Line #5 VideoGame/SecretAgentClank


1	[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/secret_agent_clank_front_cover.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:230:[[{{Tagline}} This time, the secret agent IS the gadget.]]]]
3
4	->''"I know this has become personal for you, but we believe this theft is part of a larger plan. It's imperative that you remain objective, and complete the mission."''
5	-->--The '''Agency Helpdesk's''' words to Clank upon discovering that Ratchet has stolen the Eye of Infinity.
6
7	The second game of the ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' series on the [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]], and then ported to the Platform/PlayStation2. It is the sequel to ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankSizeMatters''.
8
9	Ratchet is framed for a museum robbery, and Clank must assume his Film/JamesBond-esque alter-ego to find the real culprit. Meanwhile, Ratchet must survive in prison, and Qwark is writing his biography.
10
11	While Clank is the main character, and the one who gets the most screen time, he's only one of four characters the game cycles through as the story plays, each one with a different gameplay style and goals. They are as follows:
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13	* Clank: Clank's graduated from sidekick to main character, and with the change in title comes the abilities usually associated with a R&C main character; experience points, gadgets, and upgradeable weapons, which in his case come in the ShoePhone variety. His levels are a combination of classic ''Ratchet'' gameplay and stealth games. He also gets into some high speed chases and some other stock spy situations, which play out via RhythmGame minigames.
14	* Ratchet: Ratchet is spending the game stuck in a prison planet, along with a lot of the villains and mooks he and Clank have defeated. They are trying to, well, kill him basically. Ratchet has to use weapons sent to him by Clank to keep himself alive. His game is essentially the Battle Arena of the game.
15	* Captain Qwark: Qwark is spending the game narrating his biography. Supposedly. Qwark being Qwark, he's kinda sorta lying through his teeth. The player plays his imaginary scenarios, which are quick action packed challenges and boss fights. The majority of the boss fights happen here.
16	* Gadgebots: Sometimes Clank needs some extra help. In those instances he calls the Gadgebots. They basically take the place of Clank's solo gameplay from the main games. Between three and four 'bots complete various tasks, with the player able to switch between the 'bots at will and command the others.
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18
19	----
20	!!Good evening, troper! The wiki is expecting me.
21	* AffectionateParody: Of the spy genre.
22	* AmmoUsingMeleeWeapon: The Plasma Whip. The returning Walloper is also changed into one.
23	* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: The ending shows that Klunk, despite having been turned into a vacuum cleaner, is still concious.]]
24	* BondOneLiner: So many, usually when the player kills an enemy, and occasionally in cutscenes.
25	* {{Brainwashed}}: [[spoiler: How Ratchet is being framed. He has a mind control device stuck on his head.]]
26	* {{Calvinball}}: The card game at the casino, the rules of which are so unintuitive and complex, complete with trivia rounds and such, that the way the player interacts with the game is through a RhythmGame.
27	* TheCameo: Dr. Nefarious makes one as one of Klunk's suits, during the final battle, named "[[{{DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment}} Robo-Nefarious]]".
28	* CanonDiscontinuity: An odd example. [[https://twitter.com/insomniacgames/status/818609388260716544 Insomniac Games confirmed]] nearly a decade after this game's release that while the game's events are canonically an episode of the series' titular ShowWithinAShow, they are thus non-canon to the main ''Ratchet & Clank'' timeline.
29	* CensorBox: Parodied. When Ratchet is in the shower fighting enemies and someone loses a [[ModestyTowel towel]], including Ratchet, censor boxes cover their crotches and bottoms, even though none of them have any naughty bits.
30	* ContinuityCavalcade: The game is full of call-backs and easter eggs to every game before it, such as all the enemies on the prison planet being taken from ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'', ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal Up Your Arsenal]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked Deadlocked]]'', the multiple references to ''Size Matters'' made throughout the story, and the final boss being [[spoiler:Klunk, the evil counterpart of Clank made by Dr. Nefarious.]]
31	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: [[spoiler:Klunk gets converted into a vaccuum cleaner after his defeat.]]
32	-->'''Clank:''' Looks like it sucks to be him.
33	* DeathTrapTango: Certain segments have Clank have to navigate through a series of traps. These segments take the form of a rhythm game with Clank moving to the beat to avoid the traps.
34	* EvilTwin: [[spoiler:The true culprit turns out to be none other than Klunk, the evil clone of Clank created by Dr. Nefarious, still maintaining the goals of replacing Clank, defeating Ratchet, and subjugating the squishies. This makes the final battle something of a MirrorMatch.]]
