style of Ratchet and Clank gameplay behind, albeit in a more reduced role than before. The missions that you play through in Secret Agent Clank are broken up into four types: Ratchet’s prison battle missions that are like the gladiatorial style combat from the earlier Ratchet and Clank games, where you have to go a certain number of rounds in order to win bolts and Titanium Screws used to unlock secret weapons and the like.

Clank’s missions represent much of the new content of this game and are really something fun and unique, at least for a time. Clank can be outfitted with a number of spy style gadgets to help him get out of tricky situations such as a pen that can be used to cover the lenses of laser beam emitters and camera equipped security drones. It isn’t always necessary to put these gadgets to use, as you can often run around without getting detected if you’re careful, but using these devices to use has a definite payback. For every camera you black out, for every stealthy knock out you perform, you receive a “Stealth Bonus” that will upgrade Clank’s health as the game goes along.