Sly Coops and the gang are back for more, with even more thieves! But there's something missing, because more isn't always better.
I've discussed this briefly when talking about Rayman 2 and so has Fudj in a video where he discusses trends of 3D vs 2D platformers. Many of the 3D platformers of the time insert in tons of minigames, gimmick levels, and in general, unrelated gameplay sections because they're not entirely confident they can keep the player hooked with just core 3D platforming and thus try and break up the 3D platforming with other sections to keep the players on their toes. The notable exceptions to this I feel are Super Mario 64 (which is almost exclusively level based 3D platforming outside of boss fights) and to an extent, Rayman 2. Now don't get me wrong, Sly 2 is not an exception to this rule, but in Sly 2, the platforming remains king; everything that's not the 3D platforming does its best to ensure that it plays second fiddle to avoid taking away the focus from the core stealth 3D platforming missions. And fortunately, I pretty much enjoyed all the side content in Sly 2.
Unfortunately, I respectfully cannot say that is the case for its sequel; it looks like an example where the devs went "hmm, these minigames were really well received! Let's do more with them!" and lost focus of the central mechanics that made Sly 2 so great. To try and explain this further, I'll note that this game has a much smaller emphasis on level exploration via platforming in the hubs. Gone are the clue bottles that were carefully spread around in Sly 2 that made you want to scour the thoughtfully planned and cohesive levels just to get all the collectibles and score a new ability at the safe. Sly 3 also removes the big treasures (that is, both the untimed and timed treasures hidden in nooks & crannies of Sly 2 that you could sell for big cash on Thief Net) from the previous game; it was definitely quite satisfying mapping out and executing routes to snag big treasures back to the safe house, and that's just not a thing here. That also means that almost all the cash you'll need to buy abilities must be collected through object destruction or pickpocketing without the big treasures, and as a result, Sly 3 actually feels more grindy than Sly 2 despite having less overall exploration; this also resulted in me having not purchased all the powerups by the end of the game (though there are obligatory powerups that you'll need for certain levels, mind you), and definitely made the game feel more restrictive when compared to the sandbox-like nature of the previous game. So where did all the time go?
As mentioned previously, Sly 3 feels like an ambitious exercise in some ways, where they decided they had more or less mastered the core gameplay of stealth based 3D platforming missions and decided to invest all their energy into developing better side missions and gameplay... but in doing so, pretty much made that the core gameplay instead. They're all over the place in Sly 3 with the gimmick levels/content; throughout the game, you are driving RC cars, flying a plane in a dogfight, using a grappling hook on a toy helicopter to yank enemies away, rowing a boat while your buddy handles the cannon, controlling a turret and firing at enemies, and playing Dungeon Master by activating traps while enemies flood in, to just name a few. It almost feels like Mario Party at times and it can feel very overwhelming having to constantly shift between so many different modes of play all with different control schemes. There are so, so many "protect the objective" side missions in this game with alternate bars of health to watch out for, and there's usually no way to recover those bars of health, so many of the sections feel like an uphill battle. The absolute worst though, were the many forced pirate ship battles in Chapter 6, all right after one another in the same condensed section (with optional pirate fights if you can't avoid them going between objectives). During this section of the game, you have to fight off (often multiple, sometimes up to 4) pirate ships at the same time by turning the ship with your triggers while you set off cannons with standard platforming controls. Because you're often outnumbered and outgunned, you often have to approach them from very far away and hope for good pot shots from behind, which can take quite a while since the ships are not particularly fast. And if the opposing pirate ships score hits on you and take out your cannons as they often do, you'll have significantly less fire power and no recourse to recover this firepower (or health) until you exit battle by winning/losing the fight. The only reward? More cash. I felt like I was in pirate battles for half of my life (despite the whole affair only taking about 3 hours max) and probably threw a few fights here and there if I got forced into a random encounter; I was pretty done with the grind by this point.
Fortunately, Sly 3 still absolutely owns on its atmosphere. The banter remains fantastic and is in my opinion, even funnier than Sly 2; props go to the dialogue tree prompts, as you can pick the "wrong" option with no consequences and it's a ton of fun forcing characters to react to absurd propositions. The over the top cartoon violence and the master schemes of the Cooper Gang during their grand heists are still there, and the new characters play their role excellently in this chaos. Speaking of which, it's actually quite fun playing as the new characters in their respective 3D platforming sections; they feel quite natural as an extension to Sly 2, similar to how Bentley was more gadget focused like a Mission Impossible movie or Murray was more of a brawler and turned the game into Wario World for a little while. (The core platforming, by the way, is still as slick as ever when you actually get to do it; press Circle to do cool spy platforming thing will never get old.) And finally, this game's boss fights are fantastic and absolutely insane; these are absolutely some of the highlights so I won't go into too much detail and spoil the moments, but let's just say, they've come a long way from the rhythm game boss of the original Sly Cooper.
All in all, I think Sly 3 is a case of taking a few steps forward and more steps backward from trying to do everything at once; the atmosphere, humor, and presentation are all there (and in fact feel quite improved to me; I didn't think a game could look better than Sly 2's cel-shaded visuals, and I'm more than happy to be proven wrong), but ended up performing subtraction by addition by inserting so many different gameplay modes that often lacked polish or felt repetitive while taking away some of the features that made the core 3D platforming from Sly 2 feel so tightly constructed in the first place. I still had a really good time though despite coming very close to throwing my controller during Chapter 6, and I'm really pleased that I finally got to tackle a core trilogy of classic 3D platformers that I never got around to during my childhood.
I've discussed this briefly when talking about Rayman 2 and so has Fudj in a video where he discusses trends of 3D vs 2D platformers. Many of the 3D platformers of the time insert in tons of minigames, gimmick levels, and in general, unrelated gameplay sections because they're not entirely confident they can keep the player hooked with just core 3D platforming and thus try and break up the 3D platforming with other sections to keep the players on their toes. The notable exceptions to this I feel are Super Mario 64 (which is almost exclusively level based 3D platforming outside of boss fights) and to an extent, Rayman 2. Now don't get me wrong, Sly 2 is not an exception to this rule, but in Sly 2, the platforming remains king; everything that's not the 3D platforming does its best to ensure that it plays second fiddle to avoid taking away the focus from the core stealth 3D platforming missions. And fortunately, I pretty much enjoyed all the side content in Sly 2.
Unfortunately, I respectfully cannot say that is the case for its sequel; it looks like an example where the devs went "hmm, these minigames were really well received! Let's do more with them!" and lost focus of the central mechanics that made Sly 2 so great. To try and explain this further, I'll note that this game has a much smaller emphasis on level exploration via platforming in the hubs. Gone are the clue bottles that were carefully spread around in Sly 2 that made you want to scour the thoughtfully planned and cohesive levels just to get all the collectibles and score a new ability at the safe. Sly 3 also removes the big treasures (that is, both the untimed and timed treasures hidden in nooks & crannies of Sly 2 that you could sell for big cash on Thief Net) from the previous game; it was definitely quite satisfying mapping out and executing routes to snag big treasures back to the safe house, and that's just not a thing here. That also means that almost all the cash you'll need to buy abilities must be collected through object destruction or pickpocketing without the big treasures, and as a result, Sly 3 actually feels more grindy than Sly 2 despite having less overall exploration; this also resulted in me having not purchased all the powerups by the end of the game (though there are obligatory powerups that you'll need for certain levels, mind you), and definitely made the game feel more restrictive when compared to the sandbox-like nature of the previous game. So where did all the time go?
