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BORING

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: November 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Sly 2 is very hard to endure. I can't even get past lvl 1!!!! I DO NOT LIKE SLY 2!!!!

sly 2 band of boringness

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 77
Date: August 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

this game sucks!!!!!! one hit from an enemy you die. You can't swim or anything either. I give 1 for the way they made the game, graphics, and story.

Where is the fun?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 25
Date: September 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am massively dissapointed. Thievious Racoonus was really fun. Band of Thieves starts you out in a dark dark room where you can't see anything and can't figure out how to get out of. After 30 minutes of trying to beat the first challenge, I had to give up. Where's the fun? I wish I could get my money back.

Great game if it wasn't so repetitive.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 51 / 75
Date: October 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The first Sly Cooper was a simple cel-shaded stealth that was both easy and fun. This one, the sequel is also cel-shaded stealth based game, but this time the little levels are replaced with a few giant episodes with multiple missions within that episodes.

There are three characters that can be controlled, Bentley, a little turtle with bombs, Murray, a hippo with punching power, or the character you'll primarily play as, Sly, a racoon who can jump and pickpocket. There are eight episodes, each one requires either one of the characters to move towards one place in the level in order for the mission to start. Each mission usually consists of pickpocketting or sneaking around with Sly, smashing or carrying stuff with Murray, , or participating in a mini mission with Bentley (either a 2-D flying shooter or a low tech move a triangle through an obstacle course thingy - both are pretty boring).

While the description is pretty basic, the unfortunate thing is that that is pretty much it. For 20 hours, you will constantly move traverse to one part of a level, which is sometimes not trivial, view a slideshow, do a few of the things described above, and repeat over and over again. The eight episodes are different looking in some aspects, but it's still the same thing over and over again. After a while I find myself screaming at the game, "Sly can pickpocket, I get it, can I do something different?"

The good thing is that the game engine is fantastic. The jumping, the sneaking, the graphics, the controls are all well done. If they shortened the game, added some different types of missions, and removed a lot of the repetitiveness, it would be one of the greatest games ever. Another great thing is that even though most of the missions are the same, you rarely repeat parts of a mission because if you die or get caught, you usually don't have to start the whole mission over again. It really cuts down on the frustration. Also, the game is really balanced in terms of difficulty. It's never really hard at any one point, and the later levels don't leave a bad taste in your mouth like other games where the make the final parts of the game nearly impossible.

In terms of graphics, it's overall very well done. Usually an episode consists of a small town, castle or prison that is both cartoony (in a good way), yet very detailed. A lot of time and effort was done making the episodes. The only problem I had was that color scheme was pretty similar, making it look monochromatic after a while.

The movies are decent, though most of it was in slide shows format, but you still get a lot without interrupting the action.

All in all, it's quite a different game from the first one. In some aspects it's much, much better, but overall, it just wasn't as fun.

Pros:
Huge levels require lots of exploring
Good mixture of stealth and thievery
Requires little repeating of mission
Never really stuck at any one place
Good graphics
No guide required
Good balance

Cons:
Same basic missions over and over again
Requires traversing the same terrain over and over again
Just plain annoying after a while
Mini games are stupid and lame

Time to complete: 20 hours

Frustration level: low/medium

Difficultly level: low

Proving the law of sequels

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Sly 2: Band of Thieves is the much-anticipated sequel to the blockbuster platformer Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, released in 2002. That was around the same time that the other two franchise giants of PS2 platformers, Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, debuted. Both of these games were phenomenal successes too, though in different ways: Jak was about acrobatic puzzle solving and Ratchet was all about blowing stuff up with a myriad of cool guns. Sly was about stealth and speed, attacking only when necessary, with a much less forgiving hit point system: one hit and you're out.

The Jak & Daxter and the Ratchet & Clank teams both managed to put out a second game only a year after the first of each respective series was released, and managed to make the games bigger, better, and more visually stunning. The guys at Sucker Punch took two years to get Sly 2 out, though, and the rate of return turns out to be less than expected. The game's much larger and longer, fixing one of the few faults of the first one, and instead of being based on traditional level structures, it uses a "mission" system with occasional visits to small levels based around a large central area where most of the action takes place, similar to Grand Theft Auto III or Jak II. You can also take multiple hits without dying, though this was a necessary change because of the more difficult nature of the enemies. Overall, though, game doesn't live up to the expectations of a top-level platformer.

The biggest problem I have with the game is the homogeneity of some of the levels. The game consists of 8 grand episodes, each with its own location, plot structure and set of missions. This episodical structure is a great opportunity for game designers to create a full, diverse world (see the Ratchet & Clank series for the ideal execution of this concept). In Sly 2, for reasons I can't begin to understand, episodes 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7 are in only slightly varied locations (i.e. an Indian palace near a jungle in 2, and an Indian palace inside the jungle in 3). This obviously let them reuse a lot of the resources like textures and enemies, but this kind of frugality makes the game feel cheap. If I get 8 episodes, I expect 8 distinct locales... like the 5 completely distinct ones in the first Sly game. I was rather tired of jungles by the end of episode 3, really tired of gothic Prague by the end of episode 5, and completely sick of snowy tundra at the end of episode 7.

