Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (also known as Sly 4 or Sly 4: Thieves in Time), is the upcoming fourth title of the Sly Cooper series of platform stealth video games. Thieves in Time is a PlayStation 3 exclusive game. 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 formally announced at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo during Sony's presentation on June 7, 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, reunites his gang to locate and recover the Thievius Raccoonus, a book chronicling the Cooper family line that has been lost in time. The player controls Sly, Bentley, and Murray and uses his thieving skills to pull off heists and recover the missing parts of the book over the course of the game.
Gameplay
Demonstrations of Thieves in Time show it using similar mechanics as the earlier games in the series. As a platform game rendered through cel-shading, the player controls the master thief Sly Cooper, equipped with a cane, and can run, jump, and perform melee attacks on enemies. Sly is gifted with thieving skills, allowing the player to execute actions like parkour, running along thin railings, landing atop narrow platforms, and sneaking around undetected. A new feature of the game are collectible costumes earned through the course of play. The costumes can be activated through the controls, giving Sly a different set of abilities. In an E3 2011 demonstration, Sly is given a suit of armor costume that includes a large shield that can reflect projectiles back at a foe. In another part of the demonstration, Sly is able to don a gypsy outfit that grants him the power to slow down time for a brief period.[4] One other costume was shown on March 1, 2012, where the character puts on a green Robin Hood-like outfit that allows sim to pick up and shoot arrows.[citation needed] The player, after collecting these costumes, can go back to previous levels and use these costumes to unlock secret areas or complete the level in a different manner. Bentley and Murray will also be playable characters in the game. The larger game is structured similar to the second and third games, using levels that feature a central open-world-like hub and missions that are launched from certain points, with worlds 3 times the size of the originals.
The game will support stereoscopic 3D for displays with that feature.
Glen Egan mentioned in an interview on March 1st that multiplayer will be allowed at some point in the game.
Plot
Thieves in Time follows from the conclusion of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves; Bentley had constructed a time machine, but in its use, the Thievius Raccoonus, the book that has chronicled the history and techniques of the Cooper family of master thieves, has been lost to time. Sly Cooper reforms his gang to recover the missing book, traveling through time to protect his legacy. In addition to the return of Sly Cooper, Bentley, and Murray, other established characters may appear; the 2011 E3 trailer included Dimitri working with Sly's gang. New enemies will be introduced; the E3 demonstration included an ego-centric 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; Rioichi Cooper, a ninja from Feudal Japan, has a unique technique, the Leaping Dragon, that allows the character to scale great distances. Rioichi will be voiced by Steven Blum.Another confirmed ancestor is Sir Galleth of the Knights of the Cooper Order.
Development
Thieves in Time is 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 a six 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 McGrath'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 during Sony's presentation at the 2011 E3 convention on June 7, 2011.