As mentioned previously, Sly 3 feels like an ambitious exercise in some ways, where they decided they had more or less mastered the core gameplay of stealth based 3D platforming missions and decided to invest all their energy into developing better side missions and gameplay... but in doing so, pretty much made that the core gameplay instead. They're all over the place in Sly 3 with the gimmick levels/content; throughout the game, you are driving RC cars, flying a plane in a dogfight, using a grappling hook on a toy helicopter to yank enemies away, rowing a boat while your buddy handles the cannon, controlling a turret and firing at enemies, and playing Dungeon Master by activating traps while enemies flood in, to just name a few. It almost feels like Mario Party at times and it can feel very overwhelming having to constantly shift between so many different modes of play all with different control schemes. There are so, so many "protect the objective" side missions in this game with alternate bars of health to watch out for, and there's usually no way to recover those bars of health, so many of the sections feel like an uphill battle. The absolute worst though, were the many forced pirate ship battles in Chapter 6, all right after one another in the same condensed section (with optional pirate fights if you can't avoid them going between objectives). During this section of the game, you have to fight off (often multiple, sometimes up to 4) pirate ships at the same time by turning the ship with your triggers while you set off cannons with standard platforming controls. Because you're often outnumbered and outgunned, you often have to approach them from very far away and hope for good pot shots from behind, which can take quite a while since the ships are not particularly fast. And if the opposing pirate ships score hits on you and take out your cannons as they often do, you'll have significantly less fire power and no recourse to recover this firepower (or health) until you exit battle by winning/losing the fight. The only reward? More cash. I felt like I was in pirate battles for half of my life (despite the whole affair only taking about 3 hours max) and probably threw a few fights here and there if I got forced into a random encounter; I was pretty done with the grind by this point.
Fortunately, Sly 3 still absolutely owns on its atmosphere. The banter remains fantastic and is in my opinion, even funnier than Sly 2; props go to the dialogue tree prompts, as you can pick the "wrong" option with no consequences and it's a ton of fun forcing characters to react to absurd propositions. The over the top cartoon violence and the master schemes of the Cooper Gang during their grand heists are still there, and the new characters play their role excellently in this chaos. Speaking of which, it's actually quite fun playing as the new characters in their respective 3D platforming sections; they feel quite natural as an extension to Sly 2, similar to how Bentley was more gadget focused like a Mission Impossible movie or Murray was more of a brawler and turned the game into Wario World for a little while. (The core platforming, by the way, is still as slick as ever when you actually get to do it; press Circle to do cool spy platforming thing will never get old.) And finally, this game's boss fights are fantastic and absolutely insane; these are absolutely some of the highlights so I won't go into too much detail and spoil the moments, but let's just say, they've come a long way from the rhythm game boss of the original Sly Cooper.
All in all, I think Sly 3 is a case of taking a few steps forward and more steps backward from trying to do everything at once; the atmosphere, humor, and presentation are all there (and in fact feel quite improved to me; I didn't think a game could look better than Sly 2's cel-shaded visuals, and I'm more than happy to be proven wrong), but ended up performing subtraction by addition by inserting so many different gameplay modes that often lacked polish or felt repetitive while taking away some of the features that made the core 3D platforming from Sly 2 feel so tightly constructed in the first place. I still had a really good time though despite coming very close to throwing my controller during Chapter 6, and I'm really pleased that I finally got to tackle a core trilogy of classic 3D platformers that I never got around to during my childhood.
Uh oh! Sly invited too many friends and now he is suffocated by obnoxious gimmick character levels!
While I figured some thoughts would change for 1 and 2, I knew going in I'd still love 3 the most. I've replayed this so much out of the trilogy, first starting out in its initial release back in 2005, to the point I know most of what happens like the back of my hand... almost, and each time I replay it I (re)discover something about it that I never knew about until then. While it was developed in one-year devcycle (whether by crunch or Sucker Punch actually being more laxed this time around, I'm unsure of, need to look into it), which in turn leads to some obvious spots- reused voice clips and animation, as well as some sound bugs for some examples, for the grand majority I'm pretty surprised at how complete the overall package is to this day, especially coming off of Jak 3 not that long ago, where I felt like that game could've used more time in the oven. Before starting the review proper, I'll mention it's actually my first time completing it 100% though, so as a summary, the experience was Neat. Master Thief Challenges were fun and provided a nice distraction, though I would've preferred if they weren't the only side content available, but more on that in a bit.
Something I have to say now though, now that it's the end of the PS2 trilogy, it's that I feel like each game does such a great job of being standalone enough that someone wouldn't get totally lost if they jumped in, but also grow and develop previous plot and character moments to tell an effective story. The intro does a good job of this I feel, new players are intrigued and confused as to what is happening as usual, but with returning players there's so much going on it's kind of overwhelming... at least, that's how I view it, maybe I'm just thinking too much on this.
In terms of gameplay mechanics and such, the core of it is more refined and tweaked from 2. Abilities have seen some sort of boost (Stealth Boots -> Rocket Boots which is much faster and can go up on slopes, Bentley and Murray can now pickpocket people), innated onto the kit now (Murray can now jump and run when holding something by default), or have some new stuff available (Sly's Jump and Push attacks,). There's probably a few more, but those are the ones I noticed. Overall, some good changes here and there and the controls themselves are also tweaked, but since they were already great in 2 it's more so just, again, refinement, I can say that the circle overlap thing is at its least obtrusive here as one example.
Of course, that's not the main thing people bring up when it comes to gameplay differences, and with good reason: there's two noticeably different stuff available within the sandbox, and in mission variety. Let's start with the former first, it's more compact to start off, meaning maps are either small-medium sized unlike 2 where they're medium-big, there's more of an emphasis on setpieces and distinctive locales, you now have little holographic icons telling you who has a mission available, and alongside Bentley & Murray getting better ways to traverse normally (Bentley's new Hover Pack upgrade and Murray's default Ball form), there's new interactable buttons that either does something to help make travelling from one spot to another easier, or (and this is usually the case) a new way to set off a trap among an unsuspecting foe. Gotta be honest, now that I'm older and have more awareness to games from the past, this eerily gives me immersive sim vibes... not that it's like, EXACTLY at the level of Thief or even the much later Dishonored, but it does feel more lived-in and hands-on compared to 2.
And yet, I wouldn't exactly say it's an improvement. I talked about this with Drax in their review, but while 3 alleviates 2's major hub issue - that being you have little reason to not go around it as Sly as he's the most equipped for the place, as well as Bentley and Murray only just being able to do so near the end of the game with the necessary upgrades and little trampoline spots - it trades it off for 2's core strength in being able to explore it thanks to the clue bottles and treasure run activities. I mean, I can understand clue bottles being tossed aside, as fun as they were I don't think they'd exactly work with 3's aforementioned smaller worlds (unless they nix the fixed value of 30 and go back to 1's flexible and varied value, but even then that'd usually just be 10, 15, and one or two 20s, so...), but treasure runs being gone is for the worst. Maybe it's cause I'm a player and most of my game design knowledge has come from looking it up online from different people, but considering there's two different ways to open safes, I don't think it would've been too unreasonable for there, instead of treasure runs, straight up treasure challenges for the Main Trio this time around, probably one or two in each world, so that it'd utilize each of the character's core attributes and strengths. It also creates an issue that wasn't really there in 2, in that I had to grind out coins more often to buy stuff now cause of both the increased frequency of powerups being available, as well as the price increments and loot reward staying relatively the same as last game. Granted this funnily enough means I've scoured the alleys and roofs of the world to pickpocket guards, and even destroy objects anywhere, missions included, but this seems like a band-aid to mitigate an issue that, again, wasn't that prevalent before. As mentioned earlier, the game was developed in a year, so I'd only imagine if SP would've either implemented this in, or do a new idea altogether. Oh, the wonders of imagining.
Now, there's the other side of the obvious gameplay additions: minigame bonanza. Now, growing up with this, as well as Sonic Adventure 1&2, I developed a sort of affinity and in hand, bias, with this, since I believe these create unique, exciting scenarios for the player to go through even if it's just a one-off idea, and for the most part, I do believe that to be the case since most are pretty good, great even, and I feel there's a decent gimmick/Main Game ratio here. Still, I did say most were good, so here's some I felt lacked, one or two probably being the usual suspects
- The Claw in Australia is boring and way too simple of a task even if it is rather short, and I struggle to find it having a place in that world's mission and story structure outside of "you need the green radioactive material for the Heist"
- Sewer rafting in Holland is an odd one, it's done in the beginning of the mission, yet there's elements of platforming when you're done with the first section, and the second rowing isn't exactly exciting either, and it's justification is for the one (well, technically three but it's in one area of) the heist. It's made more perplexing when you have to row again in the Caribbean, except this time you're like, actually involved with doing fights and stuff.
