E3 2011: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time First Look Preview

Correction: The beginning of this article previously stated that Sucker Punch was the developer of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. We rectified the error and apologize for the confusion.

Sanzaru Games, the developers of the Sly Collection for the PS3, has finally done it. The long-awaited fourth game that core and casual gamers have waited for has finally been announced. The game, called Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, was revealed during Sony's press conference at this year's E3.

The teaser depicted the anthropomorphic raccoon thief Sly Cooper doing what he does best: leaping from building to building incognito in the dark, while being chased by the police in an unknown city. While escaping, he manages to pull off his trademark "perching onto the top of a spire" pose, slide down on a cable to the other side using his trademark cane, and catch a clothesline during a fall to catapult away from the police cars below.

Near the end of the short teaser, it turned out that the shadowy figure that seemed to be Sly Cooper was in fact Sly Cooper 2's antagonist-turned-ally, literal lounge lizard Dimitri Lousteau, who seemed mad when he told Sly Cooper (offscreen in the teaser) that he's not his "cheesy macaroni." We then heard Sly Cooper commenting to Bentley--again, offscreen--that "this is the last time we ever leave Dimitri in charge of the hideout." The turtle sidekick replied, "It was also the first time."

Not only did Sly Cooper seem to retain its all-ages humor, but the graphics in the trailer (which looked like in-game material) looked just as colorful as in past games, only with a coating of high-definition PlayStation 3 graphics. If past Sly Cooper titles are of any indication (along with developer Sucker Punch's past work with the Infamous series), Thieves in Time may lean towards being a sandbox-style action game. As an additional bonus for longtime fans of the series, it seems that the original voices of Sly Cooper and Bentley (Kevin Miller and Matt Olsen respectively) may be reprising their past roles.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will be out in 2012 for the PS3. Stay tuned for more coverage on this game later at this year's E3.