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Because each stage is one gigantic city upon which Sly runs various jobs for an ultimate purpose (like picking up treasure or freeing someone), finding the clue bottles never felt like part of a collect-a-thon scheme; you learned the streets, roofs, and hidden crawl-spaces while looking for them. But the game always came to a screeching halt with that last bottle lost somewhere to the wilderness (good luck trying to follow FAQ directions!) and as I conducted a frenzied and irritated search for it. Who wants to leave it behind and pass up a new ability?
Beyond that, it's virtually business as usual. Same controls, same mix of platforming and random minigames, same graphics. Split up like a television serial, the first episode of the game feels excessively same: it has to do with breaking Dimitri from Sly 2 out of jail in Venice. Venice? Hasn't Sly already been there? Or was it another European town that looked just like it? There are already even mini-games in this first episode reused from previous Slys. But get past this one and the next – the first two episodes are boring and plodding, easily the worst in the series – and breathe easy that Sly does steal his groove back.
Sucker's Game
Another sufferer of Mega Man Syndrome (will someone please donate to finding the cure?), none of Sly's crew carries their abilities over and with the absence of clue bottles, each one now has to be purchased. With some newly introduced abilities and all the old ones just as expensive, everybody has to collect more than double the coins. Very frustrating at first, and I spent as much time pick-pocketing guards and breaking magical coin-hiding upholstery for change as I would have looking for clue bottles.
But chalk this up to another stroke of subtle genius. Having a shop list populated with so many expensive abilities is unsettling, the fact that there's so much you can't have yet, but it always gives you something to work towards. In the previous two, I often had more money than I knew what to do with and this made the game too easy. So Sly 3's more of a challenge, and when you score some big money, it's especially divine.
The abilities, which drain a bar so you can't use them willy-nilly, can be divided into two categories: stealth/defense abilities, like a faster run, a parachute, or invisibility; and attack abilities, like being able to put your hands on fire or a stronger bomb. Sneaking may take longer, but you get to pick-pocket guards for loot. Attacking is faster and you get the coins and health they leave behind, but the others guards are always sure to take notice. What with rising costs and inflation of abilites, the player has to choose which ones most harmonious to their play style (direct or sneaky?) and define what kind of characters Sly, Bentley, and Murray are.
Even though you take a partial DM role and guide the growth of your characters, some things are regimented. Sly is the only one who has easy access to the rooftops and can land on spires and crawl against the walls; he's the most adept for sneaking around and picking pockets. Bentley is the weakest, though he has ranged attacks and with his magnet crane, there's no way he can get caught red-handed in the middle of a pickpocket. Murray is the direct attacker and chances are you'll be constantly swamped with guards when playing as him. Surprisingly, Murray is the fastest at picking up loose enemy change: he picks them up and literally shakes them down though you'll alert everyone while doing so.
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