Before InFamous gave us the opportunity to shape how we wanted to control our superpowers, developer Sucker Punch Productions gave us a family friendly stealth-platformer centred around a gang of thieves consisting of a Turtle named Bentley, a Hippo named Murray and a raccoon by the name of Sly Cooper.
When Michael Jackson sung smooth criminal, there was no doubt in my mind that he had looked into the future and seen Sly Cooper because this little furball is everything a good criminal should be without all the violence. He is a smooth talker, cunning, quick on his feet, witty and will do anything to get his prize.
Sly comes from a renowned family of master thieves, a family that for centuries have been the best in the buisiness. When Sly reaches the age to receive the Cooper family heirloom, the Thievius Raccoonus, a book detailing all the best tricks and tips to being the best thief in the world, his family is murdered by a gang called the Fiendish Five. As the Five leave the Cooper family home they each take sections of the Thievius Raccoonus and leave Sly alone.
Sly grows up in an orphanage meeting Bentley and Murray, when the trio leave they begin an epic quest to track down the Fiendish Five and recover the Thievius Raccoonus.
Sly is a 3D platformer similar to the first Jak and Daxter game. You are placed in a hub world with several connected mission areas where you must find a variety of collectibles in order to progress, the main difference though is that Sly is considerably more linear and has a strong emphasis on stealth. You see, Sly isn't built for fighting and will go down in just one hit. The best way to play Sly is by avoiding head on combat and by attacking from behind or above.
Once you collect enough collectibles in a certain area you can progress onto the boss battle and reclaim another part of the Thievius Raccoonus.
This formula works well though does become a little repetitive, unfortunately much like Jak and Daxter due to this formula the story is never really give the opportunity to flourish and is only ever explored in cutscenes at the beginning and end of each of the games five areas.
Luckily the game only lasts around 5-6 hours and therefore doesn't overstay its welcome, it would have been nice however to have seen something more interesting done with the gameplay, especially seeing as the game isn't overly challenging.
The game is presented in a cel-shaded cartoon style, this gives the game a timelessly good look. The colour palette doesn't vary too much, a lot of dark blues & greens however each level has as distinct theme to it giving you something new to look at every hour or so.
The sound is pretty average, the soundtrack is extremely repetitive and at times rather irritating, but the voice acting makes up for it and really gives the characters a lot of personality, something the story doesn't really give any time to, the performances were extremely good and made each and every character extremely likeable, even if they were the bad guys.
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is a good platformer, however there are others out there that are much better including the original Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank games. Its a solid and enjoyable game but it has a lot to work on to become a standout title in the genre.
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus – 7/10
+Good Stealth-Platforming Gameplay
+Extremely Visually Appealing
+Great Voice Acting
-Story Lacks Depth
-Gameplay Is Repetitive
