Mr Durand Pierre
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Note: I already reviewed Sly 2. That review is a longer, more complete analysis of the Sly games. This is merely a short discussion on how Sly 3 stacks up to Sly 2.
I claimed several months back that sly 2 is the best game I've played for the PS2. That being said, Sly 3 had a lot to live up to. So did it succeed? Read on to find out...
In many ways Sly 3 is very similar to Sly 2. You've still got the large hub system, and wide assortment of mini-games (made even wider this time around). So I'll skip the similarities, and jump straight to the differences.
My biggest (and in many ways, only) problem with Sly 2 was its lack of replay value. You couldn't go back and replay jobs, there was no hard mode, you couldn't even replay whole missions. All that has been remedied this time around. You can go back and play all the missions again, and while there's no "hard mode" there are master thief challenges, which are often timed versions of earlier missions, or snippets of earlier missions with less health. They're often a little too simplistic, but great if you wanted more of a particular mini-game with some more challenge thrown in. In many ways, its replay value is the biggest improvement in Sly 3 over its predecessor.
However, there are some new problems. One of my biggest complaints (because it would have been oh so easy to fix) is the inability to skip cutsenes. The earlier Sly games were like that too, but because they were so linear you never had to watch the same scene twice. But replaying levels and being forced to endure the same cutscenes over again is just tedious. That being said, I'd prefer having the option of replaying levels with cutscenes over not being able to replay them at all.
Another improvement in Sly 3 is the boss fights. I liked the fights in Sly 2 just fine, but these are more varied and creative. My favorite fight was midway through chapter 4 in an homage to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It looks good, it plays good, and is all around inventive.
But to counterbalance that, the bad news is that the game is simply too easy. This can make the game more addicting, but also equate to too short of a ride.
And the other main difference between the games is that Sly 3 has more characters and mini-games. Sadly, most of my favorite games where already there in Sly 2, but there are some interesting new additions like Bentley's new grapple-cam. The new characters are also a pretty mixed bag. None of them are in it all that much, and while they're all alright, none of them come close to being as fun to play as as Sly or Bentley. My least favorite mini-game was an extended sailing sequence, where you'll have to duke it out on a pirate ship. The sailing is more along the lines of an RPG (with an overhead view, and running into enemies to go into battle), and the actual combat I found to be horribly boring due to the fact that you can only turn your ship, but not move it forward. As a result, these scenes contain far too much waiting. I know the critics from IGN and Gamespy absolutely loved the pirate segments, but I couldn't disagree more. Overall, I'd say that it is the most hit-and-miss of the Sly games, but its general quality is still very high.
In other news, I found the writing to be an overall improvement in the series. I laughed more than I had at any of the other Sly games (though they're all pretty funny), and the characters have been around long enough that they've actually developed and gotten a lot more complex. The story never takes itself too seriously, but a lot of the humor and dialogue (especially revolving around Bentley) is really clever and unexpected in this type of game.
Oh yeah, I feel that I should make a quick mention of the much hyped 3-D feature in the game; it sucks. Pure and simple. However, much like the multi-player in Metroid Prime 2, you can completely ignore its existence, so it's not really hurting anything. Just don't be expecting much from it.
I haven't yet had a chance to try multi-player, but it's not a game made for multi-player and I'm sure that no one would buy it just for that. It seems like more of a bonus feature than anything.
So what's the verdict? Is it better than Sly 2? I'd say that for every step it takes forward it takes another one back, so in many ways they are equals, but since Sly 2 came out a year earlier, and is a much cheaper game, I'd say that it wins by a hair. Still, if you're a Sly fan even if it just more of the same, that's never a bad thing.
Pros:
+You can replay earlier missions
+More creative boss fights
+More variety in gameplay
Cons:
-Cutscenes are unskippable.
-Not enough challenge
-Some mini-games aren't up to the high standards of Sly 2. Notably the lengthy pirate sequence.
Overall 9.0 (out of 10).
I claimed several months back that sly 2 is the best game I've played for the PS2. That being said, Sly 3 had a lot to live up to. So did it succeed? Read on to find out...
In many ways Sly 3 is very similar to Sly 2. You've still got the large hub system, and wide assortment of mini-games (made even wider this time around). So I'll skip the similarities, and jump straight to the differences.
My biggest (and in many ways, only) problem with Sly 2 was its lack of replay value. You couldn't go back and replay jobs, there was no hard mode, you couldn't even replay whole missions. All that has been remedied this time around. You can go back and play all the missions again, and while there's no "hard mode" there are master thief challenges, which are often timed versions of earlier missions, or snippets of earlier missions with less health. They're often a little too simplistic, but great if you wanted more of a particular mini-game with some more challenge thrown in. In many ways, its replay value is the biggest improvement in Sly 3 over its predecessor.
However, there are some new problems. One of my biggest complaints (because it would have been oh so easy to fix) is the inability to skip cutsenes. The earlier Sly games were like that too, but because they were so linear you never had to watch the same scene twice. But replaying levels and being forced to endure the same cutscenes over again is just tedious. That being said, I'd prefer having the option of replaying levels with cutscenes over not being able to replay them at all.
Another improvement in Sly 3 is the boss fights. I liked the fights in Sly 2 just fine, but these are more varied and creative. My favorite fight was midway through chapter 4 in an homage to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It looks good, it plays good, and is all around inventive.
But to counterbalance that, the bad news is that the game is simply too easy. This can make the game more addicting, but also equate to too short of a ride.
And the other main difference between the games is that Sly 3 has more characters and mini-games. Sadly, most of my favorite games where already there in Sly 2, but there are some interesting new additions like Bentley's new grapple-cam. The new characters are also a pretty mixed bag. None of them are in it all that much, and while they're all alright, none of them come close to being as fun to play as as Sly or Bentley. My least favorite mini-game was an extended sailing sequence, where you'll have to duke it out on a pirate ship. The sailing is more along the lines of an RPG (with an overhead view, and running into enemies to go into battle), and the actual combat I found to be horribly boring due to the fact that you can only turn your ship, but not move it forward. As a result, these scenes contain far too much waiting. I know the critics from IGN and Gamespy absolutely loved the pirate segments, but I couldn't disagree more. Overall, I'd say that it is the most hit-and-miss of the Sly games, but its general quality is still very high.
In other news, I found the writing to be an overall improvement in the series. I laughed more than I had at any of the other Sly games (though they're all pretty funny), and the characters have been around long enough that they've actually developed and gotten a lot more complex. The story never takes itself too seriously, but a lot of the humor and dialogue (especially revolving around Bentley) is really clever and unexpected in this type of game.
Oh yeah, I feel that I should make a quick mention of the much hyped 3-D feature in the game; it sucks. Pure and simple. However, much like the multi-player in Metroid Prime 2, you can completely ignore its existence, so it's not really hurting anything. Just don't be expecting much from it.
I haven't yet had a chance to try multi-player, but it's not a game made for multi-player and I'm sure that no one would buy it just for that. It seems like more of a bonus feature than anything.
So what's the verdict? Is it better than Sly 2? I'd say that for every step it takes forward it takes another one back, so in many ways they are equals, but since Sly 2 came out a year earlier, and is a much cheaper game, I'd say that it wins by a hair. Still, if you're a Sly fan even if it just more of the same, that's never a bad thing.
Pros:
+You can replay earlier missions
+More creative boss fights
+More variety in gameplay
Cons:
-Cutscenes are unskippable.
-Not enough challenge
-Some mini-games aren't up to the high standards of Sly 2. Notably the lengthy pirate sequence.
Overall 9.0 (out of 10).
