It's amazing what two years can do for a development company and it's clear from playing through Sly 2 that the folks at Sucker Punch Studios have been putting their heart and soul into creating a game that is both fun and entertaining at the same time. The amount of creativity that is packed into the different quests and the various characters is nothing short of amazing and it all combines to form... Mega Fun Adventure! Fans of the original will have plenty of new features to dig through, but by no means is knowledge of the first game necessary.
If anything, the only thing that keeps Sly 2 from being even better is that there is a lack of things to do once the game has been completed. It's possible to repeat the adventure, but the lack of time trials and challenges to complete once the game is over leads to a lack of replayability. With over 20 hours of gameplay involved in collecting all of the items in the game, and a hell of a game at that, this is far from a dealbreaker, but it's still a slight disappointment.
What really distinguishes Sly 2 is that the whole game is a unified experience where there are many different parts to the game, but all of them fit in together smoothly. This is not a game with a story that is an excuse to tie everything together, but is absolutely integral to what's going on. Sly 2 is one long, strange trip and we urge you to take it.
10.0 Presentation
The slideshow presentations that Bentley uses to explain the heists pretty much say it all. The binoc-u-com is easy to use as well.
9.5 Graphics
Character animations that are pitch-perfect and an overall style that lives and breathes stylish cool.
10.0 Sound
Voice acting so good you begin to truly care about the characters personally. Slick background music as well.
9.0 Gameplay
A huge variety of gameplay packed into one game that provides several things for everyone. Only the lack of extra goals is disappointing.
9.0 Lasting Appeal
The eight different missions are all compelling arguments for playing more, but there's little reason to go back and keep exploring.
9.2 OVERALL:
(out of 10 / not an average)