Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Sucker Punch delivers one of the best platformers ever made. Do NOT miss this one.
Published: October 27, 2002
Unbe-frickin-lievable. I mean, how in the hell is it even possible, let enough conceivable? How is it that a group of guys that have one game -- one single, solitary effort -- under their belt can craft something so dangerously close to perfection that it's making my head hurt just trying not to piece it all together?
If you're reading this review hoping it will sway you towards picking up a copy of the game, don't even read another paragraph. Just stop reading right now, turn off your computer, scoop up your car keys (or the nearest car keys you can find), and haul butt as fast as the law will allow to the nearest games store and pick up a copy. Hell, you know what? Buy two and then have a friend pay you back when you invite them over to gaze with awe at what the folks at Sucker Punch have birthed.
Sly Cooper is, without a doubt, one of the best platformers ever made. So far as I can see it, the game has only two things preventing it from getting a perfect score. Two; 1) the fact that it's just a bit too short and 2) that the PS2 sometimes has a little trouble keeping up with what the engine's trying to toss at it. That's it. Everything else, from the level designs to the perfect control to the presentation is absolutely, positively as good as anything you'll find on the PS2, and likely any system in recent memory. This is exactly what a platformer is supposed to be.
It's likely that you're not all that jazzed on Sly, or have even heard too much about it. Sony has seemed rather content to just let the gaming press do most of the promoting, and so unless you were actively seeking out the game, you probably know little about it. Luckily, it should be nice and easy to bring you up to speed.
See, Sly's a thief, or more properly a raccoon thief, who comes from a long line of master thieves that steal only from the bad guys. All of their thieving knowledge is stored in a book called the Thievius Raccoonus. Now, just when Sly was ready to inherit the book (thereby learning all there is to know about becoming a master thief), five villains broke into his home, axed his dad and took off with the book, leaving Sly an orphan and with only his thieving skills learned thus far.
The story isn't especially original, granted, but then most platformers' stories aren't easily confused with an RPG's. In any event, it serves as an interesting backdrop with which to introduce new moves and characters, but isn't a crutch for the game to lean on for lack of good game design.
Sly Cooper is probably some of the best game design I've ever seen, in fact. Most of the game unfolds with classic platforming elements, but every once in a while, there's a little mini-game-style event that mixes things up. Once per world, you're also introduced to a scripted chase sequence between Sly and his main love/hate interest, Carmelita Fox. The dashes to safety - from a rooftop scramble to a snowy mountain peak traverse - are so fun it's a literal shame when they finally come to an end. The pacing and the way these levels are laid out are reason enough to own the game.
For the more straightforward parts of the game, you're tasked with a simple point a to point b jaunt in a search for a key at the end of the level. The keys are used to unlock subsequent parts of the particular domain for each boss and serve as the crux of the game's presentation. Scattered throughout each level are a number of clues, which, if found, will unlock a safe that contains a loose page of the Thievious Raccoonus, which will teach you a new move.
Make no mistake, though, this is hardly a fetch quest. The new moves directly affect the difficulty of the game, making boss battles and even just normal levels markedly easier to finish. Should you get both the key and the page, you'll unlock a time attack mode where you race the clock to finish the level before time runs out. If you can do it, you unlock a DVD-style developer commentary track for the level. By shifting the focus off of exploration and onto finding the quickest route through a level, each level gets a breath of fresh air, and yet another example of how tight the level designs really are. It's a wonderfully original idea that I hope makes it into more games like this.
The thing that holds the game together more than anything else, the thing that keeps it feeling so incredibly polished and tight is the way Sly controls. For lack of a better description, it just feels inherently right. Sly's agile, delightfully quick, and controls so perfectly that I never once came across an instance where I died because of something the game did, just something I didn't react to in time. There's no cheap deaths here and it's an absolute joy to play.
Of course, Sly is as much fun to look at as he is to control. Sly Cooper has been described as a cel-shaded game, but that's not really accurate. Sly and the characters in the game are surrounded by thick lines, but they are cel shaded per se, merely highlighted. The rest of the world is doused in an almost surreal, oil paint look that is a marvel to behold. Straight angles have apparently been banished from Sly's world, and the result is levels that are teeming with an organic, artistic vibe. Even the way all the enemies move seems more like an intricate dance than a simple set of canned animations. Sly in particular looks fantastic, especially his tail, which twitches in spastic little darts whenever you stop to take in the sights.
Of course, heaping all this organic detail on, especially when coupled with an astonishingly diverse library of textures and an innumerable number of lighting and atmospheric effects comes at a price: the framerate. Early in the game, everything trots along at a creamy smooth pace, but as you inch your way deeper into the game, things start to choke. Haiti in particular just heaps on too much for the PS2 to take in all at once, and while it certainly looks pretty, there's plenty of instances of an actual drop in resolution, leaving the screen a mess of jaggies and odd-looking, almost artifacted visuals. It doesn't happen for long stretches, but it happens often enough to make it jarring.
Sly's audio, however, is anything but jarring. Across each of the levels, there's a different aural backdrop, and since the game is primarily concerned with sneaking, the tempo and music actually shifts whenever Sly is spotted. It's a cool little kick to things, but as soon as the action is over, it seamlessly drifts back into the more subdued soundtrack. The voice acting is also slick, though doubtlessly people will find the Bently character to be more than annoying. I didn't mind it, but I'm sure there are plenty of people that don't need a nasally, geeky squawk in their ears every couple minutes.
