Reviewing games is a pretty good gig, and don't let anyone ever tell you different, but it can be very frustrating. For one thing, you end up having to play a lot of crappy games, games with broken control, lousy stories, ugly graphics, and boring gameplay. Coming up with a new way to describe the umpteenth WWII squad-based shooter isn't much fun, either, and let's not even talk about arguments with fanboys about Counterstrike, Doom 3, and Final Fantasy. The most frustrating aspect of a reviewer's life, however, is when you, the reader, just don't listen to us. We're not reviewing these games for our health, we're doing it to keep you from spending your hard-earned green on garbage, and instead come home with some quality entertainment. I pimped Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus like mad when it came out two years ago, to little avail, and gnashed my teeth as it slipped further and further off the gaming radar. Fortunately for my dental work, the sequel, Sly 2: Band of Thieves surpasses the first one in every way possible, and is destined to make year-end "best of" lists. If this one doesn't get your attention, I may just have to jump off a bridge.

A Raccoon, a Turtle, and a Hippo Walk Into a Heist…

The action of Sly 2 picks up shortly after its predecessor left off. At the end of Sly Cooper, Sly had defeated the evil robotic bird Clockwerk, and broken him into pieces, which were then shipped off to a warehouse for safekeeping. (Well, hey, it worked for the Ark of the Covenant.) Concerned that some nefarious types might try to reassemble Clockwerk, Sly and his pals decide to swipe the parts themselves, but find they've been beaten to the (Sucker) punch. Despite evidence to the contrary, Sly's old nemesis Inspector Carmelita Fox blames him for the robbery and is eager to put the charming thief behind bars once and for all. The rest of the game follows Sly's band of thieves as they attempt to steal back the missing Clockwerk pieces while staying one step ahead of the law.

Don't Fix What Ain't Broke

Sucker Punch wisely carried over the core gameplay from Sly Cooper, but expanded on it in several pleasing ways. In the first Sly, your goal was to track down portions of the Bible of burglary, the Thievius Raccoonus. Each section of the book was held by a different crime boss in his or her own secret hideout, which gave each portion of the game a distinctive feeling and atmosphere. Sly 2 takes that basic blueprint and builds off of it in a way that doesn't seem bloated or forced. You're still going through the same general motion—stealing back pieces of something—but the areas you'll explore are much, much larger than they were the first time around, and each heist involves a lot more than simply slipping past the guards and beating up on the boss. Each robbery is broken into several sub-missions, such as swiping a key card, taking reconnaissance photos, or disabling alarms. Sly 2 feels like a sort of goofy, cartoon version of Ocean's 11, as each member of the gang contributes his own little piece to the bigger operation.

You'll still play as Sly the majority of the time, and he does his share of spotlight dodging and guard avoiding. The sections you play through as the crafty raccoon are pretty much exactly like the first game, in everything from gameplay to length, placing the emphasis on stealth and cunning. Sly 2's larger environments and more intricate missions open up possibilities for the two new playable characters, Bentley and Murray. Bentley is the brains of the operation, carefully planning all of your missions and giving orders or suggestions via your communicator. (Extra special coolness alert: if you have the PS2 headset, you can hear Bentley right through the earpiece. Fantabulous!) He's a wee bit on the nervous side, so pad-footed thievery just isn't his thing. Instead, he favors missions that require brain power, and if he's unlucky enough to encounter guards, he knocks them out with his tranquilizer gun. Murray won't be joining MENSA any time soon, but he's incredibly strong and just the guy you need when something needs to be knocked on the head or broken into bits. His "Thunder Flop" is a major force to be reckoned with, as he likes to remind everyone.

Another carry-over from the original game are the green bottles hidden throughout each level. If you find and smash every last bottle, Bentley will be able to decipher the combination to a safe hidden somewhere else in the level. (You'd think with a brain as big as his, he'd be able to figure it out with just some of the bottles, but noooooooo.) Locked away in each safe is a special move, such as the Knockout Dive or the Voltage Attack. It's no trouble to finish the game without learning any of these special moves, but it's a heck of a lot more fun if you have them. Collectable coins also make a return, but this time you can use them to buy special gadgets and maneuvers for your crew. Bentley can log on to "Thiefnet" and buy power ups like a Health Extractor or Alarm Clock, or special moves like Murray's Fists of Flame or Sly's Paraglide. If you're feeling a little short of cash, Sly now has the ability to pick guards' pockets. Sometimes they just have coins, but guards with sparkly pockets have sellable items like watches or rings. Sly can also find other treasures, like paintings, hidden around the environments or in breakable objects. As long as he can get them back to the safe house without getting smacked by the guards, its easy money, baby.

That is One Foxy Raccoon

Sly 2 is a truly gorgeous game, but unlike a lot of lookers out there, it's not obnoxious or stuck up about it. The cel-shaded graphics and comic-book style cut scenes are the perfect complement to the tongue-in-cheek humor and whimsical feel of the game as a whole. Sure, you're going to be doing a lot of sneaking around, but this is no Metal Gear Solid, so it doesn't try and look like one. Each playable character has his own distinct personality, from his facial expressions to the way he walks or runs. The voices for the Band of Thieves match their characters so well, you can't imagine them sounding any other way, from Murray's noble warble to Bentley's sinus problems, to Sly's silky smooth charm. The supporting cast isn't quite as good, but has some of the best lines in the game. (Example: Dimitri the lounge lizard instructs his guards that there is an intruder in the facility, and if they find him, they should "Get extreme all over his face! Ok, peace out.") Many games, especially in the action/platforming genre, feel like bland knockoffs or like they were designed by committee, but Sly 2 definitely stands out in a crowd. And then picks the crowd's pockets and slinks away, chuckling all the while.


Very Clever, Mr. Cooper

Part of Sly 2's brilliance is in the simplicity of its control scheme, which uses context sensitivity to give Sly an impressive roster of maneuvers without requiring a Virtua Fighter-esque list of moves. The environment or particular situation at hand determines what moves are at your disposal at any given moment. The circle button is used to climb pipes, hide under tables, crawl through air vents, sneak along ledges, or pick pockets, depending on where you are at the time. The level design and the variety of context sensitive situations keep the action feeling fresh, despite the fact that you're pressing the same button over and over again. Controls for jumping, attacking, running, and operating the Binocucom are the same for all three characters, so swapping from one to the other won't leave you flustered trying to remember what does what.

Curses, Foiled Again!

Like all loveable rogues, Sly 2 does have one fatal flaw: the camera. Although it performs quite admirably most of the time, there are far too many instances when it fails to follow along. You'll try to jump up to a ledge, only to have the camera stay on the ground and leave you with a blind landing. Bits of scenery will also sometimes obscure your view of the action, which can be especially frustrating if you're in the middle of a particularly tricky maneuver or trying to get away from the guards. It's not terrible, and you can learn to work with it pretty easily, but when the rest of the gameplay is so divinely sublime, a crappy camera really rankles.

So I, as a card-carrying member of the Push Underappreciated Games Society (or PUGS), implore you to go pick up Sly 2: Band of Thieves. Actually, ideally, you'll go back and pick up the Thievius Raccoonus, too, but I'll take what I can get. (If you are one of the lucky few who picked up Sly's first adventure, then you already know what you need to know: You loved that one, you'll love this one.) Sucker Punch brought their A game yet again, and you'll only hate yourself later if you miss out a second time. Besides, my teeth can't take it.