I kind of feel sorry for Clank. I mean, it's not his fault that I just had a 40-hour slog through Metal Gear Solid 4. When you take into account the ratio of gameplay to cutscene, that's nearly ten hours of stealthing around. And now I've just failed my sixth attempt trying to sneak Clank past the robot guards in a museum with cute little readable exhibit plaques. I'm only on the first level, for pete's sake. Is the rest of the game going to be like this? Dodging flashlight beams, jumping over laser tripwires, and doing the terrible stealth kill minigame (note to self: circle on the right, square on the left)? Because I'm about ready to throw in the towel and play something where I can just shoot stuff. Like, say, any other Ratchet & Clank game.

Secret Agent Clank may very well be a casualty of timing for me. It doesn't help that I've had my fair share of brick walls over the last few weeks: the samurai dude who killed my father (don't they all?) at the end of Ninja Gaiden II's second chapter, the bald-headed mechanic in Lego Indiana Jones, and even the "tutorial boss" in Bourne Conspiracy. They all brought their games to a screeching halt, early and decisively. I don't mind a little challenge in my videogames. I just hate hitting those parts where I'm playing the same bits over and over.

On the upside, at least Secret Agent Clank lets you keep any bolts you've earned. At this rate, I should be able to afford whatever Holo-Knucles are after only a couple more failures.