- Speaking of, the entire second half of the Caribbean world is just Baby's Sid Meier's Pirates. Travelling and ship battles is fine and all, it works and controls well, but that's ALL you're doing, and the speed in which you travel isn't exactly fast enough to go from one area of the map to the other with ease. I understand you can't ask too much to do since this is just A World, but even doing more treasure mapping stuff or having a whole side area dedicated to diving - a style you only do TWICE in the main game - would've been fine enough.
- I don't mind the RC stuff this time around, they're as fun as ever, but there were a few cases - specifically one mission in China, and one during the Final Island - I felt they weren't exactly up to snuff with the other instances, even the ones from 2. Not as bad as the previous examples, but still worth mentioning regardless.
Nowadays, I can understand why people prefer S2 over 3, as it doesn't have that minigames by comparison and you're mainly on-foot. That being said, I still feel like 3's just a bit more consistent in quality by comparison. While I can think of a few instances where 2 was hitting a slump in quality and slowly pulled out of it, I felt 3 tended to bounce back almost immediately after a stumbled outing, both in gameplay and especially story (and keep in mind, I'm saying this as someone who gave both games the same score and see them as two sides of the same coin). If 2 was a story-driven story that kept raising its stakes and ambitions after each chapter, then 3 is an episodic character-driven spin where each chapter focuses on someone while tying into the grand theme of camaraderie, growing from what's fractured from the past, and finding a place of your own.
As evident from that last bit, the villain roster here is my favorite of the PS2 trilogy. While they're not all part of a grand gang this time around, this individualistic aspect, as mentioned before, gives more room to grow a character in the chapter's spotlight, such as Murray V. Don Octavio who're both struggling to fit into something after their one passion and strength for it crumbled before them, or Panda King V. General Tsao, where the former's humility over his defeat has left him to lose himself and his daughter from a hardened, stone-cold traditionalist (and I mean like, unironic misogynist kind), or even just how Bentley has to face off against two smart minds here in attempt to finally solidify himself as someone who's more than just a Cooper Member. I also love Dr. M, he only shows up at the beginning and end of the game yea but even during this short screentime he does a great job at exemplifying this broken, insane man fueled by hatred of mistreatment of Sly's Dad, and even managed to place this thought onto Bentley for a fair bit. Am I exaggerating on this? A fair bit, Dr. M probably could've had one or two cutscenes leading up to him (nothing major, but something to at least plant the seeds so to speak) regardless, Guru's cool but his dilemma against Mask Of Dark Earth isn't exactly important, and as sweet and necessary Penelope is to further provide Bentley's development, her whole thing with Black Baron could've been expanded upon a fair bit, especially since it's probably the only time the "villain" wasn't like actively evil or something like that and just Some Person (dear god I wish Backloggd had a spoiler formatting for a specific text block instead of just covering it entirely, or maybe it's there and I'm too stupid to figure it out). That being said, I prefer the storytelling and beats here by comparison when all's said and done, but again, 2's story is already masterful enough on its own that I can see why some would prefer that as well.
Even the gameplay ties into this, as I feel like everyone gets some amount of play to feel like a Cooper Member. As one example, Dimitri, who as I mentioned before only got two diving minigames, at least helped out before in the story to have some contribution made, and there's a lot more missions available that involves teamwork of some capacity. Carmelita also has her own gameplay style now, and fittingly enough it's like a third-person shooter (although why this doesn't follow the same camera controls as normal gameplay confuses me), once again giving her more to do and more integral to the story instead of Just Being There like in the first game. On that note, as I mentioned in the past reviews, this game also dabbles back into doing more platforming sections, and while I wouldn't say it gets as intricate as 1, there's still more times where you need to do some acrobatics for something or someone, even if it's pretty simple it's very much appreciated. I even liked fighting a whole lot more here, as stated the refinement of the powerups as well as Sly's two new moves makes getting into fights a blast, to the point I used to willingly stage fights just to beat people up, something I still do today. Also, the boss fights? Again, easily my favorite. They combined the more gimmick-centric stuff while still keeping the core fight all about fisticuff nature, or at the very least just duels. Shoutouts to Tsao, Muggshot, MODE Lemonade Bar, Venice Canal Chase, and Black Baron Airplane.
I could say like, a LOT as to what makes me love this game as much as I do, what it means to me and how it influenced me, and why it's a Certified Classic, but it's fuckin 7AM EST at the time of writing this and I'm tired as hell. Just, play this trilogy at some point if you haven't yet, I already mentioned this a few times but they're considered by me and so many others as must play platformers for very good reasons.
Something I have to say now though, now that it's the end of the PS2 trilogy, it's that I feel like each game does such a great job of being standalone enough that someone wouldn't get totally lost if they jumped in, but also grow and develop previous plot and character moments to tell an effective story. The intro does a good job of this I feel, new players are intrigued and confused as to what is happening as usual, but with returning players there's so much going on it's kind of overwhelming... at least, that's how I view it, maybe I'm just thinking too much on this.
In terms of gameplay mechanics and such, the core of it is more refined and tweaked from 2. Abilities have seen some sort of boost (Stealth Boots -> Rocket Boots which is much faster and can go up on slopes, Bentley and Murray can now pickpocket people), innated onto the kit now (Murray can now jump and run when holding something by default), or have some new stuff available (Sly's Jump and Push attacks,). There's probably a few more, but those are the ones I noticed. Overall, some good changes here and there and the controls themselves are also tweaked, but since they were already great in 2 it's more so just, again, refinement, I can say that the circle overlap thing is at its least obtrusive here as one example.
Of course, that's not the main thing people bring up when it comes to gameplay differences, and with good reason: there's two noticeably different stuff available within the sandbox, and in mission variety. Let's start with the former first, it's more compact to start off, meaning maps are either small-medium sized unlike 2 where they're medium-big, there's more of an emphasis on setpieces and distinctive locales, you now have little holographic icons telling you who has a mission available, and alongside Bentley & Murray getting better ways to traverse normally (Bentley's new Hover Pack upgrade and Murray's default Ball form), there's new interactable buttons that either does something to help make travelling from one spot to another easier, or (and this is usually the case) a new way to set off a trap among an unsuspecting foe. Gotta be honest, now that I'm older and have more awareness to games from the past, this eerily gives me immersive sim vibes... not that it's like, EXACTLY at the level of Thief or even the much later Dishonored, but it does feel more lived-in and hands-on compared to 2.
And yet, I wouldn't exactly say it's an improvement. I talked about this with Drax in their review, but while 3 alleviates 2's major hub issue - that being you have little reason to not go around it as Sly as he's the most equipped for the place, as well as Bentley and Murray only just being able to do so near the end of the game with the necessary upgrades and little trampoline spots - it trades it off for 2's core strength in being able to explore it thanks to the clue bottles and treasure run activities. I mean, I can understand clue bottles being tossed aside, as fun as they were I don't think they'd exactly work with 3's aforementioned smaller worlds (unless they nix the fixed value of 30 and go back to 1's flexible and varied value, but even then that'd usually just be 10, 15, and one or two 20s, so...), but treasure runs being gone is for the worst. Maybe it's cause I'm a player and most of my game design knowledge has come from looking it up online from different people, but considering there's two different ways to open safes, I don't think it would've been too unreasonable for there, instead of treasure runs, straight up treasure challenges for the Main Trio this time around, probably one or two in each world, so that it'd utilize each of the character's core attributes and strengths. It also creates an issue that wasn't really there in 2, in that I had to grind out coins more often to buy stuff now cause of both the increased frequency of powerups being available, as well as the price increments and loot reward staying relatively the same as last game. Granted this funnily enough means I've scoured the alleys and roofs of the world to pickpocket guards, and even destroy objects anywhere, missions included, but this seems like a band-aid to mitigate an issue that, again, wasn't that prevalent before. As mentioned earlier, the game was developed in a year, so I'd only imagine if SP would've either implemented this in, or do a new idea altogether. Oh, the wonders of imagining.
