SLY 2: BAND OF THIEVES (2004) REVIEW

Worth bringing the band back together?

Playstation 2 exclusive.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves is an stealth platformer published by Sony and developed by Sucker Punch for the Playstation 2, Playstation 3 and Vita.

This review has some spoilers!

GAMEPLAY

Still fluid and responsive, perhaps less in your face and more about taking your time though. Some great innovations are made though, such as the parachute, which really does change up the gameplay for the better. The introduction of Bentley and Murray as playable characters is interesting, even though Sly is still by far the most fun to play. I hope the sequel retains just the three and doesn’t go crazy.

A couple of bugs are still there, although they are actually different to last time. The final boss isn’t very good, sadly, especially when compared to the finale of the first game. Bottles are more frustrating than the first game. Master Thief Sprints are gone, which is great, but so is any bonus content. They removed the maps and Sly can’t hit safes anymore (why?).

I would probably have given this game a higher rating if there had been fewer turret sections, as one is already pushing it with me, let alone the obsession this game seems to have with them. But I'd had so much fun with it I was ready to ignore those flaws and give it a great rating, that was unless they botched the final boss fight, but all the ones so far and the final one in the prevoius games had been good, so why should I have worried? Well, imagine my disappointment to find that the final boss was one big turret section. Pretty much a badly done version of a similar fight from the first game. Such a shame.

STORY

A surprisingly good story, with twists and turns, numerous betrayals and an overall healthily expanded scope from the original game’s more simplistic story, however a few loose ends are left dangling (What happened to Murray and Bentley). I'd just like to give a special mention to the main villain too, as they were such a love to hate character, for the right reasons, and were easily the best villain I've seen in a platformer like this, along with one of the best stories too.

GRAPHICS

The same as the first game really, although perhaps not as stunning now that the PS2 has been out for a few years.

SOUND

Voice actors and SFX are all good and the music has improved from the poor soundtrack of the first game. The dance theme from the first episode was great, but the soundtrack didn’t stand out too much, it’s still a large improvement from the original however.

VALUE FOR MONEY

It can be played by anyone of any age and offers around 15 hours, depending on how you play

OVERALL

Sly 2 improves upon its predecessor in many ways, with a longer adventure, a story with twists and turns, more ways to tackle levels and a slightly better soundtrack. However, for some reason there are even more turret levels, the final boss fight is a large downgrade in comparison to the previous finale, and somehow the game seems to have lost some magic touch that the first gave off. The game is absolutely still worth your time, but expect a transition from a series that focused on platforming with stealth elements, to becoming a real fusion of the two.