Gameplay elements so inventive and varied and so perfect in their flow that one barely notes it being platforming...
Less the result of natural selection than destiny--the three of them know each other from their childhood orphanage--the fireproof friendship between the anthropomorphic raccoon, box turtle, and magenta hippo does confirm itself once again in their fourth adventure in which Cyrille Le Paradox, billionaire art collector and black-market dealer son of a thief once outsmarted by Sly's father in stealing the world's biggest diamond, gets his hands on the plans for Bentley's time travel machine thanks to whose ex-girlfriend and fellow tech wizz Penelope. As the friends see the letters disappear from the famous handbook Thievius Racoonus's pages, there is no other remedy for them than traveling to the past in order to put the time continuum straight again and thus avoid the Cooper dynasty's history being erased.
Crucial in the trio's expedition to the past are Sly's playable ancestors, to be found and freed in their epoch where they are being compromised by Le Paradox's mercenaries: in Feudal Japan, the American Old West, the Ice Age, Medieval England, and Ancient Arabia. If Sly and his friends' talents are as different and complementary as they are themselves--Sly favoring stealth & jumps, Murray fists & stomps, and Bentley wheel chair high tech--, each of Sly's talented forefathers has his particular skill suited to overcome the difficulties of the corresponding historical or exotic environment and its foes.
So Rioichi Cooper, Sly's ancient Japanese offshoot is both a wise master Ninja and a averred sushi chef, Tennessee Kid Cooper, his Wild West relative, a rail-sliding gentleman gunslinger, Caveman Cooper aka "Bob", a wall climbing prehistoric proto-raccoon not yet recorded in the chronicles, the medieval English Sir Galleth, a gallant though theatrical crash and dash "Knight of the Cooper Order", and Salim Al Kupar, a cobra-climbing and magic carpet-flying retiree-to-be in Ancient Arabia.
Yet also Sly himself consecutively acquires the different loadouts suitable for performing the tasks required in each situation: a Japanese Samurai Costume serving as heavy armor and shield to withstand flames and deflect fireballs; an Old West Jailbird Costume whose heavy iron chain ball permits smashing objects and avoiding electric grids; a prehistoric Sabretooth Costume that grants the sneaky flexibility and hunting prowess of a cat; a Medieval Archer Costume allowing to fire arrows and stretch tightropes; and an Oriental Thief Costume plus scimitar permitting to cut chains and slow down time, which all can be used also after finishing the story in order to reach the remote treasures of the previously completed levels.
All those backward explorations wouldn't be the same without Interpol inspector Carmelita Fox who after her short Paris romance with "amnesiac" Sly finds herself sent back to the American past through Le Paradox and captured by his mercenary Sheriff Toothpick to then be rescued by the charming Tennessee Kid Cooper. Still furious after Sly's deception but aware of their mutuality in the fight for justice--albeit from different sides of the law--she does eventually cooperate with the Cooper gang after a time-space wormhole caused through Murray's bone necklace makes them accidentally crash into the Ice Age, as well as in the succeeding Medieval England and Ancient Arabia episodes, in order to finish with their common enemy Le Paradox. And also Bentley's vanished ex Penelope makes her appearance, although far less positively for Bentley's shell-shocked heart, in the disguise of the "Dark Knight" (which recalls her former "Black Baron") commanding an army of robotic guards--"Of Mice and Mechs"--, again on behalf of Le Paradox.
It is but some picturesque foes parading in this animal circus: after El Jefe, a cigar-smoking Cuban tiger, Toothpick, a gold-loving armadillo, Grizz, a rapping, ice-skating black artist bear, Black Knight Penelope (a Dutch mouse), it is the classical music-loving elephant Miss Decibel, boss of the Ancient Arabia level, who has to be defeated in an end-level encounter uniquely designed like those of the four preceding chapters, culminating in the final showdown with Le Paradox (a skunk) himself in present Paris. If it is the five ancestors that are brought together in order to help recovering their individual not always hooked canes, symbol of the Cooper dynasty, in a mutually organized way brilliantly combining the platforming elements of the story's different levels: Rioichi retrieves Bob's cane, Bob that of Salim, Salim Sir Galleth's one, Sir Galleth Tennessee's, and Tennessee his own one, after which they time-travel back to their actual period, Sly himself tragically disappears after defeating Le Paradox in a series of easy quick-time events.
