Sly 2: Band of Thieves

"Not as huge of an improvement as some stated, but still really good."

Sly 2 has been hyped up quite a bit by some reviewers. It is supposed to be a gargantuan improvement over the original Sly, but unfortunately I didn't find this to be the case (except in the name, I don't know what they were thinking when they named the first one). The game is greatly improved in some areas, but weaker then the first in others. But remember this as you read the review: this is still a great game that I would recommend to all platformer fans!

Story:
Sly Cooper was born into a long line of raccoon thieves. His ancestors were famous for their robberies, but they made it a point only to steal from people who deserved it. Unfortunately, they made a deadly enemy, an immortal, robotic, hate filled owl named Clockwerk. When Sly was a small child, Clockwerk and his gang the Fiendish Five attacked Sly's family, killing his parents and stealing the book that held all the thieving moves perfected by Sly's ancestors. Sly was sent to an orphanage where he met a turtle named Bentley, a genius who devises the plans. and a hippo named Murray, who was pretty expendable in the first game but is now the muscle. They grew up to be thieves and in the original Sly Cooper they defeated the Fiendish Five, got back the Cooper family's treasure (the Thievius Raccoonus), and destroyed Clockwerk.

Sly 2 picks up a few years after the first game. Clockwerk may be gone, but being mostly machine, he could be reassembled. Sly and his gang set out to retrieve the parts of Clockwerk from the Klaww Gang, a group not unlike the Fiendish Five. The story is improved in some ways over the original Sly Cooper, having more plot twists and the objectives feeling more like real heists. However, I found the villains less interesting then the Fiendish Five, and the climax seemed a little underwhelming. Still very good for a platformer though.
Story Score: 8/10

Gameplay:
Sly 2 is at its core a platformer, but it has a lot of variety. The biggest influence is from stealth games. You are a thief, and whenever possible you have to avoid guards. You can also sneak up behind them to do a "stealth kill", although it's far less violent then you'd expect from the name and precedent set by other games. Sly has a wide variety of platforming maneuvers, such as landing on small areas and latching onto things with his cane.

The game also changes when you play as Bentley ot Murray. Unlike the original Sly Cooper, where your partners were confined to mini-games, the other two member of your band of thieves are fully playable. Murray is far less agile then Sly and his play style is combat focused. Bentley is the weakest character physically, but he has gadgets like mines and a dart gun. The other characters are done pretty well, they're not as fun as Sly, but they're not agonizing to play as like some non main characters in platformers.

The gameplay is very well done, with tons of variety and moves to unlock. However, it just didn't feel as tight as the original Sly Cooper. The platforming is as well done as before (except for difficulty latching on to some things), but there just isn't as much, and the level design is less intense. The original Sly was filled with incredible platforming, the levels were stuffed with obstacles and the control just made everything seem so fun. Sly 2 seldom matches what the original did in almost every regular level.

Part of this may be due to the new free roaming aspect of the gameplay. While the original Sly has a hub level for each area, it was small and mainly just there to get you to levels and get make you do the levels in the right order. In Sly 2, the hub levels are huge, and you do more objectives in them then in enclosed areas. I preferred the structured levels of the original, but large objective markers at least eliminates my loathed aimless wandering.

The mini-games return in Sly 2, and they're just as good as before. You'll hack into computers Asteroids style, bomb things with an RC plane, and much more. The bosses, however, weren't as good as the original. In Sly Cooper, every boss was different. In Sly 2, most of the bosses are fought the same way. There is an exception though, the level 7 boss is brilliant, incredibly fun to fight. I also wish there were more bosses. There are 8 levels, but only 5 main bosses. I was looking forward to a larger cast of villains, since I always looked forward to hearing the next one's story when I beat a world in Sly Cooper.

Right now the sequel may sound vastly inferior to the original. But it really isn't. While some things were better in the original, Sly 2 completely fixes the original's greatest flaw: Length. Sly 2 is much, much longer then the first. Sly Cooper was incredibly fun, but it ended far too quickly. The first took me 9 hours to get everything, Sly 2 doubled that. You'll get a lot of game for your money, the levels are huge and packed with objectives. And the platforming, while not up to the original's standards, is still great compared to most platformers. This game really is a lot of fun to play and very satisfying.
Gameplay score: 9/10

Graphics:
The graphics in Sly 2 are cel shaded. They pull it off perfectly. The game looks like a Saturday morning cartoon, which is what the designers were going for. The animation also looks just like a cartoon. Everything is incredibly detailed and colorful. Although I was disappointed that a few level themes were repeated, the levels are huge and breath taking. Sly 2 is among the best looking PS2 games.
Graphics score: 10/10

Sound:
Although not as strong as the graphics, Sly 2 is great in the audio department. There is a lot of voice acting, and besides from the flat, accent less voice of Sly's love interest/private police adversary Carmelita Fox, the voices are done very well. The sound effects have the cartoon feel, (accompanied by comic book style spelled out sound effect) and the music fits right in. The sound isn't exceptional, but it fits in perfectly.
Sound score: 8/10

Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Overall: (not an average) 9/10

Conclusion:
Despite not being as huge a leap from the first Sly as I expected, Sly 2 is still a masterfully done game. If you are looking for a platformer, this should be near the top of your list.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/04