Sly 2 is one of if not the biggest anaomly of a game sequel ever made. This is my 3rd time beating it and I enjoy just as ever now. The weird part is, I shouldn't really like it as much as I do. On paper, Band of Thieves has everything I dislike in game sequels. It doesn't improve on the core mechanics, it adds in a bunch of different mechanics and ideas that has nothing to do with those said core mechanics, and it focuses a lot more on specticle this time around. Upon replaying the first game, this all becomes more evident now. This should be a recipe for disaster or lead to yet another instance where it's a seemingly acclaimed game sequel where I'm lukewarm if not outright apathetic towards. I've had my fair share of those like with Assassin's Creed 2, Uncharted 2 and Mass Effect 2. Sly 2 also follows the same logic that the Jak series would head towards with a heavier emphasis on mini games and an open world as well. By all intents and purposes, Band of Theives should be a game where I describe how lukewarm I felt but it rises above that.
The story keeps what was good about Thievous Raccoonous which is the Paul Dini inspired tone. The story is presented as kids tale with it's asethetics and general look but it will deal with more darker subject matter illegal drug shipping and corrupt prison insitutions. The best part about this game and the series by extension is that it never gets overly indulgent about it. The story has them but never brags about it or has it be in your face like say Conker's Bad Fur Day and the aforementioned Jak sequels do especially with 2.It also keeps the interesting villains with standouts being the Rajaan, Jean Bison and especially The Contessa with the exception of Dimitri and Arpeggo, you'll have to face off against them twice before they can finally be defeated. You still have their backstories shown before the level starts but now that you have to face them twice means, you can dislike them more before finally defeating him. It's also a clever to reuse level assets too. A highlight is when Rajaan calls Murray fat and useless and then defeats him in his boss fight.
A minor issue is that Murray is retroactively written as the "muscle" of the group with a pro wrestling persona known as "The Murray" as opposed to being just the getaway driver. He's so compelling here I don't mind.
Where the story faulters is with the main villains. Neyla at first feels like something interesting is going to happen but she wants immortal because...reasons? Arpeggo is revealed to be the ringleader of the Klaww Gang but dies in his introduction scene. You have Neyla pretend to the leader and work for Interpol and it would've accomplished the same thing.
However the real star of the show and the Sly sequels by extension is how the story is told. Sly 2 is basically a playable heist movie. The mini games and endless deviations from the core gameplay may appear to be filler but what it does is that it establishes that the Cooper Gang needs to work as a unit to get by. This is shown in the missions where each set of missions has Bentley slowly put together the puzzle pieces. The open world also plays a role where each job is the player and the Cooper Gang by extension learning the lay of the land as they are both doing the missions. The waypoint markers just give a vague idea where the mission is.
Bentley is the brains so Sly needs to gather recon. Sly is the stealth and the most agile so any job that requires either or both needs him. Murray is the muscle so any job that requires brute or lots of punching will have him.
This is shown in how each character plays. Bentley is more towards stealth. His crossbow can put enemies to sleep but you need to get close and plant a bomb to finish off enemies. Sly has moves faster, can reach places and can pick pocket. Murray is the tank. He can do and take the most damage.
Individually, none of these characters play super well but combined together with the theme of a playable heist movie and teamwork to get by, it's a beautiful example of gameplay and narrative harmonizing.
It also has the best pacing in the series since the narrative updates as well as the episodes themselves aren't overly long.
There are issues and that the core gameplay with Sly has not been improved. Sly series is often said to be a stealth platformer but it's not good as either. Platforming is just mainly "press circle to do everything". All of his moves are contextual meaning there will be times where you can press the button and he will not grab it or do the action you didn't want him to do. Sometimes he grabs the rail other times he will spire jump. The best move is the paraglider since it doesn't require context sensitivity and there's some skill in it's use.
Stealth also isn't better. There is an auto crouch and a stealth slam. The latter is also contextual meaning you will attack the enemy instead of slamming them which can happen on more than one occasion. Taking cover is also contextual too.
Guard sightlines are shown with the flashlights with bigger guards but smaller guards will not have this and it's guessing game if you are in the sightline. There is a good chance where you run into it by accident and they tend to attract a lot of nearby enemies. Combat also isn't good. Since it's mashing attack and then enemies have I frames then they kick up. If it weren't for the frequent health drops these would add frustration.
Overall, Sly 2 on paper is a game sequel that on paper should be something I strongly dislike but the game manages to rise above all of that due to it's harmony with story and gameplay as well as it's endearing tone.
No comments:
Post a Comment