Review: "Sly Cooper and the Thevius Racoonus" (PS2)

Information

Title

Sly Cooper and the Thevius Racoonus

Published by

Sony Computer Entertainment America

Developed by

Sucker Punch

Platform

Playstation 2

Rating

E for mild violence

Genre

Stealth/Platformer

Plot

Sly Cooper and his gang are trying to recover the stolen pages of the Thevius Racoonus, an heirloom of Sly's family for many generations.

High Point

You run around and steal stuff, sneakily.

Low Point

A bit hard and repetative, suffering from some of the earlier platform game problems (fixed number of hits 'til you die).

Context

I actually beat the sequel to this first, though I started playing this when it first came out. I decided to go back and finish this so as to better compare the sequel.

Scores

Story — Basic (4/10)

The plot isn't really a big issue in this game, I was able to come back to the game after a yea of not playing it and not miss a beat. The plot really serves as motivation for the capers, but doesn't extend beyond that.

Originality — Splendid (8/10)

A new direction for the platform genre to go in and a new take on the stealth game. I can't think of too many games where you play the thief.

Graphics — Cartoony Goodness (8/10)

The game uses cell-shaded graphics with cartoon-ish characters to create a wonderful cartoon feel. In addition, the cut-scenes are just barely animated like you could easily achieve with Flash animation, though this simply adds to them, rather than detract.

Production — Good (7/10)

Everything seemed wel polished, though the check-points were a bit on the frustrating side during at least one boss battle. I'm not sure why they had lives since you could always continue after you ran out.

Difficulty — Medium-Hard (7/10)

Mostly easy yet chllenging, but there were a few spots that were more difficult.

Violence — Cartoon (2/10)

No more violent than Super Mario Bros. was.

Overall — Sneaky Fun (7/10)

I really enjoyed sneaking around stealing things. I think it's more fun than most stealth games aas they try to be too serious.