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Sly Racoon Review
Chris Leyton
13/01/2003
We take a look at Sly Racoon, the latest platform title to arrive on the Playstation2...
The Playstation2 is rapidly becoming the format of choice when it comes to 3D platformers; Jax & Daxter set the rule-book for others to follow and since then weāve had the equally impressive Ratchet & Clank. 2003 is set to continue where 2002 left off, with the release of Sly Racoon and Ape Escape 2.
Sly Cooper is the first next-generation title from Sucker Punch, the development team who previously gave us the excellent ROCKET: Robots on Wheels; chances are most people would have missed out on this gem.
From the opening moments where the game moves seamlessly into the actual game without a menu or font-end in sight, you know this is going to be a slick and highly polished experience. Players take the role of the titular Sly Cooper; the latest in a famous line of thieving racoons. Through the years Slyās family have collected everything they know about stealing into the Thievius Racoonus ā“ a family heirloom thatās stolen when Sly is just a pup. Itās up to you and the help of your two friends ā“ Bentley the brainy turtle and Murray the clumsy hippo ā“ to find out who stole the book and steal it back for yourself.
Using cell-shaded visuals to wonderful effect, Sly Cooper draws inspiration from numerous sources; itās narrative is akin to a detective story, itās scripting like that of a graphic novel, the gameplay closely parodies Metal Gear Solid to comical effect. Although itās fundamentally a 3D platformer with the standard collect items strategy, Sly Cooper introduces a number of new ideas to the cookbook; for starters levels are scattered with spotlights and wonderfully designed enemies with torches and weapons. Being caught in a spotlight will put the game into panic mode, as the music kicks in and touching one more results in instant death. Moving the emphasis from combat or exploration to a stealth-based approach, gives the game a refreshing feel thatās sorely needed if a platform game is going to survive. Further Metal Gear Solid ties are immediately evident; progress through the game is told via communications that closely resemble the codec transmissions from Kojimaās title, right up to being allowed to move the faces around with the analogue sticks!
Each level features a certain amount of bottles, collecting all of these allows you to open the safe thatās featured on each level, which grant Sly new moves, information and assistance. Fortunately the game design means that collecting these isnāt crucial to progress through the game, however youāll find that these feature rewards those with perseverance, whilst it also adds surprisingly to the overall experience.
Controlling Sly Cooper is an absolute dream, Sucker Punch has nailed the controls to near perfection, resulting in a game that rewards immeasurably and rarely frustrates. Initially Sly controls as youād expect, with dual analogue controls to move Sly and the camera, along with the standard jump and attacks mapped to the face buttons. However being a thief and a racoon means that Sly is slightly more agile character then most, a range of special stealth moves are available by pressing the O button whenever blue lights are shown; these allow you to sneak behind walls, crouch around corners and have access to a range of āstealthā moves that not only help you in your quest but also look damn cool as well.
Arguably the greatest pull of Sly Cooper is the excellent level design, most of the levels mix it up by featuring a range of excellent mini-games that deter the overall experience from getting stale; everything from a Smash TV inspired shooting game with crabs to clearing a path for Murray in an excellent scene are here.
Unfortunately there is one major stumbling block; the game is too short and the average gamer will have it licked in no time at all. Five different worlds each contain seven levels and a boss encounter at the end of each of these; however because of the design itās entirely possible to go straight through the game in about 10 hours! To be fair you can go back to collect everything youāve missed in order to open up new moves and time challenges, but this canāt stop the twang of disappointment when it all comes to an end.
As you can see from the various screens, Sly Cooper is an absolute gorgeous title to look at. The cell-shaded visuals certainly stand out, however itās the quality of the artists that bring ever level to life with staggering results; the animation on Sly is quite frankly second to none, and plays a large reason in why the character has become so likeable (crucial to a platformers success). Unfortunately a number of levels featured severe slowdown problems, and camera nuisances caused a few problems but didnāt affect the overall experience.
Music is also used to great effect in Sly Cooper, dynamically building up to create tension or slowing down when itās all clear. Listen out for when you activate your stealth moves, as ascending tones fit perfectly to your tip-toe moments. Voice acting is a good example of how videogames should do it properly; Sly plays the perfect Tom Cruise role, whilst Bentley as the biggest geek in the world and Murray the dumb but affectionate hippo steal the show.
