In the PS2-era, mascot platformers were a dime a dozen, easily one of the most represented genres of the platform. As a result, each of them, even the big three of Jak, Ratchet, and Sly had to find ways to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack after their first outings.
We saw Ratchet doubled-down on its third-person shooting, adding elements like strafing and character/weapon progression to refine the gunplay that was more of a secondary element of their original game. As for Sly Cooper, let us delve into the second entry to discover how our favorite raccoon thief set himself apart.
Since the protagonist and his friends are all master thieves, it made sense for Sucker Punch to double down on that aspect of the character when giving the series its own flair. All of the changes made to the formula in Band of Thieves help bring the game closer in line with that vision, turning each chapter of the game’s 8-chapter narrative into an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist movie, hybridized with a comic book.
When you explore a large open area, performing missions and tasks inside that world, you start to get familiar with it, learning how to best navigate it. It’s akin to “casing the joint” before we commit to the heist.
With Bentley and Murray in the field, we have the feeling of multiple talented outlaws, each with their own unique skills, coming together to perform jobs none of them could pull off on their own. We see them set up the heist by performing jobs to slowly whittle away at the security of the seemingly impregnable locales.
Giving us extra health allows us to enter combat and experience the consequences of getting detected without instantly killing us. We can either formulate an escape plan or take out the guards before they summon their friends.
It works well and gives the franchise a flavor completely unique to its own.
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