Now, there's the other side of the obvious gameplay additions: minigame bonanza. Now, growing up with this, as well as Sonic Adventure 1&2, I developed a sort of affinity and in hand, bias, with this, since I believe these create unique, exciting scenarios for the player to go through even if it's just a one-off idea, and for the most part, I do believe that to be the case since most are pretty good, great even, and I feel there's a decent gimmick/Main Game ratio here. Still, I did say most were good, so here's some I felt lacked, one or two probably being the usual suspects
- The Claw in Australia is boring and way too simple of a task even if it is rather short, and I struggle to find it having a place in that world's mission and story structure outside of "you need the green radioactive material for the Heist"
- Sewer rafting in Holland is an odd one, it's done in the beginning of the mission, yet there's elements of platforming when you're done with the first section, and the second rowing isn't exactly exciting either, and it's justification is for the one (well, technically three but it's in one area of) the heist. It's made more perplexing when you have to row again in the Caribbean, except this time you're like, actually involved with doing fights and stuff.
- Speaking of, the entire second half of the Caribbean world is just Baby's Sid Meier's Pirates. Travelling and ship battles is fine and all, it works and controls well, but that's ALL you're doing, and the speed in which you travel isn't exactly fast enough to go from one area of the map to the other with ease. I understand you can't ask too much to do since this is just A World, but even doing more treasure mapping stuff or having a whole side area dedicated to diving - a style you only do TWICE in the main game - would've been fine enough.
- I don't mind the RC stuff this time around, they're as fun as ever, but there were a few cases - specifically one mission in China, and one during the Final Island - I felt they weren't exactly up to snuff with the other instances, even the ones from 2. Not as bad as the previous examples, but still worth mentioning regardless.
Nowadays, I can understand why people prefer S2 over 3, as it doesn't have that minigames by comparison and you're mainly on-foot. That being said, I still feel like 3's just a bit more consistent in quality by comparison. While I can think of a few instances where 2 was hitting a slump in quality and slowly pulled out of it, I felt 3 tended to bounce back almost immediately after a stumbled outing, both in gameplay and especially story (and keep in mind, I'm saying this as someone who gave both games the same score and see them as two sides of the same coin). If 2 was a story-driven story that kept raising its stakes and ambitions after each chapter, then 3 is an episodic character-driven spin where each chapter focuses on someone while tying into the grand theme of camaraderie, growing from what's fractured from the past, and finding a place of your own.
As evident from that last bit, the villain roster here is my favorite of the PS2 trilogy. While they're not all part of a grand gang this time around, this individualistic aspect, as mentioned before, gives more room to grow a character in the chapter's spotlight, such as Murray V. Don Octavio who're both struggling to fit into something after their one passion and strength for it crumbled before them, or Panda King V. General Tsao, where the former's humility over his defeat has left him to lose himself and his daughter from a hardened, stone-cold traditionalist (and I mean like, unironic misogynist kind), or even just how Bentley has to face off against two smart minds here in attempt to finally solidify himself as someone who's more than just a Cooper Member. I also love Dr. M, he only shows up at the beginning and end of the game yea but even during this short screentime he does a great job at exemplifying this broken, insane man fueled by hatred of mistreatment of Sly's Dad, and even managed to place this thought onto Bentley for a fair bit. Am I exaggerating on this? A fair bit, Dr. M probably could've had one or two cutscenes leading up to him (nothing major, but something to at least plant the seeds so to speak) regardless, Guru's cool but his dilemma against Mask Of Dark Earth isn't exactly important, and as sweet and necessary Penelope is to further provide Bentley's development, her whole thing with Black Baron could've been expanded upon a fair bit, especially since it's probably the only time the "villain" wasn't like actively evil or something like that and just Some Person (dear god I wish Backloggd had a spoiler formatting for a specific text block instead of just covering it entirely, or maybe it's there and I'm too stupid to figure it out). That being said, I prefer the storytelling and beats here by comparison when all's said and done, but again, 2's story is already masterful enough on its own that I can see why some would prefer that as well.
Even the gameplay ties into this, as I feel like everyone gets some amount of play to feel like a Cooper Member. As one example, Dimitri, who as I mentioned before only got two diving minigames, at least helped out before in the story to have some contribution made, and there's a lot more missions available that involves teamwork of some capacity. Carmelita also has her own gameplay style now, and fittingly enough it's like a third-person shooter (although why this doesn't follow the same camera controls as normal gameplay confuses me), once again giving her more to do and more integral to the story instead of Just Being There like in the first game. On that note, as I mentioned in the past reviews, this game also dabbles back into doing more platforming sections, and while I wouldn't say it gets as intricate as 1, there's still more times where you need to do some acrobatics for something or someone, even if it's pretty simple it's very much appreciated. I even liked fighting a whole lot more here, as stated the refinement of the powerups as well as Sly's two new moves makes getting into fights a blast, to the point I used to willingly stage fights just to beat people up, something I still do today. Also, the boss fights? Again, easily my favorite. They combined the more gimmick-centric stuff while still keeping the core fight all about fisticuff nature, or at the very least just duels. Shoutouts to Tsao, Muggshot, MODE Lemonade Bar, Venice Canal Chase, and Black Baron Airplane.
I could say like, a LOT as to what makes me love this game as much as I do, what it means to me and how it influenced me, and why it's a Certified Classic, but it's fuckin 7AM EST at the time of writing this and I'm tired as hell. Just, play this trilogy at some point if you haven't yet, I already mentioned this a few times but they're considered by me and so many others as must play platformers for very good reasons.
Return of the Jedi for sandbox games starring talking animals. It's a game full of selective improvements, like the more maneuverable hub worlds, despite the lack of stuff to find in them and absurdly high coin counts. There's slightly better boss fights, and more characters to break up the gameplay, some of which are interesting shake ups and others feel like wasted development with little use. The pirate ship stage in particular is a massive annoyance. In line with RotJ, the final stretch is amazing, an excellent culmination of the entire series up to that point; if only the series ended here...
This game REALLY hits the nail on the head in terms of great storytelling. Picking up right from where the second left off, and continuing by introducing a new villain and adding a couple new characters, along with bringing back previous villains who find redemption and assist the gang. The gang dynamic is awesome. In terms of gameplay, this one basically repeats what the second game did right, and adds some new features to spice it up. Great level design and combat mechanics continue to be prevalent, and even more cool abilities are added, along with the ability to play as characters other than the three main gang members. It's a blast!
Holy Shit, This Game Is Fantastic..
I have no Nostalgia For The Sly Series But This, This Is Just A Masterpiece. Well, Time To Play Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time.
I have no Nostalgia For The Sly Series But This, This Is Just A Masterpiece. Well, Time To Play Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time.
Great game. Played this right after 2, which I loved, and this one was also fun.
Liked the initial stage, was eh on the next 2 (australia and holland) and was thinking about dropping the game momentarily. Too much focus on new cast and too many eh missions, some even downright trash.
Game picked up in China for me and then the last 2 areas were phenomenal. Glad we got some focus on the main trio near the end, and a lot of good missions too. These games live and die by their mission quality which is why this game is an 8/10 for me while Sly 2 is a 10/10.
Oh and why the fuck did they downgrade Carmelita's Voice actress?
Liked the initial stage, was eh on the next 2 (australia and holland) and was thinking about dropping the game momentarily. Too much focus on new cast and too many eh missions, some even downright trash.
Game picked up in China for me and then the last 2 areas were phenomenal. Glad we got some focus on the main trio near the end, and a lot of good missions too. These games live and die by their mission quality which is why this game is an 8/10 for me while Sly 2 is a 10/10.
Oh and why the fuck did they downgrade Carmelita's Voice actress?
Nothing better than turning yourself into a cheese wheel
This game is good. But there’s something off about it. I don’t know if it was the quick turnaround time from the release of Sly 2, but it just seems… empty or heartless. Like they wanted to make a game as good as the game before, so they took its assets and tried to add a ton of new stuff to it, but what made the game before so good was lost in translation.
