After they steal a Japanese sword from the museum, the three travel to feudal Japan to try and meet up with Sly’s Japanese ancestor who has now been imprisoned. This is the first official level in the game and will introduce you to many of the unique gameplay elements this game has to offer.
Without spoiling too much for you, there are many humorous and varied missions that you will undertake in this Japanese level that make this game different from other platforming games. One of my favorite moments is when Murray the Hippo dresses up as a Geisha to distract all of the guards. In another cool moment, Bentley will use a remote controlled car to follow and eavesdrop on the main boss of this level.
After completing each mission, you will return back to the group’s hideout. The hideout acts as the game’s main hub where you can upgrade each characters’ skills, change clothes, replay previous missions or even play table tennis just to name a few. The more things that you collect during the levels, the more things you can get to unlock in the hideout.
This PS Vita version of the game does not make too much use of the Vita’s unique controls. I guess this is because the game is a PS3 port so the developer couldn’t implement many Vita exclusive elements to the game.
Another slightly annoying aspect while playing this game on the PS Vita is controlling the camera. Since the PS Vita lacks the “R3” button, you cannot simply reset the camera so that it rotates back automatically behind the character. Instead, you will have to manually rotate the camera using the right stick all of the time if the camera shifts when you are moving around.
The Japanese level introduced many fun elements that are rarely seen in other platform games and veteran Sly Cooper fans should be happy with the way things are shaping up.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is due out February 5th, 2013 in North America and March 27, 2013 in Europe for the PS3 and PS Vita.