Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (2005)

The first Sly game was a more or less traditional 3D platformer game with some stealth mechanics. A simple but functional and fun game. The second one changed a lot, transporting the first game gameplay to bigger maps, with more stealth, different missions and Murray and Bentley as playable characters. But, to be honest, it wasn't always the funniest game. This third one had a simple main goal: to be funnier. For that purpose, it relays in more playable characters, more minigames and more different missions. Maybe it loses some of its original charm, but the final product give, indeed, more fun than Sly 2. Even so, the game feels like it needs a bigger step to the greatness, and it's a good game, but not as good as other platformer games could be.

There is not too much to say about graphics and music. Graphics are excellent as expected. The new characters' designs are pretty original too, and the new areas keep the characteristic Sly charm. The music is weak again, nothing remarkable here.

Those previously mentioned characters are a major newness. First time in history, Sly Cooper's gang will receive more members (other than Murray and Bentley) in order to enter in the Cooper's Chamber. The plot is more focused in episodic areas, in each one of them you have a mission, an antagonist to beat and a new member to recruit. Those new characters and the antagonists are mostly charming characters, but since the game focuses more on the new characters, the enemies lose the presence they had in Sly 1 and 2, with their cool backward story cinematic. And, due to the episodic format, there is no "main plot" until the very end, so the game's story is weaker than Sly 2's. Even so, in this occasion the gang will work together as we never saw in previous games, and that's cool.

In summary, Sly 3 is a good platformer game, and solve the major problem of the previous game: the fun factor. It has both flaws and wise choices. It's a good game, even an excellent one, but it could be better. If you liked Sly 1 or 2, you'll surely enjoy this one. If you didn't enjoy Sly 2 because you found it boring, maybe you can still enjoy this one. A good ending to a good trilogy, but I feel it could have been a game at the Ratchet or Jak level.

Sly 3 is a good game. It adds new playable characters and mechanics to the foundation of Sly 2 with all the same intrigue and expressiveness I've come to expect of the series. I think fans of these characters and Sly Cooper lore will find plenty to love about this entry's story, too.

But it's easily my least favorite of the series so far.

My biggest complaint is how the miniature open worlds have been streamlined compared to Sly 2. The collectable clue bottles and optional treasure chests are entirely absent. Without them, there's little reason for these areas to be open at all: Instead of offering an exploration-based compliment to the story missions, they're just a tedious expanse of space between you and your next objective.

Which brings me to my second biggest complain: The missions. Sly 3's expanded cast means more variety than ever. To Sucker Punch's credit, I think they pulled off the new gameplay styles more successfully than Insomniac did in Year of the Dragon: Many of these sequences are really fun to play. But that signature Sly Cooper style of acrobatic platforming and combat avoidance that gave the first game its identity has now been thoroughly sidelined. It makes the game feel much more generic as a result.

I enjoyed Sly 3 fine. It ties up the original trilogy's story really well. If you found the first game repetitive or Sly 2's open worlds tedious, I bet you'll be one of the many fans out there who prefers this sequel. But it wasn't quite what I was looking for from the series.

(Played on PlayStation 3 via The Sly Collection)

Finished story and reached credits

Final thoughts: Unlike Sly 2, this one was overall fun and had plenty of good moments, up through to the ending which would've been a decent ending to the Sly PS2 trilogy if Sly 4 didn't exist. I'm GLAD the open-world format is streamlined so there's rarely any "Do x" in places scattered across the map for the whole game. That being said, the game still has some rough patches that did drag the experience down for me (and Carmelita changing voices every game somehow)...

... Which is pretty much most notably everything about the Australia chapter. It frustrated me to no end with the map verticality, some of the most annoying minigames in the franchise (you don't even get a targeting reticle for the crane game) and the repetitive Guru gameplay (Back to "hijack 5 guards" gameplay) that persists throughout the rest of the game. It's also visually the least interesting with the most boring music, and the least interesting "boss" that ends up igniting a passion for some people for how it folds out... For being the 2nd chapter and giving me Sly 2 flashbacks, I nearly retired the game at this point.

At least past Australia, the game has been more tolerable overall. There are some surprising character growth moments with the cast in the final chapter, and Dr. M is probably the best villain of the franchise.

... Noteworthy this game DEFINITELY make Dimitri the best side-character in the franchise with his frequent humorous appearances, considering he's the best part of Sly 2 for me too.