Medium: Game
Rating: E
Platform: Playstation 2
I'd first heard of Sly Cooper a long while back (around when it first released, I think), but I hadn't had a chance to play it until recently. For those not in the know, the Sly series features a gang of anthropomorphic (think Disney's Robin Hood) thieves on their quest to rob other thieves blind, while evading Inspector Carmelita Fox, a policewoman who's been hot on their trail from the beginning. It's a platformer with a heavy emphasis on stealth and puzzle solving; there are guards, lasers, spotlights, and other alarm systems to avoid, but as master thief Sly Cooper, you can climb poles and wires, run across ropes, tiptoe across thin ledges, and other such things in order to completely avoid detection.
The first game, while good, I felt had a couple flaws: First, that you could beat almost the entire game in the first go (except for ONE safe that it made you wait until you'd beaten the final boss to crack), second, that most minigames simply were not fun (especially those hellish driving segments!), third, that most bosses, while difficult, were kinda... not fun either. Okay, so there was the one bulldog guy, and the Panda King (whose name I only remember because it doesn't actually feel as though it should be his proper name...), but other than that, there's... The frog dude who spends half his time either knocking you into the water (you start out unable to swim and this instakills you) or way out of your reach, the alligator lady whose fight is 95% button-matching rhythm minigame. The final boss battle defies all reason as you get a jetpack to take him down with, and the game goes from platformer to shooter. Finally, fourth, the plot felt... very, very loose until the last chapter, when the entire game Took A Level for the climax, a legitimately fun minigame was presented, the story jumped out from whatever shadows it had been hiding in to urge me forward, the final thieving segments were decently challenging, and even with its sudden unexpected genre shift, the final boss was an interesting and engaging battle. Sadly, though, the whole game wraps up as a bit "average". It's an enjoyable enough experience, but it's not all that memorable.
And then there's Sly 2.
Sucker Punch obviously took their fans' critiques seriously, because the second game effectively remedies all it's predecessors' flaws. The emphasis on stealth and puzzle solving is still there, but the engine has received a major overhaul. Instead of going around filching keys from secured areas so that you can make it further into the target's hideout, the game hands you a city and says "Here, have fun". Progress is made by completing missions that allow you to destroy their illegal empires bit by bit, so you actually feel as though you're, you know, advancing the plot. Instead of just playing as Sly this time around, you can also control both Murray (formerly just the getaway driver, now also the muscle) and Bentley (always the brains, now also a demolitions expert), giving a greater variety to the things you can do. Minigames are decidedly less suckish, bosses are legitimately fun, and you can pickpocket the target's goons! There's a definite thrill to following closely behind someone you know can knock you out in two hits, and emptying their pockets without them knowing any better.
Unfortunately, I can't dig too deep into the plot of the second, because it's a direct continuation of the plot of the first, which is almost nonexistent until the final chapter... so anything and everything is spoilers at this point. Let's just say that there are now two cops to deal with now, and Inspector Fox is the least of the Cooper Gang's worries this time.
I haven't finished yet, but so far it meets my approval, and I really only have one nagging problem with the game...
...Why'd they get rid of Carmelita's Spanish accent, when it was so prevalent in the first game? O.o;
Scores-
Sly Cooper and the Theivius Raccoonus: 7/10
Sly 2, Band of Thieves: 8/10
Pass/Fail-
Sly: Pass
Sly 2: Pass
Rating: E
Platform: Playstation 2
I'd first heard of Sly Cooper a long while back (around when it first released, I think), but I hadn't had a chance to play it until recently. For those not in the know, the Sly series features a gang of anthropomorphic (think Disney's Robin Hood) thieves on their quest to rob other thieves blind, while evading Inspector Carmelita Fox, a policewoman who's been hot on their trail from the beginning. It's a platformer with a heavy emphasis on stealth and puzzle solving; there are guards, lasers, spotlights, and other alarm systems to avoid, but as master thief Sly Cooper, you can climb poles and wires, run across ropes, tiptoe across thin ledges, and other such things in order to completely avoid detection.
 |
| And what's a thief without a little safe cracking? |
And then there's Sly 2.
Sucker Punch obviously took their fans' critiques seriously, because the second game effectively remedies all it's predecessors' flaws. The emphasis on stealth and puzzle solving is still there, but the engine has received a major overhaul. Instead of going around filching keys from secured areas so that you can make it further into the target's hideout, the game hands you a city and says "Here, have fun". Progress is made by completing missions that allow you to destroy their illegal empires bit by bit, so you actually feel as though you're, you know, advancing the plot. Instead of just playing as Sly this time around, you can also control both Murray (formerly just the getaway driver, now also the muscle) and Bentley (always the brains, now also a demolitions expert), giving a greater variety to the things you can do. Minigames are decidedly less suckish, bosses are legitimately fun, and you can pickpocket the target's goons! There's a definite thrill to following closely behind someone you know can knock you out in two hits, and emptying their pockets without them knowing any better.
 |
| SUCKERRR! |
I haven't finished yet, but so far it meets my approval, and I really only have one nagging problem with the game...
...Why'd they get rid of Carmelita's Spanish accent, when it was so prevalent in the first game? O.o;
Scores-
Sly Cooper and the Theivius Raccoonus: 7/10
Sly 2, Band of Thieves: 8/10
Pass/Fail-
Sly: Pass
Sly 2: Pass
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