I was expecting more, like the jump from. Sly 1 to Sly 2, but it was actually a step down.
Like I said, good game, but my least favorite of the original trilogy. Onto Sly 4!
I was expecting more, like the jump from. Sly 1 to Sly 2, but it was actually a step down.
Like I said, good game, but my least favorite of the original trilogy. Onto Sly 4!
Not a bad entry for the Sly series, many interesting levels and story beats, and what I consider a pretty satisfying conclusion to the trilogy; But ultimately its just not as good as its predecessors. I personally think it was also filled with too many gimmicks of the time: 3D, multiplayer, online services. None of which really added smth substantial to the game.
I just played the pirate minigame for 10 hours.
I’m not a furry, but…
The multiplayer is fun... I never started the story mode because I haven't finished Sly 1 and don't own Sly 2
Incredible pacing, fun characters with laugh out loud moments. An all-around stellar game.
The third entry in the Sly series, a flawed gem that is more ambitious than the first 2 games but doesn't quite reach the same heights.
I finished this game a few days ago now but life has been hectic and I don't have my laptop with me so this is a bit late, apologies.
In fact, I wasn't even prepared to platinum this yet, but upon learning that it would be taken off the PS Now service only a few hours before the merger I rushed through and finally completed the last game of the trilogy.
My experience with platformers, especially older ones or older games in general has been tumultuous to say the least. I often don't have the patience for these types of games, but the Sly series has always had enough charm to get me through it, even if it took me over two years to beat the collection (Platinums 49, 138, 199 respectively)
Thankfully I can say without any doubt that Sly 3 is my favorite of the series by far. The first game felt really unique but some of the missions were just downright infuriating. Sly 2 transitioned into a pretty remarkably different style that I didnt really start to appreciate until the end. It had a great story but the number of frustrating missions only seemed to increase. In the end both games were really solid experiences but, forgive me for the overused comparison, it was akin to me playing a souls-like but without the payoff or sense of accomplishment. Just lots of anger and then an "okay I guess I did it, that wasnt bad" at the end.
So, Sly 3 I was fully expecting the worse. But god damnit this game was actually fun. Don't get me wrong there are a few diabolical levels, and I especially disliked some of the boss fights but just about every level I thought was gonna end up being a pain I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Even the painful master thief challenges, outside of a handful, were genuinely enjoyable. It had been nearly a year since beating Sly 2 before i started this so I cant say if I just simply "got good" and sometimes the controls were still terrible but this is exactly what I wanted from this game. The story is also really interesting as unimportant as it is for a platformer to have. It ties up the trilogy nicely and I liked the ending a lot. The new characters they add to the squad, although sometimes they feel like after-thoughts and arent utilized too much, were a good change of pace and all had good character growth and development, they certainly put in a lot more effort than I would of thought on the story side. There were some really memorable missions in this one too. The bar brawl, the fight on bamboo sticks, dueling ships like its Assassin's Creed. Such a remarkable improvement compared to my time with the first two.
That being said, I didnt really love it. Its not my type of game but I think this is a really strong game of the genre. Its not perfect though. A few minor complaints. I touched on this one before but some of the controls are just terrible. The vehicles suck to move and it makes some missions way harder than they would of been otherwise. Some of the chapters story wise kind of feel like side missions or detours, especially the China level, and the starting area outside of the Murray plot and boat chases was a bit weak to begin with. Also, I really just dont care for the kind of hub world situation they got going on. Its really just kind of there and a means to do the story missions in. In Sly 1 and 2 at least there were clue bottles you could look all around for, but in Sly 3 there is exactly 0 incentive to explore or do anything of the such and to me thats a missed opportunity
Overall, this was a lot better than I thought it'd be, and worth suffering through the more aggravating moments of the first two games. Great way to end a trilogy.
Also obligatory im not a furry but fuck Carmelita is hot. Theres a boss fight where she becomes a giant and you have to climb up her and that did some things ngl. Had to confess Im sorry
Trophy Completion - 100% (36/36) Platinum #199
Time Played - n/a
Nancymeter - 81/100
Game Completion #67 of 2022
June Completion #2
In fact, I wasn't even prepared to platinum this yet, but upon learning that it would be taken off the PS Now service only a few hours before the merger I rushed through and finally completed the last game of the trilogy.
My experience with platformers, especially older ones or older games in general has been tumultuous to say the least. I often don't have the patience for these types of games, but the Sly series has always had enough charm to get me through it, even if it took me over two years to beat the collection (Platinums 49, 138, 199 respectively)
Thankfully I can say without any doubt that Sly 3 is my favorite of the series by far. The first game felt really unique but some of the missions were just downright infuriating. Sly 2 transitioned into a pretty remarkably different style that I didnt really start to appreciate until the end. It had a great story but the number of frustrating missions only seemed to increase. In the end both games were really solid experiences but, forgive me for the overused comparison, it was akin to me playing a souls-like but without the payoff or sense of accomplishment. Just lots of anger and then an "okay I guess I did it, that wasnt bad" at the end.
So, Sly 3 I was fully expecting the worse. But god damnit this game was actually fun. Don't get me wrong there are a few diabolical levels, and I especially disliked some of the boss fights but just about every level I thought was gonna end up being a pain I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Even the painful master thief challenges, outside of a handful, were genuinely enjoyable. It had been nearly a year since beating Sly 2 before i started this so I cant say if I just simply "got good" and sometimes the controls were still terrible but this is exactly what I wanted from this game. The story is also really interesting as unimportant as it is for a platformer to have. It ties up the trilogy nicely and I liked the ending a lot. The new characters they add to the squad, although sometimes they feel like after-thoughts and arent utilized too much, were a good change of pace and all had good character growth and development, they certainly put in a lot more effort than I would of thought on the story side. There were some really memorable missions in this one too. The bar brawl, the fight on bamboo sticks, dueling ships like its Assassin's Creed. Such a remarkable improvement compared to my time with the first two.
That being said, I didnt really love it. Its not my type of game but I think this is a really strong game of the genre. Its not perfect though. A few minor complaints. I touched on this one before but some of the controls are just terrible. The vehicles suck to move and it makes some missions way harder than they would of been otherwise. Some of the chapters story wise kind of feel like side missions or detours, especially the China level, and the starting area outside of the Murray plot and boat chases was a bit weak to begin with. Also, I really just dont care for the kind of hub world situation they got going on. Its really just kind of there and a means to do the story missions in. In Sly 1 and 2 at least there were clue bottles you could look all around for, but in Sly 3 there is exactly 0 incentive to explore or do anything of the such and to me thats a missed opportunity
Overall, this was a lot better than I thought it'd be, and worth suffering through the more aggravating moments of the first two games. Great way to end a trilogy.
Also obligatory im not a furry but fuck Carmelita is hot. Theres a boss fight where she becomes a giant and you have to climb up her and that did some things ngl. Had to confess Im sorry
Trophy Completion - 100% (36/36) Platinum #199
Time Played - n/a
Nancymeter - 81/100
Game Completion #67 of 2022
June Completion #2
There are plenty more of all the things that made the second game so incredible. And of course, both in terms of gameplay and narrative, the third instalment is even more ambitious. This of course allows for such incredible levels as becoming pirates and sailing to various islands whilst looting other ships - almost a whole game in itself. There's also a multitude of new characters (and even returning favourites) which provide even more diversity in gameplay. My main criticism, however, is that the game feels a little bloated and somewhat unfocused when all of these elements are thrown into the mix, sometimes it works and sometimes you just want to go back to just being Sly and doing the Sly stuff!
Overall, it's a solid sequel and a well rounded finale to an intended trilogy. (I wouldn't say the fourth game is a total waste of time, it just doesn't have the magic of the Sucker Punch classics).
Overall, it's a solid sequel and a well rounded finale to an intended trilogy. (I wouldn't say the fourth game is a total waste of time, it just doesn't have the magic of the Sucker Punch classics).
The culmination of the original series. The avengers endgame of Sly Cooper. Builds upon the previous games and reinvents them.