Look, I've gushed long enough. Here's the bottom line: Sly is an unequivocal blast. The framerate chokes, I wish to God it was about twice as long (I unlocked everything in just over eight hours), but everything else about the game is quite literally perfect. Get it now or don't call yourself a PS2 owner.
If you're reading this review hoping it will sway you towards picking up a copy of the game, don't even read another paragraph. Just stop reading right now, turn off your computer, scoop up your car keys (or the nearest car keys you can find), and haul butt as fast as the law will allow to the nearest games store and pick up a copy. Hell, you know what? Buy two and then have a friend pay you back when you invite them over to gaze with awe at what the folks at Sucker Punch have birthed.
Sly Cooper is, without a doubt, one of the best platformers ever made. So far as I can see it, the game has only two things preventing it from getting a perfect score. Two; 1) the fact that it's just a bit too short and 2) that the PS2 sometimes has a little trouble keeping up with what the engine's trying to toss at it. That's it. Everything else, from the level designs to the perfect control to the presentation is absolutely, positively as good as anything you'll find on the PS2, and likely any system in recent memory. This is exactly what a platformer is supposed to be.
It's likely that you're not all that jazzed on Sly, or have even heard too much about it. Sony has seemed rather content to just let the gaming press do most of the promoting, and so unless you were actively seeking out the game, you probably know little about it. Luckily, it should be nice and easy to bring you up to speed.
See, Sly's a thief, or more properly a raccoon thief, who comes from a long line of master thieves that steal only from the bad guys. All of their thieving knowledge is stored in a book called the Thievius Raccoonus. Now, just when Sly was ready to inherit the book (thereby learning all there is to know about becoming a master thief), five villains broke into his home, axed his dad and took off with the book, leaving Sly an orphan and with only his thieving skills learned thus far.
The story isn't especially original, granted, but then most platformers' stories aren't easily confused with an RPG's. In any event, it serves as an interesting backdrop with which to introduce new moves and characters, but isn't a crutch for the game to lean on for lack of good game design.
Sly Cooper is probably some of the best game design I've ever seen, in fact. Most of the game unfolds with classic platforming elements, but every once in a while, there's a little mini-game-style event that mixes things up. Once per world, you're also introduced to a scripted chase sequence between Sly and his main love/hate interest, Carmelita Fox. The dashes to safety - from a rooftop scramble to a snowy mountain peak traverse - are so fun it's a literal shame when they finally come to an end. The pacing and the way these levels are laid out are reason enough to own the game.
For the more straightforward parts of the game, you're tasked with a simple point a to point b jaunt in a search for a key at the end of the level. The keys are used to unlock subsequent parts of the particular domain for each boss and serve as the crux of the game's presentation. Scattered throughout each level are a number of clues, which, if found, will unlock a safe that contains a loose page of the Thievious Raccoonus, which will teach you a new move.
Make no mistake, though, this is hardly a fetch quest. The new moves directly affect the difficulty of the game, making boss battles and even just normal levels markedly easier to finish. Should you get both the key and the page, you'll unlock a time attack mode where you race the clock to finish the level before time runs out. If you can do it, you unlock a DVD-style developer commentary track for the level. By shifting the focus off of exploration and onto finding the quickest route through a level, each level gets a breath of fresh air, and yet another example of how tight the level designs really are. It's a wonderfully original idea that I hope makes it into more games like this.
The thing that holds the game together more than anything else, the thing that keeps it feeling so incredibly polished and tight is the way Sly controls. For lack of a better description, it just feels inherently right. Sly's agile, delightfully quick, and controls so perfectly that I never once came across an instance where I died because of something the game did, just something I didn't react to in time. There's no cheap deaths here and it's an absolute joy to play.
Of course, Sly is as much fun to look at as he is to control. Sly Cooper has been described as a cel-shaded game, but that's not really accurate. Sly and the characters in the game are surrounded by thick lines, but they are cel shaded per se, merely highlighted. The rest of the world is doused in an almost surreal, oil paint look that is a marvel to behold. Straight angles have apparently been banished from Sly's world, and the result is levels that are teeming with an organic, artistic vibe. Even the way all the enemies move seems more like an intricate dance than a simple set of canned animations. Sly in particular looks fantastic, especially his tail, which twitches in spastic little darts whenever you stop to take in the sights.
Of course, heaping all this organic detail on, especially when coupled with an astonishingly diverse library of textures and an innumerable number of lighting and atmospheric effects comes at a price: the framerate. Early in the game, everything trots along at a creamy smooth pace, but as you inch your way deeper into the game, things start to choke. Haiti in particular just heaps on too much for the PS2 to take in all at once, and while it certainly looks pretty, there's plenty of instances of an actual drop in resolution, leaving the screen a mess of jaggies and odd-looking, almost artifacted visuals. It doesn't happen for long stretches, but it happens often enough to make it jarring.
Sly's audio, however, is anything but jarring. Across each of the levels, there's a different aural backdrop, and since the game is primarily concerned with sneaking, the tempo and music actually shifts whenever Sly is spotted. It's a cool little kick to things, but as soon as the action is over, it seamlessly drifts back into the more subdued soundtrack. The voice acting is also slick, though doubtlessly people will find the Bently character to be more than annoying. I didn't mind it, but I'm sure there are plenty of people that don't need a nasally, geeky squawk in their ears every couple minutes.
Look, I've gushed long enough. Here's the bottom line: Sly is an unequivocal blast. The framerate chokes, I wish to God it was about twice as long (I unlocked everything in just over eight hours), but everything else about the game is quite literally perfect. Get it now or don't call yourself a PS2 owner.
