samskivert: Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus – PS2 (4)

03 December 2002

What a gorgeous game! By the time you’re done gaping at the exquisitely realized cartoon rendition of a Parisian roofscape, you discover that you’re already playing the game, having a great time and that the opening credits aren’t even finished. On top of that, the writing and voice acting are worthy of the cinematic feel the created by the design. The game play struggles to hold its own in such exalted company, but it is by no means lacking. It delivers intuitive, evolving controls and nicely woven, reasonably diverse levels. One might complain that the game is a bit short, but I think that Sucker Punch made the right decision in choosing quality over quantity. I would much prefer the game they delivered over a longer, less brilliantly realized version. The only suggestion I might offer is that the option to play through the game at a higher difficulty would have been nice. It felt almost a crime to whiz through some of those beautifully designed levels.

©1999–2022 Michael Bayne