Sly Cooper Thieves in Time Video Game Review (About In Description)
2This fictional heist is a real life steal.
Consider this: there hasn’t been a new Sly Cooper game since 2005. A year before PlayStation 3 hit the market, developer Sucker Punch released Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves on PS2, and then the studio moved on to the Infamous series, was purchased outright by Sony and seemed to have left its old mascot behind. But that didn’t stop a green, eager developer from attempting what, to many, would be completely unthinkable.
Without permission or funding, Sanzaru Games began working on a PS3 version of Sly Cooper. When they finally showed it to Sony in prototype form, the corporation was so impressed that they gave it their stamp of approval and their blessing to continue what Sucker Punch had started. Now, here we are in 2013 with a fourth Sly Cooper game -- Thieves in Time -- and needless to say, Sly Cooper fans around the world should be thankful for Sanzaru’s daring, albeit flawed, gambit, as it represents a true return to the series they love.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time isn’t only a spiritual successor of the PlayStation 2-era series; it’s a faithful continuation of it. Sly’s signature 3D platforming with a hint of exploration and a spice of stealth is here in full effect. The game looks pretty, runs well (minus the heinous load times) and contains a fully fleshed-out story mode that, if explored in its entirety, could easily take 20 hours or more to complete. Plus, it’s on both PS3 and Vita, and you get both for the price of one as part of Sony’s commendable Cross-Buy initiative, complete with cross-saving perks.
Like many of the 3D platformers that populated the shelves of your local game store during the previous two console generations, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time revolves around exploring wide open, cartoony locations. Set missions funnel you through the game, but like any good title in the genre, there’s plenty to do beyond merely advancing the story. Much of Sly 4’s draw is provided not only by its great cast of characters and compelling worlds to scour, but by the fact that you can put as much or as little into it as you want. You can just take in the story, or you can explore each and every nook and cranny of a map to find little rewards. The latter play style will obviously draw in those looking for some bang for their buck, but it’s safe to say that even the main story taken on its own is worth the price of admission. The game isn’t difficult and rarely provides a true challenge, but it’s still great for both kids and adults.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time’s story is silly – nonsensical, even – but the characters surrounding the plot will quickly draw you in to the experience. Sly is as dashing and cunning as ever. His best friends, Bentley the tech-savvy turtle and Murray the oversized pink hippo, round out the core squad, and the constant exchanges between these three are laugh-out-loud funny. Their dialogue is expertly written and the voice acting is superbly done. Expect to chuckle often, whether Bentley is making fun of Sly’s strange sense of humor, Murray is talking about himself endlessly in the third person, and more. It’s not every day a game comes along that can make you laugh; Thieves in Time does so with regularity, and it’s what I love most about the game. Its commendable quirks – from a humorous one-liner to a goofy enemy design – are around every corner.
A cast of new characters enter the fray in Thieves in Time, rounding out its story and giving players a slew of fresh faces to fall in love with. Paramount among them is the game’s antagonist, a thieving skunk named Le Paradox. Le Paradox, in a feat of time traveling madness, has set his eyes on relics from the past in order to bring him fame and riches in the present, and it just so happens that he’s targeted very specific items owned by some of Sly Cooper’s ancestors. Shockingly (or not), Sly is drawn in to the intrigue when it’s clear that these thefts have hit very close to home. This requires him to make quick work of Le Paradox’s cast of goons, from a rapping, ice skating bear to a frustrated elephant reeling from a failed musical career. In other words, vintage, over-the-top Sly Cooper.
Sly’s ancestors – ranging between a bumbling cave man and a skilled ninja to a sharp-shooting old westerner and a smooth-talking knight – constitute all-new playable characters for you to experiment with. Furthermore (and perhaps more importantly), traveling to these ancestors’ native times and meeting them will give Sly access to new outfits that will grant him special skills on the fly. Sly’s Renaissance-based ancestor will give him archery skills, allowing Sly to use arrows to hit far away switches and connect distant areas with ropes, while traveling to ancient Arabia will allow Sly to slow down time, giving him an edge both in battle and while platforming. Platforming can be frustrating from time to time, especially due to occasionally wonky camera angles and Sly’s emphasis