Sly Cooper: Band of Thieves picks up two years after the original. After defeating Clockwerk, Sly retired to a life of thievery in the proud tradition of the Cooper clan. Sly's plans come to a screaming hault when he discovers that Clockwerk's parts have been stolen. Given Clockwerk's tendancy to kill anyone in the Cooper family line, Sly sets out with his loyal companions Bently and Murray to find out who stole the parts and stop them from reassembling them. Standing in Sly's way is the Claw gang, the group behind the theft of the parts.
Sly Cooper 2 builds upon the formula that made the original one of the best and most underated games of 2002. Drawing inspiration form heist movies like The Italian Job and Ocean's Eleven, Sly 2 requires players to use the unique abilities of all three members in the Cooper gang to pull off heists that are bigger and much more involved than the original. These new mechanics give the game a new outlook and will result in a much more open game. The game will also include minigames, side quests and missions that will branch depending on the decisions you make during the game.
Each episode will be set around one major heist, such as the theft of paintings from Dimitri, an art collector and art-school drop out and master forger. How you go about pulling the heist is completely up to you. Sly retains his master theivery skills from the original. Bently is a master at demolitions and has a way with computers. His main weapons are bombs, but he will also have access to a gun loaded with sleeping-darts to incapacitate enemies. Murray is the muscle of the group. In addition to an array for punches and belly-flops, he can also lift heavy objects and throw them. It is your job to figure out how to best use these abilities in combination with each other.
The cel-shaded look of the orignal is also back, but looks much sharper and more refined. Colors are a little more vibrant and things run much smoother. Game enviroments will range from Paris to Canada and everywhere in between. Levels are much larger, which complement the game's open-ended structure.
So far, Sly Cooper: Band of Theives is shaping up to be every bit as fun as the orginal. Let's hope that it gets the recognition it deserves this time.