Sly Cooper was a big part of my childhood. After I received my PS2 when I was about 10, Sly Cooper became the first game series that I latched onto. The first three games came out in quick succession between 2002 and 2005, and after playing these three I had become a lifelong fan of the series, replaying them frequently over the years.
Fastforward six years later. That dorky little middle-schooler who had just unlocked the Cooper Vault in Sly 3 was already starting college at Northwestern University. Imagine my surprise then when, in 2011, Sony officially announced a brand-new game in the Sly saga: Thieves in Time. The characters of my childhood were officially coming back for another round of thieving, and I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to pick up my controller and embark on a whole new adventure with my favorite anthropomorphic criminals. And after two long years of development, I was finally able to get my hands on a copy.
But as excited as I was, I was equally as nervous. I had matured so much in the past eight years, and I couldn’t know if Sly had done the same. It’s always dicey when trying to reconnect with middle school friends you haven’t seen in almost a decade, and part of me was afraid that Sly would only be a shadow of the pal I had spent so much time with back in the day. But I decided to brave it anyway. Sly and I got together for the first time since Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet. Here are a couple highlights of the conversation from our long-awaited reunion.
“Sly, you look old.”
Listen, I know that no one can expect to look the same after eight years, but there’s a difference between aging gracefully and straight-up getting old. In the past eight years, I’ve grown taller, my features have become more defined and I may occasionally find a telltale gray hair here or there. I can say the same for most of my old friends as well. What I don’t expect, though, is to see my friends become, well, wrinkly. Here’s a picture of you when you were in your prime, and here’s how you look today. What happened? I know that game developers nowadays are obsessed with making things look as real as possible, but you were never about that. Playing with you was designed to look and feel like a Saturday morning cartoon. If I wanted realistic raccoon fur, I would’ve watched Animal Planet.
“Sly, I love your new friends.”
I have to admit, as great as it was playing just the two of us in your first game, it was always exciting getting to meet the new characters you’d bring around in your next games, and your newest friends are probably my favorite of the lot. I didn’t quite know what to think when I heard you’d be bringing along some of your ancestors to play in this newest game, but they certainly make Thieves in Time stand out quickly. All of your family members possess that iconic Cooper charm that made us such fast friends in the first place, yet they’re all unique enough to keep everything fresh and interesting. After hearing about your infamous legacy for so long, it was exciting to get to meet them firsthand, and it makes me excited to find out more about what else you’ve got hiding in your family tree. I have made a lot of quality new friends in the past eight years, and it’s great to know you’ve done the same.
“Sly, you’re not as nimble as you used to be.”
I’ve changed a lot since middle school. I can run faster, jump higher and I’m generally lighter on my feet than that uncoordinated mess you first met a decade ago. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be true for you. Playing with you used to make me feel like a ninja, seeing you scale drainpipes, run across tightropes and land on a spire all without breaking your stride. You introduced me to the free-running style of gameplay I find so appealing in more modern games like Assassin’s Creed or Prince of Persia. But now, you’ve lost that sharp edge of effortlessness, and every move you pull comes with a certain amount of hesitation that simply wasn’t there before. It’s certainly not a deal breaker, but it does leave me occasionally yearning for the fluid movement of your younger years.
“Sly, you’ve still got it.”
You might be a little rusty, but seeing you again was everything I hoped it would be. From the moment I heard that familiar music, all of those grade school memories came rushing back. The unique gameplay style you had perfected by Sly 2 still holds fast today, and your memorable, cel shaded worlds have only gotten better with age. Each new character is as unforgettable as your more classic friends and enemies, and each possesses the same level of depth and personality that I've come to expect from you and your friends. Everything from your gang’s iconic voices to your sharp sense of humor rings true to our adventures from so long ago. And that’s what I most admire about you. You didn’t try too hard to reinvent yourself or turn yourself hardcore like Jak did. You stayed true to who you are, stuck with what you do best, added a few improvements to keep it fresh and knocked it out of the park. It was the perfect fusion of exciting innovation and nostalgic charm, and I’m so glad I was able to go on one more adventure with you.
It’s good to have you back, buddy.