Developer Sucker Punch brings you Sly2: Band of Thieves. Picking off where the first game ended, some time has passed from when the evil mechanical owl Clockwerk was destroyed.
Now, the malicious Klaww gang has collected his pieces. This causes Sly to realise that his nemesis could return from the ashes (and of course that`s a big 'no-no`).
Sly 2 consists of Sly, the thievish racoon; Bentley, the brainy turtle; and Murray, the muscled hippo. The game of Sly is all about stealth and cunning. Sneaking up on enemies and either pick-pocketing or pummelling them.
Sly can also climb poles and move swiftly along tight ropes and rooftops. Bentley can move quickly, but he`s completely defenceless against attacks. Good thing he has the ability to drop explosives or deliver darts that induce sleep.
Although Murray is a tough as nails, and can take out enemies left right and centre, he`s a lot slower getting from point A to point B.
Changing between characters could have been a little better thought out. You basically have to go ALL the way back to HQ to reselect the character you need when a quick change button could have done the job just as well.
It`s especially annoying when you`re forced to backtrack from one end of a level to the base in order to switch to another character.
Sly is forced to perform some rather pointless photoreconnaissance in every single episode. It seemed to serve no purpose other than drawing out the mission and wasting some time.
Just like the endless pick-pocketing that must be done in virtually every mission, Bentley`s hacking missions really started to get on my nerves after the fourth time.
It sometimes felt that Sucker Punch added pointless missions purely to make the game feel longer.
The design of some hubs also feels like it wasn`t put together very well. Some are so complex that it makes the simplest navigation task a complete nightmare. When the game starts setting levels inside them, making you activate X amount of switches, take X amount of photos and steal X amount of keys, it feels like you`re having your time wasted. And eventually it stops being fun and ends up being annoying.
Levels are divided into three parts that take place inside the level: these are reconnaissance, sabotage and the theft. There are also side quests like pick-pocketing guards, collecting all the green bottles in the area, and getting your little racoon hands on some treasure. This treasure can be used in the TheifNET to buy new skill powers for all the characters.
One thing I can say it that the game runs smoothly. The graphics are stunning and it has a Saturday morning cartoon-type feel.
The cut scenes are awesome, although I didn`t like the fact that I had to sit through Bentley`s annoying little voice each time a cut scene pitched up and Sly had to be briefed about the mission. I would have preferred if I could have skipped it. His little congested nasal voice bugged me no end.
The sound track works well with the game, although sometimes I had to turn it down to keep it from breaking my concentration as it repeated too much. In the end, there is no bonus once you finish the game, thus no replay value.
You can`t start the game with any of the gadgets you acquired during the game, so there`s no point. And definitely no reason to go back and re-try the eight different levels all over again. Also, most of his missions are completely lacking in creativity.
I know Sly 2 has been given thumbs up and rave reviews but something about this game just didn`t grab me. Don`t get me wrong; I`m sure on some level it is enjoyable, but I would rather not waste my time on this one.
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