The second major flaw in the game are the earned/purchased skills. Only 2 or 3 of all the skills Sly and his buddies can acquire are actually useful (like the glider); the rest are battle skills I just never used. I got them, but they just kind of sat there. You certainly don't need any of them to fight any of the battles, with only one or two rare exceptions. Also, you can only have 3 active and usable at a time, meaning the impetus to never use the others is very strong. There's a few really nice moves from Sly 1 that weren't brought over, too, like the power roll. The makers of Jak II understood that a character in a sequel should be able to gain new moves while retaining the ones from the previous game.

The third and most major flaw borders on a sin: there's no replayability. None. Once you get 100%, you're done. And you get 100% just by completing the missions, not by doing any side quests or secret item collection. Why in god's name they couldn't have spent an extra week or two putting in some simple but entertaining second-time-through features, or at least some secondary goals like the timed runs in Sly 1, is beyond me. You rent games with no replayability, you don't buy them.

Other, more minor flaws involved things like the voice acting, which were sub-par on some of the secondary characters, most notably Carmelita Fox. Especially at the beginning of the game. Also, some of the controls were a bit irritating, like Sly's penchant for perching on the edge of things even when you don't want him to. Finally, I was incredibly disappointed to get the coolest move in the game (a hyper-jump that makes him jump 4-5 times higher) near the end of the last episode, only to have it taken away immediately after that mission ended. You just lose it, no explanation given, and you never get it back.

Despite all these flaws, there's a few things about this game that I really enjoyed. First of all was the retention of the cell-shaded animation style used in the first game, along the comic-book cut scenes and campy action sound effects. The second was the whole scope of the game: while Sly 1 was noticeably short, Sly 2 is a fully-featured game with large, sprawling levels and numerous clever missions. Getting to play Murray (the strong, stupid hippo) and Bentley (the weak, super-intelligent turtle) separately from Sly is a nice touch too, though I really wish they'd have made it so that you could choose which character to use on some missions, rather than forcing it on you all the time.

So, yeah, a decent game with some pretty large flaws. In the end, I just can't recommend buying this, especially since Ratchet 3 and Jak 3 are also out now. My advice is, rent this game, and save your $40 for one of those other two games.

awesome game , but mot much replay value

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this game is almost perfect. the graphics are cartoonish and great , and you feel like your playing a comic book . also i liked how they combined arcade with action and stealth. the game really had a stealthy and "thievie" atmosphere to it , because you had to sneak around all the time so the guards wont notice you in each level , and you can also pickpocket them to get money , or get jewels from them so you can then sell the jewels for money(you can use the money to buy gadgets for your gang ) . another thing that gives a "thief" atmosphere to the game are the missions. some missions really have the "stealthy" feel to them . there is one mission were you have to bug your enemie's office, and then at your HQ you can hear what he says. there's also another mission where you have to shoot a guy with sleep darts , then when his asleep you have to steal something from him . and there are other missions like this , and they are very well done and fun . there are also many fun minigames to play in . and people who played the previous game will be glad to know that in this game you can control sly , but also bentley and murray( your partners) you can buy gadgets and upgrades for each of them with coins you earn(as mentioned above). the game is also pretty long , it took me about 20 hours to finish it .it has 7 levels, and they're really fun . also the bosse sand characters are cool and funny . but the only, and i mean only, thing i didn't like about his game is that you cant replay any missions after you finish them , unless you start the game over from the beginning. also there aren't any unlockables for the game , so there isn't much replay value . i found this a major diappointment. but the game was really great, other then the fact that there isn't a big repaly value .

cc's review

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a very fun game for my 7 and 11 year old. I enjoy it as well.

Sly tackles the world yet again!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: September 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Well, Mr. Sly's at it again on the PS2. Along with his gang, the duo face another threat in the form of Clockwerk, who, thanks to the KLAWW Gang, might just reassemble him!

Sly and company travel to Prague,India and the Canadian wilderness this time to track down the missing parts and stop the menace from returning in this latest installment.

The game is too fun, but still, in my opinion, kind of short. Didn't take me too long to beat it, hence why I gave the overall game 4 stars instead of a perfect 5. However, this game is in fact perfect in every aspect. Good story, gameplay and fun. ^_^

Entertaining Sequel

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was under the impression that "Sly Cooper and the Thevious Racoonus" failed to find a niche, since it was a bit difficult for kids, and a bit too cartoonish for older gamers. Happily, I must have been wrong - "Sly 2" is as fun as the original, with some added dimensions that add to the entertainment value of the game. The game is more "open-ended" than the original. In each level, several missions are presented - usually a couple for each of the three controllable characters - and you can choose the order in which you tackle the missions. The use of 3 characters, each with his own strengths and weaknesses, is of course new, and in general it's an improvement, although it can be more difficult to get Murray and Bentley to certain places than may be necessary. The graphics are great - if anything, they're a slight improvement over the fine look of the original.
My only complaint about the game would be the repetitive nature of some missions. At times it in necessary to do the same thing 5 or 6 times, which can make the mission rather tedious. All in all though, Sly 2 is a worthy sequel that has apppeal for gamers of all ages.

Sly 2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game was really fun for me and my grandson it is something we like do do together

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