Hands-on With Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Earlier this week, Rey and I visited Foster City-based Sanzaru Games, the developers of this fall’s Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. As the first original PS3 entry in the classic PS2 thieving series, and the first to be developed outside of Sucker Punch Studios, Thieves in Time represents a long-awaited return to form as well as a natural entry point for series newcomers. Where Sly 2 and Sly 3 let you slip into the roles of Sly’s partners in crime, Thieves in Time expands upon that concept by granting you control of Sly’s infamous ancestors — the Cooper Clan members named in the hallowed pages of the Thievius Racoonus. In one chapter set in ancient Japan, I played as Rioichi, Sly’s sushi-slinging ninja ancestor. Slinking past sleeping guards while searching for a special set of sushi knives, I used Rioichi’s Leaping Dragon ability to soar through laser fences and other high-tech traps designed to derail the Cooper Clan’s devious destiny.