Alright so Sly 3 is kind of a weird game.
Right off the bat there's one thing you're gonna notice about it - it's ugly.
I don't know if this is a hot take or not, but they tried to make this game look more cartoony, with brighter lighting and higher saturation, and it just makes everything look so garish. The pirate level especially was really bad, with its various tones of brown and green - though most of the game is brown and green, honestly. It just... doesn't look good, the first two titles masterfully blended these cartoony characters and environments with a soft, darker lighting that really made them ooze with atmosphere, while here most of the environments failed to make a strong impression.
The second thing you might notice about Sly 3 is that the story just isn't that great? I didn't really go too in depth with the story in my previous Sly Cooper reviews, but the narrative there was pretty stellar - especially in 2, which felt like a direct response to how cartoonishly simple the first game's plot was at times, retroactively enhancing it as part of this cohesive duology.
But Sly 3 doesn't really fit in, the major conflict of the series has been resolved by this point, so all that's left is to introduce a totally new, never-heard-of-before plot element that's totally been there all along and is gonna tie everything together in a nice little bow.
Sly's no stranger to contrivances, but those were usually reserved for the individual missions so they didn't have to spend too much time going over unimportant details, while the larger plot felt pretty coherent.
Now, though, we have to jump through so many hoops in order to justify this game's major conflict, said hoops including the reading of a comic book that introduces that conflict in the first place!
The story's thematic content also just doesn't really hit for me, it largely feels like a rethread of Sly 2 but with the subtlety of a sledgehammer this time, while not really bringing much new to the table.
There's other issues too which I'll get into as I dive into the gameplay.
Thankfully, there hasn't been another major restructuring of the mechanics with the jump from 2 to 3.
Sly 2's gameplay loop was already incredibly strong and it remains fun here too, however there are more than a few wrinkles on the cloth this time around.
The maps have become much smaller and simpler to navigate, as well as stripped of any incentive to explore them thanks to the omission of clue bottles and treasures. There are a lot more interior environments to compensate, most including linear platforming challenges - it feels like a compromise between Sly 1 and 2, which for me isn't exactly a good change, as I much preferred Sly 2's handling of its overworlds.
When half the missions aren't sending you away from the main map though they'll, more than likely, be asking you to do some other kind of menial task divorced from the core gameplay - Sly 3 loves its side content so much that it makes the main dish here feel a tad underbaked.
Despite being one of the three main playable characters, I can only think of maybe three or four missions in the whole game that involve regular Murray fisticuffs - which brings me nicely into my next talking point.
Sly 3's a game about putting together a gang, a much bigger gang than the one you had in Sly 2, however the way the game goes about doing this feels a bit, well, contrived.
If you're a true Sly connoisseur, and have been around the online discussions surrounding the series, it's likely you've come across a little video series on youtube analyzing the games courtesy of B-Mask.
In the video tackling this game he talks about how, in a lot of ways, it feels like Sly 3 expanding the gang in the way it does makes it seem like we're moving past Sly Cooper leading up to the cap off of this trilogy, however that's a sentiment I'm going to have to wholly disagree with.
There's certainly members of the original Cooper gang getting eclipsed in Sly 3, but it's not Sly Cooper.
The game never really brings up why we suddenly need an RC pilot expert on the team when... wasn't that Bentley's job in the last game?
Like he was the brains right? I always took that as meaning he was the guy that would handle all the gadgets, while Sly and Murray mostly relied on their physical attributes.
This is made even more perplexing when the following member to be recruited is... a demolitions expert? Which is another thing that Bentley did last time?
What does Bentley even do in this game? Like, poor guy, first you take away his legs and now he's out of a job too.
I guess he can always be there for the mandatory hacking mini-games and the all new Grapple-Cam sections... woohoo...
And while Murray doesn't really get any overlap with the new faces in the ways that Bentley does, he ends up getting overshadowed by Sly himself, who is now much better at handling close quartes combat - to the point where the game's fifth chapter is dedicated almost entirely to ground combat encounters as Sly and he takes on all but one of the game's major boss fights.
So what's Murray's job now, if not to beat people up? Well he can turn into a ball and jump really high! That's fun!
He also drives some vehicles - mostly tiny rowboats. Not the plane though, Sly gets that one.
There's two more new additions to the gang other than the ones I mentioned, and they do have some novel ideas, but they're so niche that they end up getting barely utilized throughout the game - almost like the winning formula was the one that was already in the game last time and they're just trying to fill up space however they can.
It sucks because the gang in Sly 2 felt so tight-knit and complete, each one excelled in different areas without overshadowing the others - Sly was great for sneaking around undetected, Murray was great at beating everyone to a pulp and Bentley was the only one that could easily deal with threats from afar with his various gadgets.
Across all of these different playstyles that game managed to be as varied as it needed to without resorting to too many one off gimmicks.
With Sly 3 though? Oh they're out in full force.
The new gang members aren't strong enough on their own to be considered fully fledged playable characters, so they have to be thrown into the mini game sidecar and tag along the main three on their various jobs in order to "spice things up"
What sucks about this is how it affects the story - in a game that's trying to have Sly move on from the Cooper lineage and realize that the true value in all of his conquests came from his friends, his real family... the game itself just chooses to diminish the role they play as a part of that family in favor of a bunch of new faces, with none of said new faces being able to equally eclipse or at stand alongside Sly himself.
It's not the best look, especially with how I feel it's simply going over what Sly 2 already did in its ending but in a much more drawn out way.
The narrative justification for the various jobs has also taken a hit.
Whereas before everything you did in a given chapter served a clear purpose and was eventually paid off in the third act heist mission, Sly 3 opts for a lot more "mights" and "mays" when going over Bentley's plans - it often feels less like you're going over a detailed set up for a heist and more like you're going down a checklist of mandatory meaningless tasks before the game lets you start the real plan. In some cases this kind of dynamic, on the fly story structure actually works to its benefit, but more often than not it makes a lot of the game's more meandering activities feel like filler in the grand scheme of things.
I've been kind of ripping into this game but, you know, it's still fun.
It's still Sly Cooper, always a good time avoiding spotlights and pickpocketing guards just to slip up onto the rooftops at the last second to remain undetected.
It's just incredibly disappointing going into it after how much of a smashing success Sly 2 was at solidifying its identity, this one feels too muddled and confused in comparison, not entirely sure what Sucker Punch was trying to accomplish here.
Right off the bat there's one thing you're gonna notice about it - it's ugly.
I don't know if this is a hot take or not, but they tried to make this game look more cartoony, with brighter lighting and higher saturation, and it just makes everything look so garish. The pirate level especially was really bad, with its various tones of brown and green - though most of the game is brown and green, honestly. It just... doesn't look good, the first two titles masterfully blended these cartoony characters and environments with a soft, darker lighting that really made them ooze with atmosphere, while here most of the environments failed to make a strong impression.
The second thing you might notice about Sly 3 is that the story just isn't that great? I didn't really go too in depth with the story in my previous Sly Cooper reviews, but the narrative there was pretty stellar - especially in 2, which felt like a direct response to how cartoonishly simple the first game's plot was at times, retroactively enhancing it as part of this cohesive duology.
But Sly 3 doesn't really fit in, the major conflict of the series has been resolved by this point, so all that's left is to introduce a totally new, never-heard-of-before plot element that's totally been there all along and is gonna tie everything together in a nice little bow.
Sly's no stranger to contrivances, but those were usually reserved for the individual missions so they didn't have to spend too much time going over unimportant details, while the larger plot felt pretty coherent.
Now, though, we have to jump through so many hoops in order to justify this game's major conflict, said hoops including the reading of a comic book that introduces that conflict in the first place!
The story's thematic content also just doesn't really hit for me, it largely feels like a rethread of Sly 2 but with the subtlety of a sledgehammer this time, while not really bringing much new to the table.
There's other issues too which I'll get into as I dive into the gameplay.
Thankfully, there hasn't been another major restructuring of the mechanics with the jump from 2 to 3.
