Sly 2: Band of Thieves
PlayStation 2
Nostalgia Factor:
Back in the early to mid 2000s I was dating a girl that absolutely loved the Sly Cooper series. Every time a new game in the series would come out, she'd buy it immediately. I enjoyed the first game with its more traditional 3D platforming mechanics, but for whatever reason I was never very fond of its two sequels. To me, they were too slow paced and too focused on stealth mechanics and goofball conversations between the characters. I played through the games from beginning to end when they first came out - and I even replayed the entire series back in 2011. My opinion didn't change.
With that said, I didn't expect to really like Sly 2 when I played it for the third time here in 2021. But hey, sometimes a game will pleasantly surprise me. Not only did I really enjoy Sly 2, I would go so far as to say I had a great time with the game. What happened? What changed? Aside from ten years passing, I'm not sure. But I'll try to break it down for you in this review.
Story:
This game has a fairly simple story. Sly discovers that the villain from the previous game, Clockwerk, has had his mechanical body parts stolen from the museum. Sly and his sidekicks Murray and Bentley set out on a quest to retrieve these parts from the criminal organization that has stolen them. Each stage of the game takes you to an area of the world where that particular villain is hiding out with his or her respective Clockwerk part. It is up to you and your gang to pull off a series of heists that allow you to steal back the missing Clockwerk pieces one by one.
Throughout the game you are chased by Sly's nemesis Inspector Carmelita. Carmelita is betrayed by her partner, Constable Neyla, who is after the Clockwerk pieces herself. Spoiler alert: she is the big baddie at the end of the game.
That is the super simple breakdown of the game's story, but there is more to it than that. This game is packed with all kinds of humor. Conversations with your sidekicks take place through a Metal Gear Solid codec-like screen. The villains are impressively fleshed out and have very unique and distinctive personalities - which shine through when you play their respective stages. You'll play lots of fun mini-games that really add to the world-building of this game. The world of Sly 2 is a bright, colorful place - similar to that of a Saturday morning cartoon. And that world really shines through in this game.
Gameplay:
This is where Sly 2 shines. Whether it is jumping, running, attacking, picking pockets, or latching onto objects in your environment - controls are crisp and responsive and easy to get a hang of. You should be able to pick up this game and have it figured out in no time.
Each mission has an overworld where your gang has a safe house that they use to plot their heists. You have to select a character (either Sly, Murray, or Bentley) and enter the overworld looking for mission markers. Head to the mission marker with the appropriate character, and you begin a heist that will get you one step closer to a Clockwerk part. When in-between missions, you can explore the overworld looking for collectible bottles that lead to extra moves and abilities for your character. Or you can look for precious artifacts to bring back to the safe house, which will net you a pretty penny. Or you can run around the map pickpocketing enemies. Use the gold coins you acquire to purchase even more moves and abilities for your characters.
The missions themselves are pretty varied and fun. One thing this game is NOT is repetitive. One mission will have you dancing while you infiltrate a masquerade ball and another will have you planting bombs on a bridge that you need to destroy. Another mission will have you sneaking around taking recon photographs while another will have you trailing enemies around the overworld map in an attempt to uncover the location of their hidden base. There are missions where you steal keys, there are missions where you have to rescue your cohorts, there are missions where you have to destroy all the enemies/obstacles identified on the map, there is even a mission where you have to engage in Olympic-like winter games.
One thing that is super cool about this game is how different your three main characters are. Sly is all about jumping and agility and grabbing onto things and picking pockets, while Murray is all about bashing enemies with his brute strength. Bentley sneaks around and shoots sleeping darts at his foes, while his missions tend to focus on hacking enemy computers with Asteroids-like mini games. If you've played Nier Automata, these hacking minigames should look very familiar to you. Just remember: Sly did it first!
I haven't even mentioned the flying stages, the shooting stages, the ones where you control RC cars, the ones where you parachute from the sky, the ones where you have to carry objects around without being spotted or attacked - so on and so forth. There is SO MUCH variety to this game. Once again, I can't really figure out why I didn't enjoy this game during my previous playthroughs.
Graphics:
The world of this game is bright, vibrant, and colorful. I already said it before, but I guess I will say it again - it is like stepping directly into the world of a Saturday morning cartoon. If you are playing an original copy of this game on a PS2, you'll find that it this game is a little dark and grainy and it shows some age. I would suggest playing the HD version of the game on the Sly Collection for the PS3 for the full, crisp graphical effect.
Not only is the game's aesthetic enjoyable to look at, it creates a very fun atmosphere as well. There is just something about the level variety in this game and how charming that variety is. My particular favorite is the snow level. You run around in the snow dodging bears, going into caves, hitching rides on trains, and visiting warm and cozy cabins with fires blazing in the hearth. There's just something comforting about this stage. In fact, nearly every stage has something about it that gives me that warm and comforting feeling of "home." I don't know if I am just being weird or if you understand what I am talking about. I'm not sure I know how to put it into words!
Sound:
This game sounds wonderful too. The music fits the tone of the game perfectly. I love the little "spy jingles" and how they are incorporated into the game - like when you steal a key item from an enemy or sneak past someone on a ledge. The little tune that plays when you complete a mission is perfection as well.
Voice acting is really good. Each character has such a distinctive feel, sound, and personality, and it couldn't be done without these voice actors. Just really impressive how these characters are brought to life.
Overall:
This game was such a pleasant surprise. I really had a blast playing it. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the look and feel of the game, I loved its voice acting, I loved its music, I loved its mission variety. Overall, I had just a really, really good experience with this game. If I had to nitpick any flaws it would be that the game's conversations can drag on from time to time. Blah blah blah, cut the banter and just let me play! I also think that the game would have benefited from an overworld map of some kind. Finding all the bottles started to become a bit tedious after a while. It also can take an obnoxious amount of pickpocket grinding to be able to afford all the upgrades in the game - not that they are necessary to obtain by any stretch of the imagination.
I'd recommend Sly 2 to anyone even remotely interested in the 3D platforming genre. This game is just bursting with personality and gameplay variety. I have NO idea why I didn't like it that much the first few times I played it back in the day. It is a very enjoyable title. Is it perfect? No. Is it a little too scatterbrained at parts? Yeah. But it is still a lot of fun. Now that I have changed my mind on this game, I am curious to see how I will feel about its follow-up, Sly 3. I remember thinking that it was the worst game in the series, but I guess I will just have to play it and find out.
Final Score:
A-
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