Sly 2: Band Of Thieves für PlayStation 2

I never played the first Sly Cooper game, but I picked up this sequel nonetheless because of high praise in online reviews and great word of mouth. I found it to be a lot more fun than I expected, with good graphics, a wide variety of gameplay aspects, great music, and characters with a lot of personality. While the relative simplicity of the controls and difficulty level do not provide much of a challenge for more experienced gamers, Sly 2: Band of Thieves is still a title that players of many different ages would enjoy.

Graphics:

Characters-
Sly 2: Band of Thieves features cel-shaded character graphics and a style that resembles a cartoon show. The three main characters in the game, Sly, Murray, and Bentley, are all designed well and have smooth animations that match their character traits. There are also nice details to these animations. For example, when Sly climbs poles, he places his weapon in his mouth to have full use of his hands, and when standing still, he gets bored and starts scratching his back with his weapon.

Levels-
Level and background graphics are detailed and expansive. The entire town is open to explore at once, and the only "zoning" required is if Sly needs to enter a building to accomplish a mission objective. If Sly jumps up on a rooftop, the entire town can be seen, with buildings extending far off to the horizon, and all of it is reachable. Though a daunting sight, lighted character graphics are projected into the sky from mission points so that the player never gets lost in these expansive levels.

Cut scenes-
Cut scenes are cute, well-rendered, and match the style of the game. Many of them appear to be created with the game engine and show the characters acting out portions of the missions. Others are more two dimensional, comic book style story panels, while even others are slide shows that Bentley puts on to illustrate mission objectives. Sometimes it's hard to remember you're not watching a Saturday morning cartoon.

Gameplay:

General-
The best part about this game is the wide variety of gameplay aspects. This is an action platformer with a lot of stealth involved. Sly must jump on rooftops, walk across wires, climb pipes, sneak past guards, and fight enemies when they are encountered. Unlike the first Sly Cooper game, the player is also able to, and required to, play as Murray and Bentley for certain missions. Each has various strengths and weaknesses. Murray is the muscle of the group and a good fighter, while Bentley is weak and relies on sleeping darts and other tools and weapons. Sly, of course, is still used for a majority of missions, but he also gets to utilize some new skills. In this game, he is able to pick-pocket guards, and can gain coins and items to sell. The coins collected can be used to purchase power-ups and abilities for the characters. For even more variety, there are lots of mini-games and activities to do. For example, in one mission Murray takes control of an anti-aircraft gun to shoot down missiles and an enemy helicopter, and in another, Sly engages in a dancing mini game.

Difficulty-
The difficulty level of this game is not very high, which makes it appeal to a wide range of age groups. Though there are a variety of moves that the characters can perform, the controls are very simple and the same controls are often used for various actions. Guards are generally easy to sneak past or outrun, and health can be found in many places throughout the levels. I have heard that there was a one-hit system for the first Sly Cooper game, but in this sequel, the characters have life meters and can survive several hits by an opponent. Likewise, enemies require several attacks to be destroyed. Even if a mission is failed, the game will restart the player at the latest checkpoint, which often only results in losing a few minutes of progress. Though this may detract from the replay value for more experienced players, this didn't bother me in the least. I was having too much fun.

Music:
Background music is light, fun, and engaging. It is also sometimes interactive. When Sly sneaks around, a pizzicato melody plays in time to his footsteps. When following a disco-loving nightclub owner, an energetic disco theme plays. Music always added to and did not distract from the game.

Story:
The parts of Clockwerk, Sly's arch nemesis, have been stolen by members of the Klaww Gang. Wanting to make sure that Clockwerk can never be reassembled, Sly and his friends conduct several missions at various locations to get each of these parts back. Even though I have not played the first Sly Cooper game, the basic story of the original was covered in a flashback, and my lack of familiarity with that game did not take away from the experience of playing this sequel. The missions are worked out in clever, elaborate ways, and the characters are infused with a lot of personality and make performing these various tasks entertaining.

Overall, I enjoyed playing this game much more than the many others I have tried of late. The variety of mini games and activities keep the game fresh and fun, and the ability to play as different characters is also a nice feature. The game can be completed in around 20 hours or so, and is definitely well worth trying out.