The boys are back in town … well,
not just the boys, but the girls too, and this time they are looking for a
family treasure.
When Sly 2: Band of Thieves ended,
the gang of Sly, Bentley and Murray were in disarray. Bentley was injured and
Murray was blaming himself. The final battle with Clockwerk left Bentley in a
wheelchair as Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves opens. Murray is off to find himself
through a zen-like journey into the world of non-violence, and Sly finds the
family vault. But the family vault is not without problems, and in order to get
his inheritance, Sly will have to call on a bunch of friends.
And it all starts with bringing the
old gang back together.
SCEA and Sucker Punch are the
tag-team behind Sly 3, a PlayStation2 title scheduled for release in the fall.
The action heats up with a rival gang trying to break into the family vault, and
it does not take long for Sly to realize they will need help. In addition to
re-recruiting Bentley and Murray, Sly calls on Dimtri, and Carmelita (who is a
playable character this time out), as well as getting a rather insane little
magic guy known as The Shaman.
SCEA showed off the game during an
event in Santa Monica, and GameZone was invited along for a chat with the
developers and a little hands-on action in the mini games.
In addition to some new gameplay
mechanics, like Bentley tossing bombs to Sly who, in turn, baseball bats them
for greater distance, other new features include:
-
Players will be able to play
head-to-head and cooperative missions in multiplayer, split screen modes. -
Extensive replay value with power-up objectives, a scoring
system, multiplayer challenges, mini-games and more. Players also can utilize
the time machine feature, which will allow them to replay mini-games and
missions they have completed using new moves, abilities or disguises to see
how high they can score. -
Earn more money and locate
more collectibles with an enhanced economy system through an expanded “Thiefnet”.
-
Conquer challenging, complex heists in robust, open exotic
environments in settings like Venice, Holland, The Outback and
China. -
Sly becomes a master of disguise, enabling him to sneak into
heavily guarded areas unnoticed. These disguises will affect not only Sly’s
look, but also his personality and move set. -
New varied, sophisticated enemy interactions and artificial
intelligence means enemy guards now offer more challenges to players, and
redouble their efforts to defeat Sly and his gang. -
Uncover hidden messages in works of art with the help of
Bentley who can examine the pieces to reveal clues. -
Experience a great variety of gameplay and features with new
vehicles, gadgets and mini-games and moves all wrapped in an engaging,
animated comic caper.
Sly also has a jab feature added to
his repertoire of moves. The mini games include biplane fights, opera singing
and lemonade drinking contests. Dialog choices will affect gameplay.
As far as the graphics are
concerned, Sly 3 continues where Sly 2 left off. The look features lush colors
with black outlines around the characters. The animation is solid and rather fun
– an attitude which pervades across the entire game. The mini games are
enjoyable little asides to the main story, especially the biplane fight, replete
with power ups to keep those bullets flying. As for the multiplayer aspects of
the game …
Brian Fleming, a producer at Sucker
Punch, said “we have focused on two player head-to-head. This, we believe, is
the dominant mode for our customers.”
While the hands-on time was limited,
the game was smooth and relatively intuitive (having played a Sly Cooper game
before did help), but even the new game mechanics were integrated in a manner
that kept the flow of the control scheme intact. This is a game that has fun
underscoring it and is one to watch for down the road.