Like Sly and his ancestors, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time has many elements in common with the three anterior games: apart from the familiar interface the controls are ripened and almost perfect to use on both PS3 and PS Vita, with the latter being flawlessly complemented through both touchscreen and rear pad (Binocucom, Costumes, Compass). Moving, climbing, jumping, and attacking with the main characters is easy and satisfying, to which can be added the playable ancestors' abilities (Ninja Spire jump, rail sliding, wall climbing, catapult crash, cobra climb) and those provided through Sly's different costumes (fireball deflection, iron chain ball smashes, feral killer pounce, arrows/tightropes, time freezing) the appropriate use of which is required for every final boss encounter as well as the different levels' well-designed platforming sections, along with other rather amusing actions like the rhythmic pressing of specified buttons known also from Sly 3. --In total a use of gameplay elements so perfect in its flow and so inventive and varied that one sometimes barely notes that it is platforming being performed here.
Also alike previous Sly installments, arcade-ish sub-games can be found on every level, for instance, when having to provide beer to thirsty cow-boys or to shoot explosive barrels or moving targets with guns or arrows, or in the funny workout for Bob (by courtesy of Murray) where penguins have to be hit or dodged, which complement the yet known but always enjoyable hacking mini-games (maze, shooter, blaster types). Additionally, the ThiefNet known from former Sly games and accessed while in the trio's different Hideouts permits to purchase individual upgrades and combos for the main characters thanks to the many coins pick-pocketed or looted through crates, barrels, cacti, vases, etc. routinely smashed while heading to the next job. Most of the yet familiar gadgets (Moving Pickpocket, Raging Inferno Flop, Scorching Hover Pack) are useful if not really necessary--except Sleep Ammo, Silent Obliteration, Paraglider--to complete the different jobs, whereas given the levels' largely hostile fauna might come in handy when continuing the exploration after completing the story. Along with the thirty clue bottles to be collected on each level there are Sly masks and time-challenge treasures as well as the habitual safes opened by means of the bottles. PS Vita owners have an advantage here since they can use their device thanks to its rear camera as an AR viewer to spot the hidden treasures of any of the levels when both PS3 and PSV are connected to the same network (and the AR server is set to On).
The curious treasures like the Ninja Cookbook or the Tales of a Samurai Hippo Comic cannot be sold like in previous games but admired together with the costumes exposed in the hideout, which furthermore offers the possibility to play table tennis (as Sly against Bentley) and to use the six Arcade machines to be repaired by Murray after collecting the corresponding treasure (a trophy is provided for beating every hideout arcade's top high score). Thanks to the time-machine accessible via the van parked in the hideout one can easily travel backwards to the different levels and replay all jobs once completed the story, thus giving the game like its predecessors an almost inexhaustible replay interest.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time sports also the same colorful graphics but which could use some refinement with respect to the previous releases, as would the camera's sometimes too inflexible angles. The voice acting is great (Kevin Miller, Matt Olsen, Chris Murphy, Grey DeLisle, Nolan North) and makes the banters between the friends, Carmelita included, a pleasure also for adult players, as does the jazzy instrumental music by Sly composer Peter McConnell suitably adapting to the historical or exotic ambiance of every level, whereas the sounds accompanying stealth actions or health recovery too are well-known to players of the former Sly games.
Not enough with "securing" past and present artwork but forging "paleo-graffiti" and even a fake royal lineage while getting rid of investigators, Le Paradox who hired his mercenaries to steal the Cooper ancestors' canes and alter the past in order to erase the Cooper family from history and thus ensure his own fortune in future is not only "a menace to the time continuum (not to mention the arts)."--"Why the ancestors, why not only me?" Sly asks Le Paradox after defeating him on his blimp: but the latter fails because of his ego whereas Sly as a true Cooper succeeds thanks to his firm relationship with his friends (and Carmelita) as well as the unconditional help of his ancestral clan members. So one might hope that they will be reuniting once more in order to retrieve the present Sly Cooper (who can be seen in Ancient Egypt after unlocking all the trophies) in yet another sequel, which thanks to its varied gameplay with good-working controls and delightfully designed levels and characters is--also and in particular on the PS Vita--still one of the most gratifying series to be played for young and old.