Vastly Underrated
Back a few years ago a game was released on PS2 called Sly Cooper and the Thevious Raccoonus to loads of critical acclaim, and seemingly very little sales. The game was a blend between cell-shaded platformer and Metal-Gear style sneaking, and was very good at what it did. The only real problem with the game was its length, clocking in at around 8 hours of gameplay, it was a real disappointment in what was an otherwise great game. This new sequel takes care of that problem, and a fixes a few other things that I didn’t even know were broken from the first game.
The game follows the continuing adventures of Sly Cooper and his friends, Murray and Bentley, which we all met in the first game. Sly is a master thief, and also a raccoon. His friends, Murray the Hippo, and Bentley the Turtle, are the brawn and brains of his operations, respectively, and help Sly out with his capers. Bentley is the one you will almost always hear giving you instructions at the beginning of missions, and Murray is around to provide heavy lifting for missions which require it.
First off, I’ll talk about the changes since the first game. The game has been made much longer, and the plot more detailed than the first game. This helps quite a lot, as the length was the main disappointment from the first game. Second, they made the game less cartoony looking. While the game is still cell-shaded and beautiful looking, it’s more of a comic book look, and less like a Saturday morning cartoon. You see fewer big cartoon locks and keys, and more things which are correctly proportioned, which actually increases the feel of the game. Thirdly, they’ve made all three characters playable, so you’re able to control not just Sly, but also go on missions as Murray and Bentley as well.
But, sadly, not every change to the game is as positive. The game is a lot less platformer-y in this version, focusing instead on one major level, and a few sub-rooms per level. This does make the game a lot more believable, but it also means that once you’ve fully explored the main level, there aren’t any more different levels to look forward to. Secondly, while they did allow all three main characters to be playable, they could have done a little bit more to differentiate the playstyles of the characters. While Sly can climb and do various thief moves, Bentley has his crossbow with sleep darts, and Murray has the ability to pick up objects, past that, they all seem to control about the same, run at the same speed, jump the same distance, etc. It’s a minor gripe, however, and didn’t cut down on my enjoyment of the game at all. The third thing which annoyed me was the changing of voice talent for Sly’s main good-guy nemesis. Again, a very minor gripe when you consider that people who haven’t played the first game won’t have any idea of this change.
While the game does consist mostly of large single levels, the various missions you have in those large levels change so widely, it’s always a surprise as to what you’ll be doing next. One level will have you taking reconnaissance photos, the next will have you parachuting out of a plane trying to collect balloons, or hijacking a tank, or raiding rooms to find tuxedo parts. With the different kinds of missions, changing objectives, and fun minigames in each level, it’s hard to not enjoy yourself.
The high point of the game, however, has to be the character interaction. Unlike many games, I actually looked forward to the characters talking in this game. Each character has a real unique personality, and they’re not over-done. Sly is fairly laid back, and quietly confident, Bentley is nervous and displays a bit of a know-it-all attitude, and Murray, or “The Murray” as he calls himself, camps himself up like a professional wrestler, and all three are believable. Even the various bosses display a level of character design that just makes the game so much more than what it could be. From the street-talking Russian lizard, to the unfrozen bison lumberjack, each character is lovingly designed.
Players should expect a game that is still fairly heavy on the platformer elements, and forgiving on the stealth elements. Messing up on stealth means that you’ll likely just need to fight some enemies, which isn’t really that big of an issue. The combat is fairly fun and fast-paced, and easy, assuming you’re not playing as Bentley. There are very few levels which you have to stay completely out of sight, and even those are normally just staying away from the main boss of the level. So, in conclusion, this game is very difficult to not enjoy.
Like the first game in this series, this game is much more than a platformer stealth action game, it’s an adventure with friends. I can’t recommend this game enough. The original game was a great game, and this game fixed the problems the original had, and improves everything in the game, even things that weren’t broken in the original. I’d suggest going out and renting the first game, though, if you haven’t played it, not because it’s necessary for the plot, but just because it was a great game, and will give you a starting point of reference for this game. This game is pure, undiluted fun injected directly into your eyes.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Clockwerk parts
