There's not a great difference between Sly Cooper, the hero of this and the previous two Sly games, and CJ, from GTA San Andreas fame. One may be a rap-loving gangbanger, and the other may be a cel-shaded raccoon master thief, but they both like to steal everything they can, and they're both celebrated for their lawbreaking just because they stick by their friends and aren't too obnoxious. Considering the media furore at CJ's actions, both 'hidden' and 'public', maybe Rockstar should make their next GTA cel-shaded, and make the 'hero' a nice fluffy baby seal.
It's only been a year since we saw Sly 2, highly rated by our own DC, but it seems that Sucker Punch have taken the sensible approach of not messing with a winning formula and cranked out a new game, with new content, but without too much costly redevelopment of the game engine. Sly 3 picks up events some time after those of Sly 2, opening with Sly trying to regain the Cooper family's hoarded booty. The story then jumps back in time to events before that heist, and the bulk of the game is then played out trying to get together a gang of master thieves to pull off the heist in the first mission.
Each stage of the recruitment and heist planning is done in a separate, free-roaming level, containing several sub-missions. Playing as Sly (and you will the majority of the time) you can sneak around by climbing up drainpipes onto rooftops, shimmying across ropes and wires, and hopping delicately between small objects, amongst other slick manoeuvres. Sneak up behind guards and you can pick their pockets for cash that you can spend on new abilities for Sly and the gang. When in the middle of a mission you'll quite often get to play some kind of mini-game – there's a vast array of different games with both puzzle and action elements. Despite the reasonable size of the areas, there's never too much wandering to do, and it's easy enough to find and get to each objective – the main bugbear of Sly 2. There's plenty of action in the game too, with the levels being very varied, and the regular appearance of the mini games keeps the game consistently fresh, although the standard of the mini games can be a little inconsistent.
Sly 3 keeps its cel-shaded style from the previous games and generally looks very tidy and neatly put together, with the animation of Sly as he sneaks around the city being a particular highlight. Carmelita looks as foxy as ever (well, she is actually a fox), and the new characters are all neatly designed and drawn too. Between missions, and between some sub-missions in levels you get quite a lot of dialogue which is smartly acted and certainly suits each character. However, while it's humorous, it's not “laugh out loud” funny, and so quite a few scenes suffer from being a tad too long. The only particularly bad point about the presentation (and the game in general) is the camera. It's a regular problem in 3D games, and yet I'm still frustrated by having to run back towards the screen, waiting to bump into an enemy. The issue is exaggerated in Sly 3 by having to look at things above and below you too.
The major innovation in Sly 3 is that there are parts of the game that are played in 'proper' 3D, by putting on a pair of 3D glasses that are in the manual. Unfortunately, I didn't get a manual with the promo copy, so I can't comment on this, other than it's not compulsory to view it in '3D' mode as you can turn it back to a normal display – this can be only a good thing as past experiences tell me that 3D glasses usually give you a lovely headache after prolonged use. The '3D' sections are fairly short, and I'm not really sure how much the glasses will enhance your playing pleasure, but it's a nice gimmick.
At the end of the day, there's not a lot wrong with Sly 3, although it's unlikely that it will convert anyone who was averse to the previous games. The game is quite easy, and (provided you can live with the moral dilemma of playing as a hardened criminal raccoon) quite suitable for kids, keeping them occupied for 12-18 hours depending on their haste through the game, although there are a few boss battles that less experienced gamers may struggle with.
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