Reviewed on:
Playstation 2The Good:
Great follow up from previous game with solid story and more playable characters. Nice cel-shaded environments sport better visual appeal. Mini-games are fun replay value.The Bad:
Challenges lack creativity. Camera strays at inopportune times. Not all supporting characters play well.The Verdict:
Sly and co. are back and they pull off another successful heist.
REVIEW:
While certainly not a flagship title for Sony Computer Entertainment or even the PlayStation 2, the Sly Cooper franchise has to be considered among the most consistent first-party titles for the platform.
Only a year ago, Sly 2: Band of Thieves was released and did such a superb job of expanding from the original that it earned an audience from a range of gamers. Now only a year later, the crew at Sucker Punch developed Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, which picks up immediately after the events of Band of Thieves.
All the main characters return for another go-round in Sly 3, albeit with some different moves and mindsets. Bentley, the brains behind the Cooper clan's capers, is now paralyzed from the explosion in the final moments of the previous game. Murray, the lovable hippo who packs a big punch, returns but with renewed belief in a higher power (since he blames himself for Bentley's injury). Sly is the only one who remains very much like he did before, which is no surprise since he takes up a bulk of the gameplay.
In time, other playable characters take the reins for bit parts and sequences that move the story along. This was a good idea, but it's handled in an unusually clumsy manner by the developers. Playing as Carmelita Fox, the cop Sly "has a thing for" is difficult because of an awkward targeting system and the inability to utilize her acrobatic prowess. The Panda King, a villain from the previous game, is more engaging and fun to watch thanks to the fireworks display he puts on. There are a few others, but they also follow patterns similar to those I just outlined.
The real strength of the game, naturally, lies in the playability of the three main characters. The general gameplay and button configurations are identical, only now Bentley and Murray can do new things like steal money from the pockets of unsuspecting guards (something that only Sly could do before). Bentley can also use a Grapple Cam allowing him to deceive enemies, while Murray can now roll into a ball and either jump to great heights or roll around and become a juggernaut with the right amount of momentum.
Sly, meanwhile, hasn't been kept out of the upgrades completely, since he now has a trusty glider that lets him bring the fight to airborne enemies. Plus, there are a bunch of other items available via an eBay-style marketplace called ThiefNet.
Regardless of where you're probing, what you're stealing and whom you're fighting, the cel-shaded visuals are marvellous. This was always one of the real positives of the Sly series, but it's nice to see that the developers were able to spice them up even more. The locales, Venice, Holland, China and the Caribbean, all look fantastic as cartoon-like incarnations.
Sly 3 also offers certain missions in 3D, complete with a set of shades. Put them on, and the Sly world comes alive in front of your very eyes. It comes across as a gimmick at first but works pretty well, all things considered. The best part is that you can choose to play without that feature for a mission, but still go back to it and try again after you've completed it.
There are, however, a few issues to consider visually speaking. For one, the camera can't seem to follow the action as well as it did in the previous games. It seems that in certain situations like climbing up a wall or fighting a boss, the camera strays and doesn't give you a proper view of what's happening, forcing you to control it manually. It's a puzzling part of the game, since it was never there before, but it can be manageable with a little trial and error.
Each caper has a series of mini-games and challenges that are on offer to you. A nice idea to provide some replay value and complement what is already a very strong single-player experience. The challenges come across as rehashes of the actual missions you played only with tougher criteria, whereas the mini-games can be a ton of fun to play. There's a dogfighting one that can be very addictive, and a battle of wits between Sly and Carmelita in "Cops and Robbers." And the final mini-game is a co-op one where you hack into a security system and fend off waves of attacking guards. The one to rack up the most points and make it to the exit wins.
Needless to say, the Sly gang puts on a great show again with Honor Among Thieves. While there are a few things that bog the game down at times, they're not enough to really hurt the fun-filled antics of the main characters. This should be one of Sony's strongest franchises, so if you want to give a platformer a chance, the Sly series is a good one to try.
