I'm glad that Sly Cooper was able to get his foot in the door at SCE with his first game, rough as it may be. After all, it lead to this excellent sequel becoming a reality. Aside from characters, it feels near indistinguishable from the first game, but I love it so much more.
The thing that caught my eye immediately was the art style and the 3D models. The character art has been refined, and the 3D models have been changed to match. Everything has been animated in such a satisfying, fluid way. The music, while not the most memorable, fits the sneaking atmosphere impeccably, and does carry a notable leitmotif throughout.
The level structure in Sly 2 has been turned on its head from the first game. Most of the action will take place in each episode's hub, with 2-3 indoor areas that feel more like linear levels. The hubs are just a constant stream of satisfaction. Each one is completely distinct in terms of style, atmosphere, and how they let you traverse it. They're veritable playgrounds for Sly's nimble acrobatics. You can sneak up behind enemies and pickpocket their loot, change your route on the fly when you spot a guard heading your way, or drop literally everything when you hear the quiet-yet-notable "tink tink tink" of a clue bottle, dropping everything to scout for it. This kind of gameplay loop persisted before, during, and between the game's missions, and I think the reason I kept doing these things is because the gameplay itself was so damn satisfying. The jobs you go on are all unique and make great use of these hubs, but most importantly, everything you do feels like it's pushing you one step closer to your goal for that chapter.
Gameplay in Sly 2 flows so well. Sly feels more refined from his first outing, and the addition of a ton of gadgets you can remap to the triggers allows for a lot of experimentation and on-the-fly strategies. More importantly however, you can now play as Bentley and Murray. While I still prefer playing as Sly, Murray and Bentley are fun in their own right due to their distinct playstyles, complete with their own sets of gadgets. Minigames also return from Sly 1, but they're a lot more subdued, polished, and less numerous. It didn't stop me from experiencing a few that tried my patience, but it was still leagues more enjoyable than Sly 1's minigames.
The last thing I mean to highlight is the story and characters. Without spoiling it, I'm really happy with how they managed to juggle two main plot threads at once: Sly and the gang's quest to regain and destroy the Clockwerk parts, and the incidental destruction of an illegal spice-smuggling scheme. A lot of what surprised me was kinda cliche, but this game's plot took me for a spin several times. A lot of the twists I genuinely didn't see coming, or were executed in ways I didn't expect. The more notable aspect of the story is the characters. The villains are a lot more entertaining and get more spotlight in the story. Sly and his friends have a sincere sense of camaraderie to them, and the banter between them ranges from charming to laugh-out-loud hilarious.
With all of this considered, I wanna say that this is personally my favorite 3D platformer on the PS2. (I haven't played Sly 3 yet, so this is subject to change.) It's an extremely well-paced stealthy platformer with an entertaining plot/characters, excellent style, and constantly fun moment-to-moment gameplay. I can't recommend it enough.
The thing that caught my eye immediately was the art style and the 3D models. The character art has been refined, and the 3D models have been changed to match. Everything has been animated in such a satisfying, fluid way. The music, while not the most memorable, fits the sneaking atmosphere impeccably, and does carry a notable leitmotif throughout.
The level structure in Sly 2 has been turned on its head from the first game. Most of the action will take place in each episode's hub, with 2-3 indoor areas that feel more like linear levels. The hubs are just a constant stream of satisfaction. Each one is completely distinct in terms of style, atmosphere, and how they let you traverse it. They're veritable playgrounds for Sly's nimble acrobatics. You can sneak up behind enemies and pickpocket their loot, change your route on the fly when you spot a guard heading your way, or drop literally everything when you hear the quiet-yet-notable "tink tink tink" of a clue bottle, dropping everything to scout for it. This kind of gameplay loop persisted before, during, and between the game's missions, and I think the reason I kept doing these things is because the gameplay itself was so damn satisfying. The jobs you go on are all unique and make great use of these hubs, but most importantly, everything you do feels like it's pushing you one step closer to your goal for that chapter.
Gameplay in Sly 2 flows so well. Sly feels more refined from his first outing, and the addition of a ton of gadgets you can remap to the triggers allows for a lot of experimentation and on-the-fly strategies. More importantly however, you can now play as Bentley and Murray. While I still prefer playing as Sly, Murray and Bentley are fun in their own right due to their distinct playstyles, complete with their own sets of gadgets. Minigames also return from Sly 1, but they're a lot more subdued, polished, and less numerous. It didn't stop me from experiencing a few that tried my patience, but it was still leagues more enjoyable than Sly 1's minigames.
The last thing I mean to highlight is the story and characters. Without spoiling it, I'm really happy with how they managed to juggle two main plot threads at once: Sly and the gang's quest to regain and destroy the Clockwerk parts, and the incidental destruction of an illegal spice-smuggling scheme. A lot of what surprised me was kinda cliche, but this game's plot took me for a spin several times. A lot of the twists I genuinely didn't see coming, or were executed in ways I didn't expect. The more notable aspect of the story is the characters. The villains are a lot more entertaining and get more spotlight in the story. Sly and his friends have a sincere sense of camaraderie to them, and the banter between them ranges from charming to laugh-out-loud hilarious.
With all of this considered, I wanna say that this is personally my favorite 3D platformer on the PS2. (I haven't played Sly 3 yet, so this is subject to change.) It's an extremely well-paced stealthy platformer with an entertaining plot/characters, excellent style, and constantly fun moment-to-moment gameplay. I can't recommend it enough.