Originally created for the PS2 back in 2002 by the well-known Sucker Punch studios. Sly Cooper is set in a real world environment that is populated by anthropomorphic animals. Sly Cooper himself is a young adult raccoon and a descendant in a line of master thieves. Sly uses the ‘Thievius Raccoonus’ to learn his family’s secrets and tricks. Sly places a great value on his friendships with the beloved Bentley and Murray who help him in all of his mischievous doings.
The game saw a huge graphical boost on it’s re release on the PS3 and i’m glad to say that the HD graphics have transferred onto the beautiful Vita OLED screen flawlessly. The game almost looks as good as last year’s Thieves in Time which was built for the Vita. I didn’t notice any noticeable slow-down which made me incredibly happy, considering the game chugged quite a lot on the PS3. As far as I can tell, the game is split into 2 different applications. Sly Cooper 1 and 2 are bunched together and Sly Cooper 3 is singled out on it’s own. This wasn’t an issue for me but some people might find it relevant. Cutscenes don’t utilise the entire display but I didn’t feel that this lowered the experience.
In the original game, you are tasked with tracking down the hidden pages of the family heirloom. These pages have been scattered across the world and it’s your choice how to find them. In true Sly Cooper style, you’re based within a central hub of operations with different doors leading to levels. Each world is styled differently and you have to collect a certain number of keys before you can progress to the next world. The first game does extremely well to vary up the gameplay, for instance, you can take part in a standard platforming level and then be thrust into a twin-stick shooter.
In Sly 2, the world is much more expansive and Sucker Punch really aimed to fix a lot of the problems that people found in the first game. The game features improved and less clunky combat mechanics and a more forgiving health-bar. The game also put a greater emphasis on actually having to sneak past your enemy, rather than being forced to fight them.
Sly 3: Honour Among Thieves doesn’t add much to the already solid formula. It does however look quite a bit better than the first two games and also offers up more exciting enemy varieties than the first two games. It really caps off an amazing trilogy with it’s incredibly solid gameplay and well developed storyline.
The Sly Cooper Trilogy on Vita is largely the same experience as it was on the PS3. In my opinion I found that the game felt a lot better on a handheld console. The original trilogy really lends itself to short bursts of play so it feels right at home on the Vita. The front touch screen is used to activate zoom mode and the rear touch pad has been used in order to locate waypoints. Mini games have made a comeback and now utilise the touch screen as well. The trilogy will take you around 15 hours to complete and it’s well worth it for those that haven’t experienced the full trilogy.