Sly 2's gameplay loop was already incredibly strong and it remains fun here too, however there are more than a few wrinkles on the cloth this time around.
The maps have become much smaller and simpler to navigate, as well as stripped of any incentive to explore them thanks to the omission of clue bottles and treasures. There are a lot more interior environments to compensate, most including linear platforming challenges - it feels like a compromise between Sly 1 and 2, which for me isn't exactly a good change, as I much preferred Sly 2's handling of its overworlds.
When half the missions aren't sending you away from the main map though they'll, more than likely, be asking you to do some other kind of menial task divorced from the core gameplay - Sly 3 loves its side content so much that it makes the main dish here feel a tad underbaked.
Despite being one of the three main playable characters, I can only think of maybe three or four missions in the whole game that involve regular Murray fisticuffs - which brings me nicely into my next talking point.
Sly 3's a game about putting together a gang, a much bigger gang than the one you had in Sly 2, however the way the game goes about doing this feels a bit, well, contrived.
If you're a true Sly connoisseur, and have been around the online discussions surrounding the series, it's likely you've come across a little video series on youtube analyzing the games courtesy of B-Mask.
In the video tackling this game he talks about how, in a lot of ways, it feels like Sly 3 expanding the gang in the way it does makes it seem like we're moving past Sly Cooper leading up to the cap off of this trilogy, however that's a sentiment I'm going to have to wholly disagree with.
There's certainly members of the original Cooper gang getting eclipsed in Sly 3, but it's not Sly Cooper.
The game never really brings up why we suddenly need an RC pilot expert on the team when... wasn't that Bentley's job in the last game?
Like he was the brains right? I always took that as meaning he was the guy that would handle all the gadgets, while Sly and Murray mostly relied on their physical attributes.
This is made even more perplexing when the following member to be recruited is... a demolitions expert? Which is another thing that Bentley did last time?
What does Bentley even do in this game? Like, poor guy, first you take away his legs and now he's out of a job too.
I guess he can always be there for the mandatory hacking mini-games and the all new Grapple-Cam sections... woohoo...
And while Murray doesn't really get any overlap with the new faces in the ways that Bentley does, he ends up getting overshadowed by Sly himself, who is now much better at handling close quartes combat - to the point where the game's fifth chapter is dedicated almost entirely to ground combat encounters as Sly and he takes on all but one of the game's major boss fights.
So what's Murray's job now, if not to beat people up? Well he can turn into a ball and jump really high! That's fun!
He also drives some vehicles - mostly tiny rowboats. Not the plane though, Sly gets that one.
There's two more new additions to the gang other than the ones I mentioned, and they do have some novel ideas, but they're so niche that they end up getting barely utilized throughout the game - almost like the winning formula was the one that was already in the game last time and they're just trying to fill up space however they can.
It sucks because the gang in Sly 2 felt so tight-knit and complete, each one excelled in different areas without overshadowing the others - Sly was great for sneaking around undetected, Murray was great at beating everyone to a pulp and Bentley was the only one that could easily deal with threats from afar with his various gadgets.
Across all of these different playstyles that game managed to be as varied as it needed to without resorting to too many one off gimmicks.
With Sly 3 though? Oh they're out in full force.
The new gang members aren't strong enough on their own to be considered fully fledged playable characters, so they have to be thrown into the mini game sidecar and tag along the main three on their various jobs in order to "spice things up"
What sucks about this is how it affects the story - in a game that's trying to have Sly move on from the Cooper lineage and realize that the true value in all of his conquests came from his friends, his real family... the game itself just chooses to diminish the role they play as a part of that family in favor of a bunch of new faces, with none of said new faces being able to equally eclipse or at stand alongside Sly himself.
It's not the best look, especially with how I feel it's simply going over what Sly 2 already did in its ending but in a much more drawn out way.
The narrative justification for the various jobs has also taken a hit.
Whereas before everything you did in a given chapter served a clear purpose and was eventually paid off in the third act heist mission, Sly 3 opts for a lot more "mights" and "mays" when going over Bentley's plans - it often feels less like you're going over a detailed set up for a heist and more like you're going down a checklist of mandatory meaningless tasks before the game lets you start the real plan. In some cases this kind of dynamic, on the fly story structure actually works to its benefit, but more often than not it makes a lot of the game's more meandering activities feel like filler in the grand scheme of things.
I've been kind of ripping into this game but, you know, it's still fun.
It's still Sly Cooper, always a good time avoiding spotlights and pickpocketing guards just to slip up onto the rooftops at the last second to remain undetected.
It's just incredibly disappointing going into it after how much of a smashing success Sly 2 was at solidifying its identity, this one feels too muddled and confused in comparison, not entirely sure what Sucker Punch was trying to accomplish here.
Yeah I know this is technically the worst of the 3 games, but this was my first video game ever soooo yeah, the most nostalgic thing I've ever known.
The perfect ending to the series, and where they should have left it. Doesn't quite have the same charm to it that 2 has, but a ton of quality of life improvements and a more concise story. Being able to pickpocket with Bentley and Murray rather than solely with Sly is a lifesaver. Very adventurous with its settings, and all of them work. Dogfighting is insanely fun and the ship combat ended up being super influential to some later AAA games - Pay your dues, Assassin's Creed.
This review contains spoilers
EUREKA!
Sly, Bentley, and Murray present three parts to a whole -- the ego, the superego, and the id; but more emotionally speaking, they forge a brotherhood based in honor and commitment. Sly's pursuit of the riches of his past, his legacy wrought in gold, pertains to his personal quest for identity.
The three are a close-knit family, which has been established ever since the first game introduced them as orphanage pals-- abandoned children from far different backgrounds who find stability in each other's company and their shared exploits. Thievery compels their wits and passion for action (and our own), and offers the protagonist an ethnic identification for him to latch onto. Sly 3 rises above typical sequel obligation by offering solace and development through redemptive episodes.
Familiar series baddies like Dimitri and Panda King are recruited to the Cooper Gang, and even the exhibitionist Baron turns out to be brainy Penelope hiding behind a dastardly facade. Panda King's episode especially considers the very significant act of self-actuated renewal, particularly during one scene where he has an internal monologue with his reflection, in a rousing display of autonomous emotional consolidation. It is wildly ambitious writing for a game aimed for younger audiences, with a wonderful lesson on the importance of enacting personal growth. Growth is a choice governed by one's emotive maturation.
Carmelita as well eventually comes around to acknowledging Sly's inherent goodness, despite his criminal activities, because ultimately his team's ventures prove a morally sound expedition into ancestral discovery. Love lights the way forward towards cooperation and unity-- Sly 3 presents a refutation of division in a world full of strife.
These thieves take down the egotists who give thieving and sleuthing a bad name. They are ethically-disinclined protectors of the world they inhabit, whether relieving the poisoned waters of Venice, clearing out a company of miners from the Australian outback, or thwarting a malicious Chinese emperor's forced marriage plot. Don Octavio, General Tsao, Dr. M, these nefarious villains each represent a cruel, imperious narcissism, which Sly and the gang offer a karmic retort to; and the gameplay (which revolves around carrying out cunning schemes with grand, fulfilling realisation) fittingly corresponds.
Dr. M deems himself the mirror image to Sly's selfless crusade, going so far as to implicate Bentley by comparing them to each other. But Bentley perceives his friend's loving companionship and exposes the antagonist's insecurity. There is a real beauty to the game's progression as new playable characters are introduced, meaning new abilities are unlocked for new interactive playstyles, conditioning this developing team as a singular unit, glued together by the player's input.
One could talk for hours about the game's endless variety of settings and playstyles. The fifth chapter, Dead Men Tell No Tales certainly comes across as ahead-of-its-time (would Assassin's Creed: Black Flag exist without this game??). Though, for as -- surprisingly -- intelligently the script considers its characters, it's a shame Penelope only ever serves as a token female character in a plot dominated by male-centric invention. She's either a brainless love interest or a damsel in distress for most of the cutscenes, unfortunately.
