“I’ll
improve, I swear!”
“No, you’ll
die – any second now!”
That might
seem a little harsh, but Richards made a rather large error – the blue elephant
programmed the security code as 1, 2, 3 – which was overheard by the raccoon
thief Sly Cooper as he was working through the tutorial aspect of the latest
SCEA/Sucker Punch title (with a pending release date of September 27) of Sly 3:
Honor Among Thieves.
GameZone
received a preview build of the title, which contained a tutorial mission, three
levels and a couple of the minigames (Cops & Robbers or Biplane Battles). The
game did have some problems, but there was definitely enough there for a preview
and more than enough for an enjoyable time in this imaginative world.
In Sly 3,
Sly is gathering a cast of thieves to help him reclaim the family vault – the
latter being easier said than done. The cast of characters for this little romp,
though, is a robust troupe that reunites favorite characters in great ways. Of
course, those who played the previous Sly title will recall that Bentley, the
inventor turtle and valued computer-mechanical wizard of the team, was injured.
Bentley is back, in a wheelchair that manages to give him more firepower and
just as much, if not more, mobility – all in extremely creative ways.
Murray, who
blames himself for what happened to Bentley, has gone off and encountered a
mystical shaman, who later joins the team. Dimitri is back, as is Carmelita –
and the latter is playable in the game.
The game
begins with the tutorial, and then it is off to Opera of Fear. After Murray left
the group, he became very spiritual, and his shaman instructor sent him on a
walk-about of the world. He eventually wound up in Venice, and that is where Sly
is heading. Of course, what would Venice be without a crime boss (an
up-and-coming opera singer who’s career was tragically cut short due to an
upswing in the popularity of rock ‘n roll, so – with a few faithful fans among
the more notorious citizenry – he turned to crime and built an empire).
Of course,
while the game is very much a free and open environment, there is a specific
path that Sly must take to get to where he needs to be. Sparkly ropes, pipes and
other environmental elements provide all the clues on needs to move through the
vast level. And there are traps to be sprung, and enemies (sort of harlequins –
kill the clowns!) to fight with coins to collect.
As in
previous titles, this is a rich and lavish world, with wonderfully colorful
environments.
The
minigames included on the disk were a player-versus-player biplane fight on a
splitscreen, and a Cops and Robbers game across a cityscape.
The sound of
the game is in line with other Sly games, providing a great backdrop and
stepping in tune with the graphical elements. The controls are simple and easy
to learn and use.
Sly 3 will
not ship until late September, and will include 3D glasses (which seemed to do
nothing in this preview other than make the wearer look silly) to bring the
world to three-dimensional life. However, the glasses notwithstanding, there are
plenty of reasons to like this title and look forward to a rollickin adventure
with a ‘sly’ raccoon and his compatriots. Sly 3 is shaping up to be a wonderful
adventure.
