So for whatever reason I've been on a pseudo-retro trip and have been digging into the old PS2 archives. I found the first Sly Cooper game and threw it in the old clunker (there are 3 games in the series).
You know, sometimes it surprises me when you put in a slightly older game and see it just getting shit RIGHT. Sure the game aint perfect, but it has elements that it does better than a whole lot of games today.
The main element I love ? It's a platformer, and every level has optional collectibles in the form of messages in bottles. Collect them all and you can open a safe that is also hidden somewhere on the level, which gives you a new ability or an upgrade to an old one. This may not sound like monumental stuff, but for a 10 year old game, it's pretty good. Not only are there optional collectibles for magpies like me who like to search all the nooks and crannies of the levels, but there's a real, tangible reward to doing so in the form of abilities that can make other parts of the game easier.
The design is great, the balance of the gameplay is great. The combat is fairly simple, throwing far more emphasis on the platforming, which is tight. There are 'gimmick' levels such as turret shooting or vehicle driving or whatever that serves to mix up the action now and then. The game gets slowly more complex and difficlut on a veyr reasonable learning curve.
Seriously, this game, old or not, just gets it right.
Subject: Sly Cooper is a game 
Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:44 am
