So after a long wait, I give you my series review of the Sly Cooper games. Sly originally started out on the PS2 with 3 games that were made by Sucker Punch (who also created the InFamous games), before the franchise was handed over to Sanzaru Games for any future instalments as SP wanted to work on the game above in brackets. As such, they re-released the original games and ported them to the PS3 with some use of the consoles features such as HD graphics and later on, created the 4th instalment in the series. All the games basically combine platforming with stealth as well as adding some cartoon logic and also a little bit of nostalgia, and for the most part, they are all great. So with that, let's take a look at the games:
The Thievius Raccoonus
So in the first instalment, Sly and his gang of thieves, Murray the Brawn (the psychically more powerful of the bunch) and Bentley (the smart one who comes up with all the plans for each and every job they do) set out to find and defeat the Fiendish Five, a gang who serve a cyber like owl called Clockwerk who has hated and despised the Coopers and as a result, killed Sly's father when he was just a child. The gang and Clockwerk have acquired a book that has been passed to each member of the Cooper clan for generations known as the Thievius Raccoonus, a book that shows each member, what it takes to become a master thief. The Five and Clockwerk have split the book up into 5 pieces and the Cooper gang's job for the entire game, is the find the five pieces and put them back together and prevent the book from going into the wrong hands, as well as kicking some butt out of the Five and Clockwerk. The majority of the game, has you entering the lair of each member and going through a few levels to presumably, find a way to get into the enemy's location and beat them up. While the game only has Sly Cooper as a playable character, Murray and Bentley do their best to help him for the most part. Overall, this is a good game that makes a good start to the series. It is quite short and very repetitive, but is otherwise fun and enjoyable to play. 8/10
Band of Thieves
Taking place 2 years after the last game, Clockwerk has been defeated and the Cooper gang want to make sure that the threat never returns by finding the pieces and destroying them. It sounds easy, but in reality, it's not as another gang have already taken the pieces and like with the book, have separated the pieces into different areas of the world where each member of this particular gang can watch it so that it doesn't get stolen. Because of this, the Cooper gang travel around the world to find these pieces before the threat returns. Unlike before, this doesn't have any levels as such. You have worlds to explore, but no levels at all, which for me, is a good thing. So instead of levels, each member of the gang is assigned different jobs which they do to find the pieces and put the rival gang in their place. Many of the elements of the last game return and Murray and Bentley join Sly as playable characters and the 3 of them have all their abilities used well in each of the tasks given. Each world has treasures to find and steal, mystery bottles to find so that you can open a hidden safe in the area, enemies to beat up and whatever else comes to mind. Overall, this I find is a more stronger and structured game than before and everything in the game, works well. 9/10
Honor Among Thieves
Set one year after the last game, Sly and Bentley learn of a Cooper Vault containing the accumulating wealth of the Cooper clan built up over thousands of years, that is being held on Kaine Island and while it may look easy to get to and to steal whatever is in the vault, in reality its not as a mad scientist called Dr. M owns the island and has a heavily armed fortress around it, which will make things difficult. Knowing that this will be their toughest heist to date, Sly and Bentley need to recruit a gang of thieves to help them pull this heist off (which includes finding old friends and foes) but it won't be easy as the new recruits have problems of their own that only someone like Sly can help them with. The game has the majority of the same gameplay elements as before, but with some new members in the gang (which you'll gradually get over the course of the game), you can now play as more than just 3 characters (but unfortunately, apart from Murray, you can't play as them outside of jobs which sucks). The game also has a offline multiplayer mode to allow players to take part in challenges and mini games. The majority of the game is great as it's bigger, longer and more fun, but a few elements (like the clue bottles) don't appear here, but despite that, there's more replay value than before and it's so far, the strongest game in the series to date (although, that can all change with the one below)
Thieves in Time
So after a 8 year hiatus, Sly is back and this time, Sucker Punch are not the ones making it, but instead Sanzaru Games (who did the ports of the original games to the PS3). Following from the last game, the Cooper gang have gone their separate ways since Sly had amnesia (which he faked) and is now with Carmelita (who is a police cop that has been trying to arrest Sly for a long time, and is Sly's love interest in the series). Sooner or later, he has the urge to become a thief once more and his time comes when Bentley meets him and explains about something to do with time travel when he and his love interest, Penelope (who was a member of the gang in the last game) discover that the TR book's words are disappearing (and Penelope disappears as well in the process) and the only way to restore it is to travel back in time and help Sly's ancestors sort this mess out. Meeting up with Murray (who has gone on to become a demolition derby racer with the Cooper van) the 3 of them travel to Paris to find an old item and use that to travel in time (in a sort of Back to the Future styled way). However, Carmelita decides to follow them as always (and you'll probably know the rest from there). Gameplay elements of the last 2 games are present here with the return of clue bottles and a number of things that the series is known for. New to the game are disguises that the player gradually unlocks during the course of the game which will help in the worlds you visit and have some new abilities for Sly to try out. In addition to this, all of Sly's ancestors (or the majority of them anyway) are playable as well as Carmelita and all the characters you play as, can be played in and out of jobs which is great. The game also makes use of the Vita and PS3's cross play feature, which can allow you to use argumented reality to find hidden items in the worlds you visit and the game can also be played in 3D with a few multiplayer options here and there too. Overall, this is the biggest and possibly best game in the series which makes full use of what both the Vita and the PS3 can do and is another great and enjoyable experience for anyone. 9/10
Overall,. this is a great series of games that just keeps getting better and better. It's funny, enjoyable, runs on cartoon logic and reminds us young adults of our childhood which is always a good thing. 9/10
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