Game Review: Sly 3 - Honor Among Thieves

The original Sly Trilogy on PlayStation 2 saw its third and final entry with Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Developed once again by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment this title not only marked the end of the original trilogy of games, it also marked the end of Sucker Punch’s time working on the franchise, as Sanzaru Games took up developing duties on the subsequent entry.  Development on Sly 3 began pretty much at the tail end of Sly 2’s production with the studio wasting no time in trying to expand on the core framework that the 2^nd entry had by implementing a plethora of additional features. The game was released exclusively on PlayStation 2 on September 26^th 2005 in North America.  There wasn’t much I could find online about the number of units the game sold but I did at least find a Metacritic page which confirmed the game averaged a decent 83 critical score from the gaming media at the time.

The narrative of Sly 3 follows Sly Cooper, the renowned master thief as he sets out to break into and reclaim the treasure of the Cooper family vault.  After being tipped off about the vault by an old friend of his father, Sly learns the vault lies on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean.  Sly isn’t the only one who is out to claim the treasures of the vault though as the maniacal scientist by the name of Dr. M has taken residence on the island and set up some beefy security. Realizing this will be no easy heist, Sly and his friend Bentley set forth on a globe-trotting adventure to recruit some of the best experts in their fields to form the ideal crew to tackle this monumental heist to reclaim Sly’s family legacy.

The narrative behind Sly 3 doesn’t come off nearly as compelling as the prior two games in the trilogy.  I appreciate the effort to frame the game around reclaiming Sly’s family legacy but it’s not done in all that interesting a way.  The overarching thread the story is aiming to do is tackle the relationship Sly has with his friends around him and the agency they have within their relationship. While it’s a fair concept that gives the game a unique quality that separates it from the prior two games, it’s not delivered in a consistent manner.  The depth of this storytelling comes in the games final level which highlights the unbalanced nature of the story’s structure, a lot of the game ultimately feels like its coasting along until it begins to act like it’s been telling a layered narrative all along. The game just doesn’t earn the impact it claims to offer in the end which is not a criticism the prior games really had going for it.

Sly 3 utilizes the same core engine and gameplay the prior game established. Structured through an episodic format, Sly and crew will work to recruit allies across several key locations across the world including Italy, Australia, Switzerland, Japan and the Caribbean Sea. Each of these key locations offers the gang plenty of opportunity to explore and traverse as they go on individual missions to set up their own elaborate heists within the levels.  As I said it’s pretty much the same formula that was in Sly 2’s levels but it’s clear Sucker Punch tried to push the scope of the environmental design a little bit more in this games case.  There are more layers and verticality in the levels themselves and the art design goes a long way to make these environments a lot more enjoyable to explore.

What also helps is the character options on offer within Sly 3.  Like the prior game, you’ll be put in control of Sly, Bentley and Murray as the primary characters in each level with the same core gameplay behind each of their playstyles. Where Sly 3 tries to do more though is by offering more unique characters and gameplay styles to experiment with.  These additional characters all offer their own flavor of gameplay to offer a greater sense of variety to the game, although they do end up coming off more as minigames rather than fully realized playstyles like what the original trio do. In fact, I do think that’s my only grievance with the gameplay end of things.  In Sucker Punch’s efforts to add new gameplay concepts to the game it does end up becoming almost oversaturated with minigame-style segments rather than honing in on the core gameplay that made Sly 2 so memorable.

As for presentation, Sly 3 maintains the standard art style and visual identity that the 2^nd game redefined the series with.  Between the hand-animated cutscenes and cell-shaded graphics, this series does a fantastic job in giving itself a visual identity that stands the test of time better than most games. Peter McConnell also returned to compose the soundtrack for Sly 3 and I would say it’s arguably the best score in the trilogy.  The main theme composition does an amazing job blending the different musical tones of each location in the game with the main Sly musical theme.

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves while not without its flaws manages to cap off the Sly trilogy in a commendable fashion. It essentially carries over all the key strengths that Sly 2 provided the series while doing its best efforts to push the core design in new and interesting directions.  The narrative is probably my only major gripe with this title as it doesn’t rightfully present itself as an epic conclusion to the trilogy as it believes itself to be.  It does just enough to be a fun and memorable time from start to finish in any case, but it definitely misses the mark in areas when put under a magnifying glass.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