Previously we took a look at Sly 1 and what was so special that it managed to kick off an entire franchise and sequels that would be released for a decade after. Today we’re looking at how the series grew from its first adaptation and how they turned a fantastic one off platforming game into a refined piece of perfection that we all know and love as Sly 2 Band of Thieves.
Sly 2 Band of Thieves was released in September 2004 just a week short of two years after The Thievius Raccoonus. The refinement from the first game was noticeable almost immediately as similar to its predecessor it starts with a prologue than you get thrown into from the title screen, however the animation is significantly better and detailed likely due to a bigger budget from the first games success. Immediately you can see that Sly now has a health bar, telling the player it’s no longer a one and done death and you get to see Sly’s companions out in the field which was not something seen as often in the first game. In addition to the animation change, the characters also got an outfit overhaul making each of them (especially Murray) appear more serious and fit for the job at hand. The intro beautifully sets up the storyline for the game, as the prologue is the gang attempting to steal the remaining Clockwerk parts which were put in a museum two years after the events of the first game. Because of Clockwerk’s undying hatred for the Cooper clan, the gang thinks his parts would be safer in their hands and with the revelation that the parts have already been stolen by “The Klaww Gang” the stage is set for what the goal of the game is going to be. Following the prologue, a recap of the series storyline to this point is shown, which is great for new players who maybe haven’t played the previous title so they can understand what exactly is going on.
Similarly to the previous game, there are eight “worlds” titled episodes which you play through however a little differently than previously. Improving upon the previous system, it’s a more open world concept level where the player now playing as all three main characters individually, can find a waypoint marker for the specific levels and do them in order of what makes sense in game to ultimately pull of a major heist at the end of every episode. Each episode ends with a boss fight where you’re taking the clockwerk part(s) that each boss has in their possession. The ambience in each episode once again perfectly suits the aesthetic that was trying to be captured and the levels feel less repetitive with more variety of missions whether it’s bombing the pillars of a nightclub or pickpocketing the keys off of the bosses guards. Like I mentioned earlier, the addition of all three members of the Cooper gang being playable adds a whole new dynamic to the game with each character having its strengths and weaknesses, and even though I would consider this just about a near perfect game, they still improved upon this in a later title!
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The episodes follow a similar formula as the game progresses with the gang travelling to new locations pulling off a series of jobs before the big heist and ultimately leading to a boss fight. This is okay because it works and the additional game mechanics of the sequel have helped combat the repetitive nature of these kinds of missions. But then there’s a twist. Following the conclusion of episode three Sly and Murray are captured and put into a prison by “The Contessa” a member of the infamous Klaww gang who’s infiltrated Interpol. This is where we get to see Bentley’s character development truly flourish. On his own for the first time in his life, never having been apart from Sly and Murray we learn a lot about him and watch as he develops from the fearful jumpy brainiac from the first episode into a confident cunning member of the gang that can hold his own in the absence of his best friends. The character development that Bentley goes through in this game really is one of the best parts about Sly 2, as we got such a little information about him in the first game and really makes the player fall even more in love with the already fan-favorite characters.
Who loves a good ol fashioned train heist?
One part of this game that I felt really needed to be spotlighted when looking back at its perfection is episode six. Taking place in the Yukon territory in Canada the gang travels to take down the latest member of the Klaww gang and old gold miner by the name Jean Bison (bee-sawn). Get it? Because he’s a bison? He was frozen in snow for hundreds of years and emerged to a much different world where even as stated by Sly “In his time he would’ve been a hero”. He was in possession of three of the Clockwerk parts which he used as never faltering pumps for his iron horse trains. The plot of this episode is the gang breaking into the movie trains and stealing the parts off them, which of course the player does successfully. These missions are the most fun of the entire game as you get bits of backstory on the villain while robbing his trains and again, who doesn’t like a good ol train heist?
Yet another twist occurs when in the following episode the cooper gang gets knocked out and captured together and when they come to, they’re in a dimly lit cabin room. Bentley manages to be the only one capable of his escape due to his size where he confronts Jean Bison. The divulsion that Jean had in fact found the gang’s Clockwerk parts and sold all of them including his own to the remaining member of the Klaww gang Arpeggio put the gang in a frenzy. Using his newfound confidence Bentely takes Jean on alone, defeating him before the gang sprints to a battery that Arpeggio is picking up for his giant blimp, where the final episode would take place.
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When the gang gets on the blimp they come to realize the master plan that was put together by Arpeggio all along where he had fully rebuilt clockwork and intended to pilot the reconstructed bird as he (a bird) never had the ability to fly. This was thwarted by his ally Neila, another acting Interpol officer who took the metallic bird herself and the episode is set up for Sly and the gang to get ready to once again take on Clockwerk. With help from an unlikely ally (Carmelita) who has been chasing down the Cooper gang for years, she and Sly get in a chopper with Sly on the gunner and hit the sky to take down Clockwerk. After the defeat of Clockwerk and the crash landing in Paris, the gang goes to remove the “hate chip” located in Clockwerk when the mouth of the bird closes crushing Bentley between. This leads to Bentley being wheelchair ridden in future titles and adds to the development his character went through during the duration of this game.
The ending was exactly what this game needed and showcased the development of all characters in this conclusion while leaving the door open for a third game, which was already in development. The innovation and purification of an already fantastic game was done better than could’ve been asked for, leaving Sly 2 with a large window of replayability. If someone were to ask what a must play game is I would simply say Sly 2 is the epitome of a perfect, thought through, adventure platformer and is a must play experience.