After going through the whole storyline of Sly 2, I must say I am really blown away. Sucker Punch has managed to stay strong, despite the high expectations of fans set by the first game.
For those of you who don't know about Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, the first game starred Sly Cooper, a master thief (in training) in search of a book of family secrets stolen by five villains. And his main villain--a mechanical owl called Clockwerk who just happens to be a rival of the Cooper Clan!
And now, set two years after the first game, Sly is back and this time, his friends get in on the act!
Starting with the story, what basically happens is that Sly is going to steal the Clockwerk parts so that they may be destroyed. But you see, it's not quite that easy. When he arrives at the scene of the crime, he finds out the parts were already stolen by another gang called "The Klaww Gang". And now Sly must find the parts before Clockwerk is rebuilt. Don't worry about the story dragging on though, it's extremely compelling and will keep you going until the end.
The controls and general gameplay are very slick, just like the first one. However, there have been a few modifications to gameplay. First off, world hubs are gone! They have been replaced with large cities, which act as your levels. They're not exactly world hubs per se, but the levels are split into the different areas for your exploration. You also run a bit slower this time around, but you do have a button that allows you to sprint.
If you thought the variety of gameplay in the first game was broad, check out this game! This game is chock full of activities and different things to do. These tasks may range from plain old sneaking around to dancing/tux wearing to controlling an RC Chopper and much, much more! It is guaranteed you will never be bored with all of these things.
As suggested by the subtitle "Band of Thieves", you'll be able to play as Murray and Bentley this time around, as well as Sly Cooper himself.
As for basic styles, these pretty much sum it up:
-Sly: The character who does the thievier jobs, like pickpocketing, sneaking around and taking recon photos.
-Murray: The fighter.
-Bentley: The hacker and the thinker. When you play as him, you have to be careful before you step forward since he isn't able to get into close combat that well.
Sucker Punch does a great job of making all three playable characters unique. Each has a different set of moves, however not all of them seem to be of any important use. Perhaps if Sucker Punch incorporated them better, then I'd be even more satisfied.
As for the graphics, the slow-down is gone! (YAY!) While the graphics haven't changed too much, they have received a tune-up as well as some additions, including sound effects text for when you defeat enemies. The animations are also cool and sometimes funny to watch (Sly using his cane as a back scratcher *snort*).
The music is much better this time around and the voice acting is still pretty top-notch!
Overall, this game is good. I was able to beat the storyline in about 17 hours, which is at least seven hours longer than the first one for me, although experienced players might beat it quicker. While the length is much better than the first, I regret to say this game doesn't have much re-playability. It doesn't let you replay through the levels in the game once you beat them and that kind of stinks since the jobs are all fun to do and complete. But I can see why Sucker Punch didn't add this in though. It wouldn't work in the kind of gameplay Sly 2 has.
MY SCORE:
9.5/10
