Agent X
Member
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves has arrived in stores!
I got my copy yesterday, and have probably invested a little over an hour of gameplay so far. From what I've seen so far, the game plays very much like Sly 2: Band of Thieves with its large cities to explore and goal-oriented missions to complete, rather than the straightforward classic platforming of the original Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. I happen to like both styles of platformer, though the first game probably stood out more as it's one of the few good examples of a traditional old-school platformer in 3D that we've seen in the last few years.
So far I've played as Sly, Bentley, and Carmelita (not had the opportunity to play as Murray yet). I haven't checked out ThiefNet yet, so I have no extra moves.
From the beginning of this game, Sly plays almost exactly like he does at the beginning of Sly 2. You have a few tricks at your disposal like the spire jump, rope walking, hook jumps, and pickpocketing, but most of the other cool moves are gone (at least for now--I'm sure most of them are available as upgrades from ThiefNet like they were in the last game).
Bentley now zips around in his custom gadget-equipped wheelchair. He can still plant bombs and shoot sleeping darts from his wheelchair (while using the binocucom). He also has a new trick from the get-go, which is a magnet on a fishing pole that he can use to steal loot from guards by latching onto the goodie and pulling back to yank it out of his pocket.
I only played as Carmelita in one mission, but it was a run-and-gun deal which reminded me somewhat of the Ratchet & Clank games. She even has a control scheme similar to the "lock-strafe" style from Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and can instantly switch between that and traditional third-person platform controls with a quick press of the Triangle button.
I did encounter one mission that allows you to play using 3D glasses. The 3D glasses are completely optional. The effect was OK, but not the best I've seen of this type. The manual suggests adjusting color and hue to enhance the effect; I'll probably try that next time. By the way, the glasses are in the manual itself, and you have to tear them out if you want to use them. If you're a collector who prides himself on keeping as much of the product intact as possible, then you might want to keep that in mind. I was fortunate enough to have a set that came with the E3 demo, although the ones in the manual look somewhat different in style (but have the same colored lenses).
One problem I've encountered is that the USB headset functionality doesn't seem to be working. This was present in Sly 2, so that all the radio chatter from your teammates would be piped through the earpiece of the headset rather than the TV speakers (but all other sounds and voices would still come from the speaker). Even though it's only a minor feature, I still enjoyed having it in Sly 2, as it heightened the immersion into the game world. It really felt like I was receiving radio intelligence from a talking turtle!
The option is present in Sly 3, but no matter if I have it enabled or disabled, the radio communications still come from the TV speakers, so there's apparently a bug in the game. I'd like to know if anyone else who has Sly 3 has tried this, and if so, if it's working for you. It's not a dealbreaker if it isn't present, but it would be fun to have.
The artwork and animation are excellent, just as they were in the previous two games. I noticed some nice shadow effects from the characters, which I don't recall seeing in the other two games. The characters cast realistic shadows, which you can see against illuminated walls. I'm not sure if these shadows were in the previous games, but they look good here. The music is good, and the voice acting and character dialogue are excellent and just as appealing as in the earlier games (though Carmelita's voice actress is different, as at least one review noted already).
Let's hear what others have to say about this great game!
I got my copy yesterday, and have probably invested a little over an hour of gameplay so far. From what I've seen so far, the game plays very much like Sly 2: Band of Thieves with its large cities to explore and goal-oriented missions to complete, rather than the straightforward classic platforming of the original Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. I happen to like both styles of platformer, though the first game probably stood out more as it's one of the few good examples of a traditional old-school platformer in 3D that we've seen in the last few years.
So far I've played as Sly, Bentley, and Carmelita (not had the opportunity to play as Murray yet). I haven't checked out ThiefNet yet, so I have no extra moves.
From the beginning of this game, Sly plays almost exactly like he does at the beginning of Sly 2. You have a few tricks at your disposal like the spire jump, rope walking, hook jumps, and pickpocketing, but most of the other cool moves are gone (at least for now--I'm sure most of them are available as upgrades from ThiefNet like they were in the last game).
Bentley now zips around in his custom gadget-equipped wheelchair. He can still plant bombs and shoot sleeping darts from his wheelchair (while using the binocucom). He also has a new trick from the get-go, which is a magnet on a fishing pole that he can use to steal loot from guards by latching onto the goodie and pulling back to yank it out of his pocket.
I only played as Carmelita in one mission, but it was a run-and-gun deal which reminded me somewhat of the Ratchet & Clank games. She even has a control scheme similar to the "lock-strafe" style from Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and can instantly switch between that and traditional third-person platform controls with a quick press of the Triangle button.
I did encounter one mission that allows you to play using 3D glasses. The 3D glasses are completely optional. The effect was OK, but not the best I've seen of this type. The manual suggests adjusting color and hue to enhance the effect; I'll probably try that next time. By the way, the glasses are in the manual itself, and you have to tear them out if you want to use them. If you're a collector who prides himself on keeping as much of the product intact as possible, then you might want to keep that in mind. I was fortunate enough to have a set that came with the E3 demo, although the ones in the manual look somewhat different in style (but have the same colored lenses).
One problem I've encountered is that the USB headset functionality doesn't seem to be working. This was present in Sly 2, so that all the radio chatter from your teammates would be piped through the earpiece of the headset rather than the TV speakers (but all other sounds and voices would still come from the speaker). Even though it's only a minor feature, I still enjoyed having it in Sly 2, as it heightened the immersion into the game world. It really felt like I was receiving radio intelligence from a talking turtle!
The option is present in Sly 3, but no matter if I have it enabled or disabled, the radio communications still come from the TV speakers, so there's apparently a bug in the game. I'd like to know if anyone else who has Sly 3 has tried this, and if so, if it's working for you. It's not a dealbreaker if it isn't present, but it would be fun to have.The artwork and animation are excellent, just as they were in the previous two games. I noticed some nice shadow effects from the characters, which I don't recall seeing in the other two games. The characters cast realistic shadows, which you can see against illuminated walls. I'm not sure if these shadows were in the previous games, but they look good here. The music is good, and the voice acting and character dialogue are excellent and just as appealing as in the earlier games (though Carmelita's voice actress is different, as at least one review noted already).
Let's hear what others have to say about this great game!