Regardless, Sucker Punch have once again succeeded in melding the weighty action adventure of Saturday morning cartoons with a visual style that suggests a vibrant comic book in motion. For as playful the design is, the writing beautifully grounds this story of anthropomorphic animals seeking out their most ideal selves. Sly 3 commends honor in the face of authoritative greed, making it one of the most sophisticated and inspiring children's games ever conceived.
Sly, Bentley, and Murray present three parts to a whole -- the ego, the superego, and the id; but more emotionally speaking, they forge a brotherhood based in honor and commitment. Sly's pursuit of the riches of his past, his legacy wrought in gold, pertains to his personal quest for identity.
The three are a close-knit family, which has been established ever since the first game introduced them as orphanage pals-- abandoned children from far different backgrounds who find stability in each other's company and their shared exploits. Thievery compels their wits and passion for action (and our own), and offers the protagonist an ethnic identification for him to latch onto. Sly 3 rises above typical sequel obligation by offering solace and development through redemptive episodes.
Familiar series baddies like Dimitri and Panda King are recruited to the Cooper Gang, and even the exhibitionist Baron turns out to be brainy Penelope hiding behind a dastardly facade. Panda King's episode especially considers the very significant act of self-actuated renewal, particularly during one scene where he has an internal monologue with his reflection, in a rousing display of autonomous emotional consolidation. It is wildly ambitious writing for a game aimed for younger audiences, with a wonderful lesson on the importance of enacting personal growth. Growth is a choice governed by one's emotive maturation.
Carmelita as well eventually comes around to acknowledging Sly's inherent goodness, despite his criminal activities, because ultimately his team's ventures prove a morally sound expedition into ancestral discovery. Love lights the way forward towards cooperation and unity-- Sly 3 presents a refutation of division in a world full of strife.
These thieves take down the egotists who give thieving and sleuthing a bad name. They are ethically-disinclined protectors of the world they inhabit, whether relieving the poisoned waters of Venice, clearing out a company of miners from the Australian outback, or thwarting a malicious Chinese emperor's forced marriage plot. Don Octavio, General Tsao, Dr. M, these nefarious villains each represent a cruel, imperious narcissism, which Sly and the gang offer a karmic retort to; and the gameplay (which revolves around carrying out cunning schemes with grand, fulfilling realisation) fittingly corresponds.
Dr. M deems himself the mirror image to Sly's selfless crusade, going so far as to implicate Bentley by comparing them to each other. But Bentley perceives his friend's loving companionship and exposes the antagonist's insecurity. There is a real beauty to the game's progression as new playable characters are introduced, meaning new abilities are unlocked for new interactive playstyles, conditioning this developing team as a singular unit, glued together by the player's input.
One could talk for hours about the game's endless variety of settings and playstyles. The fifth chapter, Dead Men Tell No Tales certainly comes across as ahead-of-its-time (would Assassin's Creed: Black Flag exist without this game??). Though, for as -- surprisingly -- intelligently the script considers its characters, it's a shame Penelope only ever serves as a token female character in a plot dominated by male-centric invention. She's either a brainless love interest or a damsel in distress for most of the cutscenes, unfortunately.
Regardless, Sucker Punch have once again succeeded in melding the weighty action adventure of Saturday morning cartoons with a visual style that suggests a vibrant comic book in motion. For as playful the design is, the writing beautifully grounds this story of anthropomorphic animals seeking out their most ideal selves. Sly 3 commends honor in the face of authoritative greed, making it one of the most sophisticated and inspiring children's games ever conceived.
Well, that was fantastic.
Loved my time with this one, a much more pleasant experience than Sly 2. The game is streamlined, much less tedious, repetitive and annoying. I see how the lack of collectibles might sting, but I didn't really bother collecting them when they were there, so...
The variety of gameplay styles is fun, though some additions are worse than the others. Particularly the diving missions and the whole pirate shtick, felt a bit out of place.
The story doesn't have the same stakes that Sly 2's or even Sly 1's story had, but it's a nice send-off for the gang and the characterisation is on point, as always.
Yeah, I think Sly 3 is the best in the series. Now I just gotta wait for Sony to rerelease Thieves in Time on PS5 so I can play that one.
Loved my time with this one, a much more pleasant experience than Sly 2. The game is streamlined, much less tedious, repetitive and annoying. I see how the lack of collectibles might sting, but I didn't really bother collecting them when they were there, so...
The variety of gameplay styles is fun, though some additions are worse than the others. Particularly the diving missions and the whole pirate shtick, felt a bit out of place.
The story doesn't have the same stakes that Sly 2's or even Sly 1's story had, but it's a nice send-off for the gang and the characterisation is on point, as always.
Yeah, I think Sly 3 is the best in the series. Now I just gotta wait for Sony to rerelease Thieves in Time on PS5 so I can play that one.
Stand Your Ground goes so hard Grapple-Cam haters can suck my nuts
Games I Dislike That Everybody Else Likes
The weakest of the four Sly games, in my opinion. Bar-none. Every new addition feels superficially cool but airless to execute - I'm sorry but I found all of the pirate stuff (ship battles, treasure maps, the missions in the level itself) to be grueling. The removal of the clue bottle collectibles - one of my favorite elements from the others - also hasn't gone unnoticed here, nor has the regressed mission structure. Plus the levels, apart from Venice and the airstrip place, just aren't as good. Feels like a rushed, less charming reskin of 2 at best and a serious bore at worst. Plus there's those truly abysmal boss fights. Tiring to even write about, what is there left to say?
The weakest of the four Sly games, in my opinion. Bar-none. Every new addition feels superficially cool but airless to execute - I'm sorry but I found all of the pirate stuff (ship battles, treasure maps, the missions in the level itself) to be grueling. The removal of the clue bottle collectibles - one of my favorite elements from the others - also hasn't gone unnoticed here, nor has the regressed mission structure. Plus the levels, apart from Venice and the airstrip place, just aren't as good. Feels like a rushed, less charming reskin of 2 at best and a serious bore at worst. Plus there's those truly abysmal boss fights. Tiring to even write about, what is there left to say?
gets a little conceptual but never boring. sly with his bad italian accent telling the guards the passwords is burned into my brain
great game albeit too easy
Not quite as good as Sly 2, but still very solid. The dialogue is fun, and it’s still a great third installment.
One of the games of my childhood , i loved every minute i spent playing this game <3
I think Sucker Punch just wanted the throw everything in this game for the grand finale. When it works, it's incredible. When it doesn't, it reminds me of Sly 1.
Sly 3 is a ridiculous and non-stop finale to such a fantastic line of 3D platformers. It aims to improve and differentiate itself from Sly 2, but keep the core formula intact. Gone are the formulaic heist, and in return we have some of the most varied missions in the series so far (for better and for worse). The inconsistency can be jarring, but the pure spectacle and charm of the team just putting in the most insane stuff and saying "yeah, this is fun", I have to give them props. The story wasnt as captivating to me, but I loved the concept the team growing, not just in size but in maturity as well. The themes of facing the past really hits, but I couldn't really get invested in the rest of the plot, as much as I did in Sly 2. However it starts strong and ends strong, and all the characters in the game get to really shine in both voice work and impact on the story.
I grew up with the multiplayer of this game, and it was the only Sly cooper game I owned. To think there was a Single Player mode too. Three of them to be exact!
8/10 :)
Sly 3 is a ridiculous and non-stop finale to such a fantastic line of 3D platformers. It aims to improve and differentiate itself from Sly 2, but keep the core formula intact. Gone are the formulaic heist, and in return we have some of the most varied missions in the series so far (for better and for worse). The inconsistency can be jarring, but the pure spectacle and charm of the team just putting in the most insane stuff and saying "yeah, this is fun", I have to give them props. The story wasnt as captivating to me, but I loved the concept the team growing, not just in size but in maturity as well. The themes of facing the past really hits, but I couldn't really get invested in the rest of the plot, as much as I did in Sly 2. However it starts strong and ends strong, and all the characters in the game get to really shine in both voice work and impact on the story.
I grew up with the multiplayer of this game, and it was the only Sly cooper game I owned. To think there was a Single Player mode too. Three of them to be exact!
8/10 :)