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| Sly: Cooper Thieves in Time |
On the 22nd of January, those who were a PlayStation Plus Member was able to download the Sly Cooper Thieves in Time demo before the public release on the 29th. I was a PS+ member and I jumped at the chance to download it once I read over the internet. Though I didn't really play the first three games (I missed it because I didn't own a PS2 back then, which to me is sad since the PS2 era just ended), after watching my favourite playthougher Vash12349 on youtube playing the first two games in the series, I immediately got hooked into it. But let's get to the point of this little blog, my thoughts on the demo.
Review:
The story in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, follows from the end of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Sly Cooper, a raccoon from a long line of master thieves, will need to reunite with his gang to locate and recover the Thievius Raccoonus, a book chronicling the Cooper family line that has been lost within time. The player controls Sly, Bentley, Murray, Carmelita Fox, and Sly's ancestors, using their skills to pull off heists and reveal who has tampered with the Cooper history.
The demo puts you right into the first mission, controlling three of the main characters with Sly being the first to control. Now if you played the other Sly Cooper games previous, the controls are obviously very similar and easy to get use too. You have your standard (X) for jump (tap it twice to achieve double jump), (O) to interact with key points, pickpocket loot from enemies or to land/grab onto ledges or tips, ([ ]) for attack, and so forth. What I find that is really neat is how the characters break the forth wall to explain the controls for you.
You go through the first section of the mission to get comfortable with the controls as Bently (the genius turtle) helps you navigate the area. Sly of course with his slick movements and nice animation for his jumps and twirls, is as cool as ever. Holding the Triangle allows you to charge his cane for a spin attack, or pressing triangle and then ([ ]) will have Sly preform the sneak attack. Afterwards, while looking around I found before the end of Sly's segment, I found the Sly Mask icon laying around. I assume this is another collectible in the game other then just the bottles seen in the previous, thought I didn't see any bottles as I played as it shows you how much and many collectibles are left when you pick them up on the right-hand side of the screen.
For Bently's section of the game was a surprise for me. For those who remember playing as Bently in the previous titles, he was a slow turtle with a cross-bow to put enemies to sleep (the just of it). Now he is on a high-tech wheelchair capable of flight, throwing bombs, speed (hahaha), and other stuff that is probably in the full release. Afterwards, you would also get to play the mini-game, Hacking (I think that's the name). You control this little digital turtle and shoot firewalls, obtain fragment keys, break through even stronger firewalls with a digital tank, etc. After the mini-game you then play Murray, which is pretty straightforward. Murray is the strongest of the bunch as he can preform body slams, throw enemies and objects, a spin attack similar to Sly's etc. Though we don't get to see it in the demo, the safe house returns in the game. This is where you are able to sell loot, select which characters to play if available, look around the room and other neat stuff.
The aesthetic of game is visually appealing and I really enjoy the new look. Sanzaru Games did a really good job with the HD remaster of the previous titles, and you can tell they had an upgrade from it in Sly Thieves in Time. Three of the original actors for the Sly gang return in the game, thought Murray does sound unpleasant sometimes. They also kept the comic like cut-scenes that tells the story in the game and they are really fun to watch. Sly fans who enjoy the music in the previous titles will like the fact that some of the music is still used. Some might have a little differences but nonetheless it sounds amazing and catchy. I had a nice time just running in circles just listening to the background music.
Review:
The story in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, follows from the end of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Sly Cooper, a raccoon from a long line of master thieves, will need to reunite with his gang to locate and recover the Thievius Raccoonus, a book chronicling the Cooper family line that has been lost within time. The player controls Sly, Bentley, Murray, Carmelita Fox, and Sly's ancestors, using their skills to pull off heists and reveal who has tampered with the Cooper history.
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| From left to right: Bently, Sly Cooper, and Murray |
The demo puts you right into the first mission, controlling three of the main characters with Sly being the first to control. Now if you played the other Sly Cooper games previous, the controls are obviously very similar and easy to get use too. You have your standard (X) for jump (tap it twice to achieve double jump), (O) to interact with key points, pickpocket loot from enemies or to land/grab onto ledges or tips, ([ ]) for attack, and so forth. What I find that is really neat is how the characters break the forth wall to explain the controls for you.
You go through the first section of the mission to get comfortable with the controls as Bently (the genius turtle) helps you navigate the area. Sly of course with his slick movements and nice animation for his jumps and twirls, is as cool as ever. Holding the Triangle allows you to charge his cane for a spin attack, or pressing triangle and then ([ ]) will have Sly preform the sneak attack. Afterwards, while looking around I found before the end of Sly's segment, I found the Sly Mask icon laying around. I assume this is another collectible in the game other then just the bottles seen in the previous, thought I didn't see any bottles as I played as it shows you how much and many collectibles are left when you pick them up on the right-hand side of the screen.
For Bently's section of the game was a surprise for me. For those who remember playing as Bently in the previous titles, he was a slow turtle with a cross-bow to put enemies to sleep (the just of it). Now he is on a high-tech wheelchair capable of flight, throwing bombs, speed (hahaha), and other stuff that is probably in the full release. Afterwards, you would also get to play the mini-game, Hacking (I think that's the name). You control this little digital turtle and shoot firewalls, obtain fragment keys, break through even stronger firewalls with a digital tank, etc. After the mini-game you then play Murray, which is pretty straightforward. Murray is the strongest of the bunch as he can preform body slams, throw enemies and objects, a spin attack similar to Sly's etc. Though we don't get to see it in the demo, the safe house returns in the game. This is where you are able to sell loot, select which characters to play if available, look around the room and other neat stuff.
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| The Safe House, which you can see one of Sly's ancestors on the far right. |
The aesthetic of game is visually appealing and I really enjoy the new look. Sanzaru Games did a really good job with the HD remaster of the previous titles, and you can tell they had an upgrade from it in Sly Thieves in Time. Three of the original actors for the Sly gang return in the game, thought Murray does sound unpleasant sometimes. They also kept the comic like cut-scenes that tells the story in the game and they are really fun to watch. Sly fans who enjoy the music in the previous titles will like the fact that some of the music is still used. Some might have a little differences but nonetheless it sounds amazing and catchy. I had a nice time just running in circles just listening to the background music.
Overall:
I found the demo seamlessly pleasing for me. From the gameplay, to visuals or the sounds being received by my ears. I really enjoy the quirky lines from Sly and remarks from Bently. It was nice to get a little peak into the game before it's official release and now I am happy that I pre-ordered it. I believe that Sly fans and new ones will enjoy it when the public release comes out on teh 29th of January, unless your PS+ member then I would say download it now and give it a try!~
This game will also be a part of the "Cross Buy"
initiative announced by Sony. This will allow purchasers of the PlayStation 3
version of the game to receive a free copy of the game on the PlayStation Vita
added to a PlayStation Network account. Sly Cooper Thieves in Time will be released in North America on February 5th (Tuesday), and in Europe on March 27th (Wednesday).
Hope this little unorganized review help with your thoughts about the game. I will post a video of the demo in the future.
http://www.youtube.com/user/vash12349
Those of you who want to watch a really funny guy play some videogames, here is the person I mention in the beginning on how I got hooked in the Sly series.
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