35	* {{Expy}}: The Kingpin, [[spoiler:Klunk's alias for most of the game]], is the Ratchet and Clank equivalent of [[{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}} The Donbot.]]
36	* FailedASpotCheck: Throughout the entire game, nobody notices the mind control device that has been placed on Ratchet's head until the very end. FridgeLogic comes in when you realize that Ratchet himself should have noticed the device on his head or the warden should have removed it from his person given that prisons typically confiscate everything you have with you, including headwear.
37	* FantasyCounterpartCulture:
38	** The city of Asyanica is a {{Wutai}}, with elements of China, Japan and Korea.
39	** Planet Rionosis is based on UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}}, carnivals and all.
40	** While their respective cultures are not depicted, a Russian and an Arab tourists also appear at one point.
41	* FunWithAcronyms: Qwark's nickname for the biographer robot following him is "Barney", which is a shortned version of its offcial name: Biography Analysis Robot Neo Eight Yellow.
42	* GaidenGame: It's a non-canon game based on the franchise's ShowWithinAShow starring Clank as the main character. This is even reflected in the [[MarketBasedTitle Japanese title]], which flips the order of the characters to make the title ''Clank & Ratchet''.
43	* GameplayRoulette: Much like the ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' franchise, ''Secret Agent Clank'' throws a variety of different gameplay styles into the mix:
44	** Most of the game revolves around Clank, whose gameplay this entry is a mix of the third-person shooter / platforming the series is known for mixed with stealth.
45	** Ratchet's portion of the game makes up the GladiatorSubquest as he fights for survival in prison. Gameplay-wise it's the most traditional part of the game (albeit with the caveat that you won't earn bolts from enemies until you unlock the Bolt Extractor gadget), and it even keeps the [[GimmickLevel gimmick based challenges]] the arenas became known for.
46	** Qwark makes his [[PromotedToPlayable playable debut]] in this game, with his levels being playable versions of the made-up tales of heroism he tells to Barney. On the base level the gameplay is mostly similar to what the series is known for, except Qwark moves much slower and he only has one gun at his disposal. Additionally each level carries its own unique gameplay gimmick (such as Qwark having jet boots or needing to protect a dam), and you don't earn bolts during any of them.
47	** The last playable characters are [[PromotedToPlayable the Gadgebots]], funnily enough acting similarly to Clank's sections in prior games as their levels are more puzzle-oriented and them having much more limited combat capabilities.
48	** The Omni-Key, being the game's hacker tool in the form of a very basic falling block puzzle.
49	** There's three missions where Clank gets a vehicle (or in one instance a snowboard, though the gameplay is identical) and makes a getway through an auto-scrolling level.
50	** Perhaps the most bizarre addition is the handful of rhythm game levels, where the player must hit the right buttons (which are frustratingly enough ''not'' properly synced to the music) in order for Clank to get through an obstacle.
51	** Finally returning from [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankSizeMatters High Impact's previous installment]], there's two Giant Clank shoot-em-up levels: One towards the end of the story, and one that takes the form of the credits.
52	* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: In the end [[spoiler: Klunk smashes the controls to the laser, so if Clank beats him the laser will destroy the galaxy]].
53	* JailBake: How Clank smuggles weapons into prison for Ratchet.
54	* KidnappedScientist: The Kingpin abducts an unnamed scientist to build a powerful laser for him. Said scientist remarks this is the ''third'' time something like this has happened to him.
55	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: For trying to take the credit for Clank’s accomplishments, by the end of the game Qwark gets humiliated and nearly killed by Barney, the biographer he hired. Barney meanwhile gets blown up by Clank for being a double agent for Klunk. And of course, there's Klunk himself, turned into a vacuum cleaner by the very same guys he tried to frame for his crime and jail for life (jn Ratchet's case) or kill (in Clank's)]].
56	* LaymansTerms: Combined with BuffySpeak to make absolutely certain that Qwark understands what's being said.
57	-->'''Clank:''' You must [[spoiler: remove the Eye of Infinity]] or we are all dead!
58	-->'''Qwark:''' Duh, whose-- uh? Whatsit?
59	-->'''Clank:''' The big... shiny thing! [[spoiler: Take it out of the laser!]]
60	* OnePhoneCall: Averted. Ratchet does get a free phone call, but it's because of him helping to stop a prison riot, not because he's legally entitled to one.
61	* PromotedToPlayable: Both Qwark and the Gadgebots get full levels to themselves with gameplay unique from Ratchet and Clank.
