Sly Cooper

Sly has evolved from his platforming roots. There are still plenty of props to smash which bestow the destruction-minded gamer with coins to collect, but it hardly seems worthwhile when careful pickpocketing is more viable. The various thief moves make a return (including my favorite, Paraglider) and navigating the levels as Sly is as joyous as ever.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Violence, Comic Mischief

Game Description: In Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves you'll become a master thief and a master of disguise, as you preapre for an impossible robbery. Sly may be the best thief around, but even he can't pull this one off alone. Recruit five returning as well as new members of the thieving gang to take down the maniacal Dr. M. With the pursuant Carmelita Fox and the mad professor on his tail, Sly learns of his family's thieving heritage and the one great secret his father kept from him for years. It'll take all of his team's abilities to take on this last great heist!

Making platform adventure games seems to be no great challenge, but making good platform adventure games is another matter entirely. With three outstanding titles under its belt (Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, and Sly 2: Band of Thieves), Sucker Punch Studios definitely falls into the latter category.

Sly and the gang must trot the globe to hunt down the anthropomorphic mafia. Each combination of location and villain is an "episode." The development team stated that their goal was to realize places they'd like to visit. They did an excellent job of capturing international flavor while making levels that were great fun to navigate. The game started in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower in the distance pointed at the moon and jazzy background music inspired my sneaky efforts.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Cartoon Violence

Game Description: Sly 2: Band of Thieves is a comic crime caper that continues the story of Sly Cooper, master thief and hero! Sly's worst enemy, the powerful robot called Clockwerk, was shut down permanently, but its parts have gone missing. To make sure Clockwerk never turns up again, he and his partners in crime will go around the world to pull off a series of daring heists.

My overall reaction to Sly Cooper was almost the same as James, the difference being that I enjoyed the game just a bit more than he did. Sly Cooper certainly isn't the most original or innovative platformer to come along in recent memory, but it's one of the few titles that really stand out in my mind. In keeping with the 'thieving' theme, the developers at Sucker Punch went about 'stealing' all sorts of good ideas from Metal Gear Solid and infused them into one of the most charming new platformers to come out this year.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Mild Violence