Ever wonder how the developers at Sucker Punch got their start or want to relive some of the PS2’s greatest platforming moments? Your definitly in for a treat because the Sly Cooper series has made its debut on the PS3 in glorious HD. The rerelease not only combines the three games in the series but ups the resolution, has Playstation Move support and adds 3D. What you get is a great package that should be done more often then not.
Without going into grave detail between all three games it should be noted that all of them are different. Sly Cooper 1 embarks our hero on the journey to recover the book of thieving that’s been passed down through generations. It was stolen from his parents by evil baddies when he was just a child and looks to keep his legacy alive. The first game has a very linear platform experience but holds up surprisingly well for it’s age on all counts. The game is very traditional giving our hero lives but is a one hit system so death is imminent. This especially becomes annoying during boss battles. As you collect more pieces of the book you acquire more moves that will help you along the way.
Sly 2: Band of Thiefs adds two more characters in the mix. Bently and Murray which were only supporting members of your group in the first game. This expirience feels very different and rights alot of the wrongs that was in the first. In fact the game takes an open world approach letting you explore vastly like you haven’t before. For a PS2 game it had some of the slickest menu designs around as well, getting rid of unnecessary clutter. Animation get better and the game adds more humor. Gadgets can be bought with the gold you collect within stages and each character brings their own feel to each stage. Brains and Brawn definitely apply here. There is an added life bar to this game as well, giving your character a couple of hits before actually dying this time.
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves pretty much overhauls the experience from 2 and not only adds an absurd amount of characters, it takes new approaches to each of the giant open world stages. Starting with only two characters, it takes some time to build up the exciting moments in the game but its clear that a game thats only 5 years old can hold its own between some of todays platformers. New to this game is the ability to change between some characters on the fly on occasions and have added some two player co-op games. Players will definitely tell that this game is made for a broader audience, taking some of the more difficult challenges out of the equation. Back when this game was released it had come out with the old blue and red 3D glasses to play with if you wanted, now there is an option to play it in stereoscopic 3D which is a nice bonus. 
The collection also brings you some Playstation Move games to pretty much take advantage of everything PS3. They can be played with a controller if you do not own Playstation Move but either way the novelty for it wears thin after awhile. Each game isn’t without its problems as well like its originals but having all of them reconstructed to fix some of the issues might be asking for a bit much at this point.
There is alot of punch here, what you get are three of some of playstations best platformers all in HD, trophy support, Playstation Move mini games and Sly 3 in 3D. The games are tons of fun and if you’ve never played any or have missed one, this is a no brainer. For those looking to get back into the series before the release part 4 (spoiler) then you pretty much knew if you were getting it going into this review.
[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]
Overall = 8.7
[nggallery id=161 ]
