That lovable scamp, Sly Cooper, is back and, unlike most raccoons, he won’t rummage through your garbage or bite you, causing a need to get a series of painful shots.
“Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves” is the third installment of the wacky platforming adventure by Sucker Punch for Playstation 2. The game starts off with you taking control of Sly Cooper, a world-renowned thief and along with your cohorts in crime, Bentley (a turtle who zips around in a wheelchair and acts as the brains of the operation), and Murray, a big, strong yet simple-minded pink hippo (sorry alcoholics, no pink elephants this time).
Your group sets off to break into Sly’s family vault located on a heavily-guarded island and in the process thwart a nefarious evil genius. Through the course of the game, you will play as many different characters in many different situations. This is both a blessing and a curse in regard to game play.
On the one hand, you probably will never get burned out playing with any one of the assortment of characters because, just as you start to get tired of playing as one of the heroes, the game will put you in the role of another. While this does vary the experience, I often found that some characters were more enjoyable to play (Sly for example) then others. I also found some of the later partners in crime to be somewhat annoying.
The graphics, just like the previous installments, are beautiful. I often found myself just wandering around the different, vast levels just to look at them. If you ever grew up watching cartoons and ever had the urge to jump into and play around in one then this is the closest you will probably ever get. I can’t praise the art style enough. I just wish more games looked like this.
The controls are spot on and even see some new additions that help alleviate frustrating problems found in the first two Sly Coopers. One noticeable complaint is that you will at times struggle with the camera to find that perfect viewing angle in which to play, but I seldom had to do this compared with other games of this category.
Both the music and voice acting are well done and add to the overall charm of the game. One of my biggest complaints about this game is that it does not let you skip the cut scenes that are spread quite liberally through out the game. While I am quite fond of the voice acting having to sit through the same long segment over again because I died is really quite annoying.
Aside from a few small problems I really enjoyed “Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.” It’s a game that almost any age will enjoy (although the very young might want to stay away due to the moderate difficulty). I give “Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves” a 9 out of 10.