Ever since Jak's ottsel sidekick scored with his self-titled Daxter, we've been dying for another sidekick-centric spin-off. The wait is over, as Ratchet's partner in platforming gets his Bond on in the upcoming Secret Agent Clank. While it's similar to the Ratchet games, this spy-themed spinoff - based on a TV show that Clank stars in - adds gadgets and stealth play to the bolt-collecting mix. As the plot unfolds, Ratchet becomes the target of an evil and elaborate frame job, and it's up to Clank to clear his friend's name. We recently took the newly spy-tastic Clank out for a spin, and came away impressed by the series' makeover.
Stealth mechanics were immediately stressed in our hands-on demo as we navigated Clank through a series of searchlights swarming the grounds of a museum. While avoiding the persistent glare of the security beacons was a snap, we thought we'd step into the light to see if recklessness would be met with punishment. Sure enough, as soon as we dipped Clank's metallic foot outside the cover of night, a pack of robotic canines descended upon us. Thankfully, Clank now sports some slick-looking "Clank-Fu" moves, and a few well-placed karate chops quickly felled the patrolling pups, clearing the way for us to enter the museum.
More stealth-driven play awaited us inside, as huge, robotic rent-a-cops and motion-sensing lasers flooded the museum's floor. However, along with the fresh security threat came some new moves and gadgets. First up, we learned to sneak behind unsuspecting guards, and unleash a Jason Bourne-like takedown, executed by a quick button-pressing minigame. Unlike the moves we'd dispensed outside, this one was unstoppable; once it was cued, a cool animation played out where Clank jumped, kicked and chopped, reducing the hapless robo-guard to a pile of collectible bolts. Our next new skill, while not lethal, was equally satisfying to execute: jumping atop an empty pedestal, we were able to pose as an exhibit while clueless guards passed us by - let's see Sam Fisher do that!