62	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The opera Qwark takes part in late in the game is set to music from the 1875 opera [[Theatre/{{Carmen}} "Carmen"]] by Bizet.
63	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "I am telling you. That. Is not. [[spoiler: Ratchet!]]"
64	** To be specific, Clank refuses to believe that the Ratchet who stole the Eye Of Infinity really was his best friend. [[spoiler: Then towards the end, it's revealed that it ''really was'' Ratchet, except he's been {{brainwashed}}. Klunk had swapped out Ratchet's signature helmet with a mind control device, occasionally setting it to activate and change Ratchet, making him into a self-proclaimed "mastermind". All as part of his plot to destroy Ratchet's reputation and replace him as the hero of the galaxy... while once again masquerading as Clank.]]
65	* RhythmGame: During some segments. If only they actually went along to the beat of the music.
66	* SeriesContinuityError: When the Thugs-4-Less leader confronts Ratchet in prison he states the last time they met was when Ratchet shot down his helicopter, referencing his boss fight on Endako early on in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]''. This directly contradicts the rest of that game, as the leader encountered the duo on several more occasions after that with their actual last encounter being on Snivelak towards the end of the game.
67	* ShoePhone: Clank's entire inventory is comprised of weapons and gadgets that look like mundane items:
68	** The Tie[[DeadlyDisc -a-]][[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang Rang]] a bow tie which unfolds a saw blade when thrown.
69	** The Blackout Pen, a pen that shoots blots of ink that can obscure cameras and deactivate lasers.
70	** The [[GemstoneAssault Cuff Link Bomb]], a crystal cuff link which can be launched from Clank's wrist and either explodes on impact or creates a sticky mine that explodes when other enemies are near.
71	** The Tanglevine Carnation, a carnation that, when thrown, turns into a ManEatingPlant.
72	** The [[FullBodyDisguise Holo-]][[HighClassGlass Monocle]], a monocle which allows Clank to copy an enemy's appearance and create a holographic disguise.
73	** The [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny Hypno-Watch]], a wristwatch that, when thrown, flashes and attracts weak enemies.
74	** The [[ShockAndAwe Thunderstorm]] [[UmbrellasAreLightningRods Umbrella]], an umbrella that creates lightning.
75	** The [[KillItWithFire Blowtorch]] [[BriefcaseBlaster Briefcase]], a flamethrower disguised as a briefcase.
76	** The [[PowerFist Holo-Knuckles]], a pair of knuckle dusters which create hard-light projections to hit enemies with.
77	** [[spoiler: The Therm-Optic Shades, a pair of glasses obtained in challenge mode that allow the player to see alien codes in first-person view.]]
78	* ShowWithinAShow: [[https://twitter.com/insomniacgames/status/818609388260716544 As confirmed by Insomniac]], the events of this game are an episode of the ''Secret Agent Clank'' show in-universe. [[note]]This doesn't ''exactly'' match up, given that Ratchet's role in the show as shown in ''Up Your Arsenal'' was a bumbling limo driver, though Clank ''may'' have gotten him a more dignified role by the time this "episode" aired.[[/note]]
79	* ThirdLineSomeWaiting: There is the main story following Clank, a couple of side missions where Ratchet fights off other prisoners, and a third storyline that follows Qwark as he recounts his life story to a biographer. The first and third connect at the end.
80	* TuxedoAndMartini: The specific type of SpyFiction which this game parodies. Clank [[spoiler: along with Klunk]] is given a swanky tuxedo and bowtie combo for the duration, his weapons and gadgets are of the ShoePhone type, he shows up to more than one fancy party and high stakes card game, and so on.
81	* UmbrellasAreLightningRods: Inverted and weaponized with the Thunderstorm Umbrella, a ShockAndAwe weapon in the shape of an umbrella that fires lightning bolts at enemies.
82	* UnexpectedGenreChange: The game is a StealthBasedGame, as opposed to the series' usual action-shooting gameplay. It still has weapons that can level up if used, but Clank also gets health bonuses for sneaking past enemies.
83	* UtilityWeapon: In a bit of a departure for the series, most of Clank's weapons can be used to progress him through levels. Throwties cut lines, tanglevines gum up machines, etc.
84	* WealthsInAName: Wealthy countess Ivana Lottabolts, with bolts being the local currency.
85	----
86	->''When it was done, the town was not too thrilled!''\
87	''With the big mess and my giant bill!''\
88	''They said I should stay and mop the floor...''\
89	''But I told them my contract staaaaaaates...''\

Context VideoGame / SecretAgentClank