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> Results: Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
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By the time most games reach the third sequel, the formula has grown old and tired and the publisher is just trying to cash in on the characters. This is certainly not the case with Sly 3 ﾖ the short review is that if you liked the first two (reviewed here and here), go out and buy this, because the addition of new characters and challenges keeps things fresh.
For the uninitiated, the series revolves around Sly Cooper, a charming master thief (who happens to be a raccoon) and his crew of specialists (who also happen to be animals) as they travel to various locales, attempting to steal back Cooper family treasures. All this is presented in a friendly, cartoon-like fashion, with chunky, colorful environments and wonderfully animated characters outlined in virtual ink.  The new game focuses on building a team good enough to crack the ultimate prize, the Cooper family vault, which is being guarded by the evil genius Dr. M. In fact, the game opens with this final scene, with the rest of the game being somewhat of a flashback for Sly. The events of the previous game left Bentley, your faithful turtle teammate, in a wheelchair, and while this doesn't stop him from being a valuable part of the team, another teammate, Murray, feels responsible. Sly and Bentley must head to Venice to find Murray, and convince him to rejoin the crew. Each of the six levels of the game follow this pattern ﾖ show up, complete tasks, recruit a new member who will be needed to solve some of the level's jobs, defeat a boss monster, and move on. However, this certainly doesn't mean the game gets boring, because the jobs and tasks in each level are wildly varied, from the usual sneaking around and pick-pocketing to dogfights in biplanes, opera contests, pirate insult games, and classic arcade-style 2D shooting mini-games whenever Bentley is hacking computers.  All the different characters have particular traits that affect your gameplay experience, and the game ensures that you will be jumping between each character frequently. The storyline and some of the dialog may have the more cynical GamerParent rolling their eyes, but on the whole the developers balance being kid-friendly and adult-friendly rather well. They also manage to mostly avoid the common pitfall of 3D platform games ﾖ overly-frustrating jump puzzles. Your reflexes will be tested, but you'll only be in danger of losing your hair a few times, and these instances are concentrated in the Australian Outback mining level, so it's unfortunate that this level is so early on in the game. Other than the new locations and characters you get to play, Sly 3 adds new two-player co-operative and versus-mode games, which provide some longevity after you've completed the main game. It also adds the ability to use the provided 3D glasses to experience certain levels in "true" 3D. While a nice idea in theory, in practice it can be quite uncomfortable to play like this, and I was glad I was always given the option to play without the 3D effect Overall, while Sly 3 isn't the most innovative game in the world, it's a very solid title that will have you wondering what to expect with each new mission and leave you with a smile on your face. 
The first thing to point out is that while Sly and his crew are technically international criminals, they are very much Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Sly is ultimately trying to steal back his own family's property (although you wonder how the treasure in their vault was obtained in the first place..) and any pick-pocketing you do throughout the game is only against crooks and thugs. The good guys and the bad guys are clearly delineated, and there is no ill-will shown towards the police ﾖ in fact, Sly is in love with one of them. While there are lots of chances to beat up the bad guys, the violent option is usually discouraged by the game, and if you do choose to attack, enemies are cleanly dispatched in clouds of dust. The E10 rating does allow them to be a little freer with dialog, so you'll hear terms like "sex appeal" from one of the characters, but the only surprise I had was that there's no mean-spirited humor in the game, a rarity when it seems every other kids game these days has gone "extreme" in order to be "cool". Instead, the game provides a positive attitude, emphasizing teamwork and sticking up for each other. Special mention must also be made of the difficulty of the game ﾖ it's pretty easy, but younger players may still need help from an adult or older sibling on some of the levels. However, make sure you give your kids a chance to at least try on their own, because the game's difficulty adapts to the player, a brilliant touch. For example, if you keep failing at one of the reaction test mini-games, the action will keep subtly slowing down until you pass. In addition, there is no "game over" - if your character loses all of his or her energy, you just get sent back to the last checkpoint, and they are usually not very far back. It's touches like this that show you that the Sucker Punch team knows how to keep kids ﾖ and parents ﾖ happy.
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