Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Sanzaru Games
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Series	Sly Cooper
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
Release	NA: February 5, 2013 EU: March 27, 2013
Genre(s)	Platform, Stealth
Mode(s)	Single-player, local multiplayer

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (also known as Sly 4), is the upcoming fourth title of the Sly Cooper series of platform stealth video games. Thieves in Time will be available on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Though the original series was developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the PlayStation 2, this game will be developed by Sanzaru Games, who had previously ported the original games into high-definition versions for the PlayStation 3. The game was teased in these versions, but it was not formally announced until several months later at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo during Sony's presentation on June 6, 2011.

The game, set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, follows from the end of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Sly Cooper, a raccoon from a long line of master thieves, will need to reunite with his gang to locate and recover the Thievius Raccoonus, a book chronicling the Cooper family line that has been lost within time. The player controls Sly, Bentley, Murray, Carmelita Fox, and Sly's ancestors, using their skills to pull off heists and reveal who has tampered with the Cooper history. This game will also be a part of the "Cross Buy" initiative announced by Sony. This will allow purchasers of the PlayStation 3 version of the game to receive a free copy of the game on the PlayStation Vita added to a PlayStation Network account.

Gameplay

Like previous games in the series, players primarily control Sly Cooper, who must sneak around and navigate various obstacles to help restore the history of the Thievius Raccoonus. Many of Sly's abilities return, such as navigating poles and ropes, jumping across narrow platforms and stealing items from guards. New to this game are costumes earned throughout the course of the game, which give Sly access to new abilities. Examples include a suit of armor that allows Sly to reflect projectiles with a shield, an archery outfit that lets him shoot arrows at targets to create rope lines and an Arabian pirate-like suit that allows him to slow down time and use a sword to break sturdy objects. These costumes can be taken to previously visited levels to reach secret areas.

New secret masks and treasures will be hidden throughout the game; the latter item, unlike its counterpart in previous installments, will be collectible only and will not be available to sell on the game's ThiefNet service (although the player will still receive an in-game monetary reward). The clue bottles from Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus and Sly 2: Band of Thieves will be making a return, allowing the player to unlock new abilities for all of the playable characters. A new feature will allow anyone who owns both the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 versions of the game to use the Vita system as "a set of x-ray goggles" to find any of these hidden collectibles anywhere in the world, through the use of augmented reality.

Bentley, Murray, and Carmelita Fox are returning as playable characters, along with some of Sly's ancestors, who each possess unique abilities. Worlds in the game are claimed to be three times the size of the original trilogy. The game also supports stereoscopic 3D and local multiplayer in some sections of the game. Online multiplayer won't be included.

Plot

Thieves in Time follows from the conclusion of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves; Sly was faking amnesia to be with Carmelita, Murray was racing the team van, and Bentley had constructed a time machine, which is the only way to bring back the Thievius Raccoonus, as its pages are missing its words due to a mischievous collector traveling in time. Bentley must reform the gang to recover the missing book, and travel through time to protect the Cooper legacy. Carmelita has also been confirmed to be in the game; she will be voiced by Grey DeLisle, and will be playable as soon as the player has unlocked her through the story, in which she has her own story arc. In addition to the return of Sly Cooper, Bentley, Murray, and Carmelita, other established characters may appear; Dimitri will watch over the safe house, but it is unknown if he is working with Sly's gang.

New enemies will be introduced; the E3 demonstration included an egocentric tiger named El Jefe, voiced by Nolan North. El Jefe is an old war general with much prestige who topples governments and sells the country to the highest bidder.

Some of Sly's ancestors established in earlier games appear, and are playable characters once met within the game. These ancestors include:

• Rioichi Cooper, a ninja from Feudal Japan with a unique technique (the Leaping Dragon) that allows the character to scale great distances, voiced by Steven Blum
• Tennessee Kid' Cooper, Sly's gun-slinging ancestor from the Wild West who perfected the Rail Walk and Rail Slide techniques
• Bob (real name unpronounceable by others), Sly's prehistoric ancestor who lived during the last ice age, and is gifted with incredible strength and uses a thigh bone as his weapon of choice.
• Sir Galleth of the Knights of the Cooper Order, a bombastic knight from Medieval England who can scale large walls and use a knight's shield in battle
• Salim al Kupar, an Arabian Cooper with a special tornado technique and the ability to climb ropes far more quickly than Sly can

Development

Thieves in Time was being developed by Sanzaru Games, who previously created The Sly Collection, PlayStation 3-enhanced versions of the first three Sly Cooper games. According to Sanzaru's Glen Egan, the developers were interested in developing the Sly Cooper franchise further after Sucker Punch Productions, the original developer, had moved to the Infamous series. They worked out a prototype game engine for the PlayStation 3 which they presented to Sony Computer Entertainment. Sony was impressed with the prototype and gave them the development duties for the PlayStation 3 conversion of the original trilogy, and then subsequently green-lit Thieves in Time.

Thieves in Time represents a return to the series after an eight-year hiatus following the release of Sly 3. Several hints of the series' revival have been included in both Infamous games by Sucker Punch. In addition to other nods to the series, such as Sly Cooper's calling-card logo patch on Infamous' protagonist Cole MacGrath's backpack in both games and the ability to use Sly's cane as an alternate melee weapon within Infamous 2, both games features marquees that included the title "Sly 4". A teaser trailer included in the The Sly Collection, released in late 2010, titled "Sly 4", was believed to be an indication that a new game would soon be announced. The game was formally announced for PlayStation 3 during Sony's presentation at the 2011 E3 convention on June 6, 2011. A PlayStation Vita version was revealed on May 18, 2012 during the GTTV television show.

At Gamescom 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment announced the new Cross Buy program. Through this program, one could purchase the PS3 version of a game and receive the PS Vita version (provided one is available) completely free of charge through a code redeemable at the PS Vita's PlayStation Store. This program has been confirmed to include Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. A new trailer was also seen at Gamescom 2012, introducing Salim al Kupar as another confirmed ancestor and sending news that the release date had been pushed back to early 2013. Sony later clarified the release date to be in February 2013, stating that they didn't want Thieves in Time to release at the same time as all of the other games coming out in the fall of 2012; putting it in February would give it more prominence during the game's vital opening week with fewer big-name titles releasing at the same time.

A demo for the game is included on the North American version of the Ratchet and Clank Collection, which released on August 28; however, it only has a single mission to play. A new demo, including the Paris prologue, will be released on January 22nd for Playstation Plus members and January 29th for everyone on both the PS3 and PS Vita. On September 21, 2012, ten years after Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus released, Sony announced Sly 4's release date to be February 5, 2013, and announced the pre-order bonuses that will come with pre-ordering the game: a special outfit for Murray and two Paraglider "skins." The upcoming optional PlayStation 3 system software update version 5.00 is available only with the game on Blu-ray disc.

External links

• Official website