Yes. yes I would.
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Sly 4: Thieves in Time
Now, let me get one thing straight. I love Sly Cooper. It's probably my favorite IP, and character from a game. But I was a little apprehensive when I saw a new game was being made, but not by Suckerpunch. I looked into Sanzaru Games however, and was immediately interested. They are a small, independent developer, That believes every game needs to have a certain level of quality.
And they didn't disappoint. Sly 4 is a match fit for the series, Making me wax nostalgic almost every time I played it. truthfully, my only complaint is I wish they hadn't put their logo on so many in-game things, but that hardly detracted from the game.
The game begins with a cutscene. Now.... let me first tell you about how these were done.
In the original trilogy, the cutscenes that weren't using in game graphics, or a Binocucomm conversation, were done in a comic-y style.
if there was any motion, it was minimal and very plain looking.
In Sly 4, every cutscene not in game, Is a fully animated, well drawn, cartoon. I'm not really sure why, but this felt like a bonus to me.
Anyway, the game begins with a cutscene, talking about Sly's history. And sets the scene.
He has been living in Paris with his Girlfriend, Interpol officer Carmelita Fox, who was, until the events of Sly 3, dead set on arresting Sly. He had faked amnesia in order to pursue a relationship with her, and worked with her as her partner at Interpol. After a while, he felt like he needed to pull a heist, as being a thief was (Quite literally) In his blood. Bentley shows up and tells him there's a problem. The pages of the Thievius Raccoonus (The "Bible of Thieving" So to speak, and The Cooper family heirloom) Were disappearing. He tells him that the Cooper history is being erased, and they have to find a way to stop it. to do so, Bentley has managed to build a time machine out of the Cooper Gang's trademark van. All he needed was to get an object from the period of time they wished to travel to, which in this case was feudal era Japan. Sly, with the help of Bentley, and Murray (The gang's third member.) steals an ancient Katana on display in a wealthy aristocrat's museum, but not before being discovered by Carmelita. They then escape the museum's Army-like security, by going back in time to Japan.
Having typed that out... I realize how strange this game is when one isn't playing it. O_O
Graphics - Take the original graphics from the third game, give them a major overhaul. The cel-shaded graphic give the game a cartoony style to compliment it's over the top action and goofy humor, and the in game cutscenes are actually well made, not recycling animations.
Gameplay - Exactly the same as 1, 2, and 3, with some new additions and tweaked to make the controls extremely responsive. A fun Action platformer, and a good measuring stick for the Genre.
Sound - The voice acting is brilliant and funny, the music is as catchy as ever, and the minor sound effect and ambient noise are all good quality.
Final rating - 10/10
This game is a fresh experience, and a good break from the run of the mill games that have been released as of late, funny, considering this games format is based on Playstation 2 games. If you have a PS3, and you are a fan of the Sony Mascots (Ratchet, Jak, Sly) definitely pick this up. I'm already excited for the sequel!