Sly 2: Band of Thieves

"2 Sly 2 Sly... Hush Hush... Eye 2 Eye..."

Them Pro's:

Above all else what I took away from Sly2 was a sense that this series cannot be contained within a videogame. It really seems to have a bigger life to it injected by witty dialogue, hilarious/fitting voice acting, superb and memorable characters. Sly Cooper; love him or hate is truly stylish, and that counts for a lot to me. The graphics were of course pure icing and the controls were smooth and generally never cumbersome. The areas explored were designed to near perfection. It is hard to explain why I feel this way, but the player truly has a sense that they ARE in Slys World. The enemy AI is a true force to be dealt with... no, they will not always chase the player to the bitter end, but they are always on their toes and are always listening for you... which may be a PRO or a CON depending:)

Them Con's:

After completing the game I truly felt little sense of accomplishment. The bulk of the gameplay consisted of running from point A. to point B. upon which, entering a level that was sure to be entertaining to a degree but at the same time has the player completing tasks that were either redundant or just not memorable. The game was often simply too easy (for example) by allowing the player to keep items upon dying, thus removing any penalty for dying, thus removing any real tension. The story seems like a bizzare remix of the first game and while I generally do not care much about the story in platformers I must say this series DEMANDS better writing. The dialogue is fine, often funny, but sheesh, the overall story is just not even interesting. It's hard to believe that there has only been ONE other game in the series and THIS IS the best they can do for a story...? There is so much genuine chemistry between the cast it's a real shame it wasn't utilized fully.

Final Thoughts:

My main concern for Sly Cooper 2 as a game is the fact I would probably rather watch Sly Cooper do what he does in a dvd style format than replay the menial tasks over again asked by this game. Much has changed from Sly Cooper 1 in terms of gameplay, and honestly a lot of it isn't for the better.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/04