Hands-On: The Sly Collection

With the success the God of War Collection has seen, it’s easy to see why Sony would continue the trend and move forth with more high-definition remakes. Next up on the list is The Sly Collection. When I went to get my hands on it at a recent Sony preview event in New York City, the first thing I thought to myself was “why Sly“?

That’s not to say that Sly Cooper is a bad game, not at all. That’s just me wondering why – when everybody chanted for a Team ICO Collection – a Sly Collection arrived instead.

As it turns out, it was Sanzaru’s choice – an upcoming developer based in Foster City. They’re handling the development on The Sly Collection and, from what I’ve seen, are doing incredibly well. I’ve never got into the Sly series on the PS2, so they’ve created the perfect opportunity for me to immerse myself into it.

I only played two portions of the game. The first was an incredibly hard boss fight from Sly 3, if I’m not mistaken. From what I understand, this chicken enemy I fought is around the third to last boss in the game, explaining its high difficulty. Sony Assistant Producer, Caley Roberts, told me that most people who’ve played this level at press events die due to the difficulty.

Basically, I was in a forest area full of trees that are easily cut. There was a lake in the middle of the area. There I was, running around in circles waiting for this evil chicken to try and attack me. After it missed its attack is when I went for it. I played a few hits on him, but he got harder, faster even. I was just about to die when the game froze. Uh-oh. Roberts restarted the system; jokingly, he told me that it’s a good thing the game is still in development. Rest easy as that glitch will most likely be fixed by the fall, when The Sly Collection launches.

I don’t think the gameplay is what they were trying to show off here. Many of us have been there and done that. What Sony was trying to show off was the game’s 3D functionality, which can be used across all three Slys included in the collection. So on to the next portion of the demo, then: airplanes.

The airplane level was probably the best way to show off The Sly Collection‘s 3D. It did it well. My objective was to kill all enemy planes. While I attempting to do so, they were firing at me just as I was firing at them. Bullets flew at the screen and it felt like I needed to lean left to dodge it. Honestly, it was nothing amazing. It’s not like the game was built from the ground up for 3D support. However, it is a welcome bonus for the three classics.

Roberts promised me that when this game launches, you won’t believe it. It’s got three top-rated classics, three platinum trophies, additional mini-games created specifically for PlayStation Move, and all the Sly you could want (until we start begging for Sly 4, that is) for $39.99. Now that’s a price I wouldn’t mind paying. Look out for it this fall.