Adam Sessler of Rev3Games gives his review of Sanzaru Games' recently released Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.
"The idea of Sly Cooper and friends returning is a fine one, but with this outing does nothing to make the case, and it dilutes a solid formula with distractions, bringing nothing new or lasting."
After Sly Cooper Thieves in Time was released on PS3 in 2013, Sanzaru Games has not had the chance to revisit the raccoon and his gang.
Is it law that every Sly game from Sly 2 onwards end on a massive cliffhanger? I wouldn’t be as anxious for a Sly 5 if they just gave Sly 4 a succinct ending.
On another note we still have yet to hear anything about how that Sly Cooper television series is coming along.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Lead Designer talks about his passion for the project, how they would love to return the world of Sly Cooper, and how the first episode of the DLC is completely written.
Incoming unpopular opinion!
I thought Thieves in Time was decent, but a bit of a letdown to be honest. Sly 3 ended perfectly, giving a conclusion of sorts for the main 3 characters while still leaving a little room for imagination, and had some of the best moments from the entire series, (The fight with General Tsao, anyone?) then Thieves in Time comes along with its lame villain, destroys Penelope's character, (I legitimately thought she was being brainwashed or something. Plus, why the boss fight in that crappy little mech suit when she's a master combatant and tech wiz?) and logic that makes no sense even in a cartoon world, such as Sly purposely being sent to prison so he can break out by... Throwing the one ton iron ball he's chained to to break through the wall? When he's never showed this type of strength before, and never displays a similar feat ever again? Plus I thought the levels were better designed in earlier games, and the cast of controllable characters in 3 was much more diverse and interesting. Sucker Punch were the true masters of this series.
VGChartz's Adam Cartwright: "The stealth genre is one that some would argue doesn’t even exist – many titles include stealth elements, but actually fit into one of a number of other genres like action, platformer, or third-person shooter. Ever since the breakout success of the Metal Gear franchise (in particular Metal Gear Solid), though, the genre seems on much more stable footing and it demonstrated that you can have a veritable blockbuster on your hands relying only on stealth mechanics as the main gameplay element.
In recent years we’ve seen other things like Assassin’s Creed, Hitman and Splinter Cell continue to push the genre forward, although it still has somewhat limited appeal. Thankfully, the Vita has a healthy selection of stealth games available (and even more with backwards-compatibility), meaning if you’re looking to do some sneaking on the go then you’ll be well served with the console."
I'd like to note that Adam's a HUGE Sly fan (which he mentions in the review). If anyone was going to give Thieves in Time perfect marks, it was him.
That being said, I'm still buying the game. The last great platformer to come out for PS3 was Rayman Origins, and that was over a year ago. My platformer itch needs to be scratched, and at $40 it's an easy investment to make.
"...but this outing does nothing to make the case, and it dilutes a solid formula with distractions, bringing nothing new or lasting..."
This quote also applies to quite a few games he's given high/near perfect/perfect scores to, as well. He can say what he will about being fan but he's being a hypocrite with statements like that.
From what im seeing on twitch streams about the game it is far better then the 4 he gave it. 4 in my book is when a game has problems that makes it almost unplayable. Sly 4 is not such a game.
Why give so much attention to the low scores and pay no attention to the high ones?
Who cares what it got, atleast were finally getting a sequel after all these years, from what ive seen its amazing