Review

Still good, but most definitely has its problems. In my opinion, most of the issues that come up in this one feel like a result of losing focus. One of the huge strengths of the previous game and to a slightly lesser extent the first one was an almost laser focus. We knew exactly what we were going for. There was a completely clear idea. There was no bullshit, just an excellent top-down design. Sly 3, however, feels like we're starting to lose focus.

I will say that story-wise, this feels like the natural conclusion. In the first game, we're being silly little thieves. We go to each villain's base, steal some shit, get some new moves, and head on our way. It's simple, but the characters are charismatic, and the cartoony noire design is a lot of fun. In the second game, we naturally progress to doing heists. That seems like the obvious next step to me. We've moved on to scoping out the joint, doing setup work, and pulling off (or not) these fun big heists. In addition, we've now got Bentley and Murray running around. I think this was all done really well. It's fun, there is a really surprising commitment towards having every single mission be something new. So where does that leave us with Sly 3? Well, we've now moved on to "the Big Heist". Here we're doing the biggest job we've ever done. To the point where the whole game is now our setup.

I like this structure. Again, it feels like the natural thing to go for next. We've done heists, where do you go after that? Well, a bigger heist that requires more work obviously. And for this one to happen, we've gotta recruit more people into the game. I should say that I don't dislike any of these new characters. I also don't mind the actual thing we're doing, recruiting all of them. I do however feel that making them occasionally playable was a bit too much. The dev's attention is now divided between upwards of 7+ characters, rather than 3 or 1. I think we spread ourselves too thin here. In my opinion, a better structure would've been recruiting these new people, but only having them occasionally help you in missions, rather than you fully playing them. I did quite like playing as Carmelita. It's fun being her blasting criminals straight into Tartarus. And the fact that she's been with us since the first mission of the first game makes the times you play as her feel much more earned. I won't say that we've fully gone down the path of forgetting that Sly is the protagonist, thank goodness. We haven't fully gone into darkness or anything. But we're spending decreasingly less time playing as or even looking at him. And for a series that is called Sly Cooper, that is an issue that should be noted.

Going into less of the story, the other thing that I didn't like that I feel is a direct result of the spreading ourselves too thin is the levels themselves. I don't like that we got rid of the clue bottles. At first, I was a little relieved knowing I wouldn't have to go get them. But it really makes you take in less of the level, when you're no longer searching for little hidden tchotchkes in it. I have an exact mental map of every Sly 2 level, and to a slightly lesser extent each Sly 1 level. The same cannot be said of Sly 3. I don't really remember all the details of each level. More just: the general shape, the atmosphere, and the enemy designs (still excellent in that department IMO). Just generally a shame. I don't think the levels themselves are actually any worse, you just don't really have a reason to get to know them anymore.

I would also just mention a more catch-all, there were little moments where a lack of attention to detail was showing. The first level's boss having no bespoke music and not really bringing anything special to the table was a disappointment. I would say pretty much every boss from Sly 1 and 2 are uniformly great in their presentation. There were a couple moments actually, speaking of music, where it felt like we were falling back on generic fighting or sneaking music. When a unique track to match the specific scene really was called for.

All that being said, I did still have quite a fun time actually playing. The game itself never forgets that it is a game and above all we need to be having fun. And it does accomplish that. Things are bigger, more explosive, there's more little minigames than ever. The only drawback to that approach is that you do start to see the seams. Another new thing that I did like was the conversations where you're picking your responses. I always found those to be quite fun. But in general my takeaway is good, but could've used a tighter focus on the important bits.

On to Sly Cooper- Thieves in Time (2013)

Links

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0UgLs1BOgQM80tJjmZYVPyCC0RgB9kmm