Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 470 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 358 out of 470
  2. Mixed: 79 out of 470
  3. Negative: 33 out of 470
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  1. Roy-Legacy
    Nov 14, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's kinda lame as hell compared to the 2 previous games. The way you control your characters feels weird and different, and not in a good way. Guards now became a pain in the ass, and engaging in combat with them is useless. Sly is supposed to be swift, now you can't even do the stealth move properly and they kinda focused too much on Sly's costumes, you don't even feel like a thief anymore. The game was supposed to be comic styled, not cartoonish, yet another thing ruined. I only bought this game because it's Sly, the story isn't bad at all but I don't expect a new Sly game to be any better than this one.… Expand
  2. HTGamer
    Apr 4, 2017
    7
    Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is a game created by Sanzaru Games, a studio which loved the series and took over development duties after Sucker Punch moved on to inFamous. It's good, but it's not progressed by anything since the 2nd game was released in 2004. I could even say Thieves in Time got just a bit worse than Sly 2 and 3.

    The story is meh (Sly travels back in time and encounters    Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is a game created by Sanzaru Games, a studio which loved the series and took over development duties after Sucker Punch moved on to inFamous. It's good, but it's not progressed by anything since the 2nd game was released in 2004. I could even say Thieves in Time got just a bit worse than Sly 2 and 3.

    The story is meh (Sly travels back in time and encounters several of his ancestors across the centuries), and most of the time you play as any other character other than the protagonist Sly. This particular structure of playing as another character, which debuted in Sly 2, has only gotten overblown in this game. Across the 6 chapters it's something like 2 missions for Sly, 2 for Bentley, 2 for Murray, and 1 for the guest star of each chapter (a Sly ancestor). It may sound as full of variety, but sadly most missions aren't as fun as on the previous games.

    The core gameplay is exactly the same as the old games, which isn't bad but there are few surprises, if at all. The art style has been updated for the modern age, but I like it less than the one in the PS2 games. Thankfully on PS3 it runs at 60 fps, which is important for a 3D platformer. There is even the cross-save feature to transfer your save data between the PS3 and Vita versions and play the game on whichever platform you want. If you have the choice though, play it on the PS3.

    I know that I may be overly critical about this game, but I played the PS2 games on the PS3/Vita remasters and they were better. I only wish a new Sly Cooper game will come out at some point. Until then, play The Sly Collection on PS3/Vita and then consider Thieves in Time.    … Expand
  3. Ian277
    Feb 23, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I previously gave this game a 7/10 and here are my reasons for lowering it. I said I liked the mechanics of the game and it does have fun gameplay, but this game has some really annoying flaws, first off this game is too easy. I don't even have to sneak around due to the dumb AI who forget you existed after being out of their reach for 5 seconds. the enemies don't even alert other guards. so the roaming around isn't as fun as it could be. but the bottles and treasures are very fun to hunt for I enjoyed that. However here is another flaw that made the game worse than it could be. the textures and buildings are repeated so often it seems they just copied and pasted them, for example the Arabia level, please go play that and see what i mean. the levels don't have many landmarks so i often end up lost (the exception is the prehistoric level) basically the levels are dry and repetitive. here's another good thing. the missions are very well done, although very easy (the exception the archery challenge in medieval England). i find most of the missions fun but it can be repetitive. the black knight boss battle (Penelope)is very fun and had to retry it once. and that is another con the boss battles are a breeze the final boss battle is just hitting triangle square circle and X, the worst part of the final boss battle is you have too much time to hit the buttons, plus if you accidentally hit a wrong button it still lets you try to hit the correct one. just really disappointing how lame the combat is the enemies and bosses totally blow. this game is not all bad but it seemed lazy. i want a sequel that is not as easy please make another one and make it good. final verdict is a 4/10 but that does not mean you can't enjoy some of the fun missions, and cool cooper ancestors. so go ahead and get this game and make your own opinion. enjoy.… Expand
  4. GoWFreak19
    Feb 10, 2013
    6
    The game is well made, perfect blend of all the great Cooper games, but it does get boring after a couple of hours and the childish tone doesn't allow me to take the game too seriously.
  5. mose14
    Jun 14, 2013
    6
    Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is the return of Sly and his gang, as they take on another adventure this time through time. The story in Thieves in Time is not all that important but stills has great character and some funny jokes. The new cast of characters are interesting but the main villain is a bit one-dimensional. The gameplay in Thieves in Time is the game's strong suit. TheSly Cooper: Thieves in Time is the return of Sly and his gang, as they take on another adventure this time through time. The story in Thieves in Time is not all that important but stills has great character and some funny jokes. The new cast of characters are interesting but the main villain is a bit one-dimensional. The gameplay in Thieves in Time is the game's strong suit. The platforming is better than ever, throwing new and inventive ways of getting from point A to point B. The game does feel a bit to easy at some points, but then the game throws a difficulty spike out of nowhere just to make the game more challenging. The boss fights seem to be the most balanced, as you have to learn their strategies to beat them. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time feels like a throw back to the old Sly Cooper games, it doesn't do anything new to change the series, but still maintains all the fun of the original trilogy.… Expand
  6. BetalootDOTcom
    Apr 4, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Sly and the Gang is back for more adventures! And this time, they have a time machine! The Sly hit trilogy, developed by Sucker Punch, and published by Sony is back once again, but this time, Sanzaru games have taken over development. In Sly Cooper thieves in time, you once again play as Sly, Bentley, Murray, Carmelita and a Bunch of sly’s ancestors. You will be traveling to the Ice Age, Medieval england, and so many more! All of the ages look different, and have different enemies.

    Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is a very easy game, which means that people who were young when the series was released, are too old to get any form of challenge in this game, except for the bosses. So this is more a blast to the past, than a challenging game. The boss battles feels very generic, and is the same thing, just with a little more difficulty each time you get a shot at them. And you can only attack them, when the game wants you to.

    While the game has its good sides, there is certainly also some bad ones, for example the AI, the AI of the enemies are terrible, you can only get seen by them if you are inside of their very little beam of light, if you are outside of this, you can jump around and do all sorts of stuff, without them noticing.

    There is a spoiler now, so if you want to skip it, simply just skip the next section.
    In every single age, it feels like the story is the same. You get there, one of your ancestors are captured in some kind of way, you help them escape, and their cooper cane get’s taken by the villain of that age, all of the villains are from your age, and works together with Le paradox. So it feels very repetitive.

    Another thing that we do not like is the mini games, the game has quite a lot of them, all from dancing so you have to press the correct button at the correct time, to you throwing pints over a table to some bar customers. When you are playing as bentley, and you need to hack something, it is also a mini-game, there is 3 different kinds of hacking mini-games, the first is a top down tank shooter, the second is one where you have to use the gyroscope in the PS3 controller, and last of all there is a side scrolling one where you are “super” Bentley with a gun.

    Thieves in Time, is also one of the games that have cross-saves, which is great! You can play on your PS3 at home, then save the game, and continue on the PS-Vita, this feature is great, and we hope to see this in many more games to come!

    So if you are here for the sheer nostalgia, we do recommend Thieves in Time, if you are newcomer to the series, we do not recommend it as it has way too many flaws, and is not difficult at all. We give Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, a 6.5/10. For more gaming news and reviews, head over to BetaLoot.com    … Expand
  7. Netaro
    Aug 8, 2015
    5
    This game was a mixed bag for me. It looks really good, the voice acting is great and they got the original composer to do the music! But Sanzaru Games changed a lot of things that they didn't need to change.

    The great powerup system from the previous 3 games are gone and are replaced with costumes for Sly and for the rest of the gang the powerups are removed entirely. Instead of tons    This game was a mixed bag for me. It looks really good, the voice acting is great and they got the original composer to do the music! But Sanzaru Games changed a lot of things that they didn't need to change.

    The great powerup system from the previous 3 games are gone and are replaced with costumes for Sly and for the rest of the gang the powerups are removed entirely. Instead of tons of great and helpful powerups; the only thing Bentley and Murray have are different variations of attacks that they already have.

    The different worlds in all of the different episodes looks good but the majority of them are badly designed and easily forgettable, I can't really put my finger on it but the atmosphere and immersion just isn't there. Speaking of worlds: In Sly 1 and 2 there were bottles that you could collect throughout each world. These were fun to search for and they gave you and awesome reward when you found all 30 of them in each episode.
    In Sly 3 the bottles were gone which was kind of a shame. They do however return in this game but sadly, Sanzaru kinda screwed it up. Since the powerup system is gone you wont get any cool powerups by finding the bottles, like you did in the first two games, you instead get boring "upgrades" like the coins slowly moves towards you or you take no damage when you fall in water. These upgrades are helpful but they are so bland.
    The bottles themselves are also REALLY hard to find. In the first two games it was not too hard, but also not too easy, to find all the bottles since they were usually found near each other. For example if you find one bottle you will most definitely find at least 3 other bottles in that same area. In this game however, they are soooo spread out! And you can barley hear them. That was one of the great clues in the other games, the bottles made loud clinky noises when you were close to them. Here, they make a very faint clinky noise when you are practically RIGHT next to them.

    I'd say this game is worth getting but please be aware that if you're a Sly fan then maybe you will be disappointed at some aspects of the game. If you've never played a Sly game before I'd recommend buying the Sly trilogy instead. It's available for the PS3 and PsVita (You can also buy the games separately on PS2). If, however, you only want to buy one Sly game then I'd recommend Sly 2. It has the coolest powerups and the most impressive worlds in my opinion.    … Expand
  8. Dperks
    Mar 10, 2019
    6
    Sly 4 is such a very mix bag from begining to end. For starters the concept is good with traveling threw time and meetings sly's ancestors but it really doesn't amount to much and feels like wasted potential. the gameplay is still sly enjoyable platforming and minor puzzle solving but the games pacing lacks focus and the main antagonist doesn't help much. The new character designs lookSly 4 is such a very mix bag from begining to end. For starters the concept is good with traveling threw time and meetings sly's ancestors but it really doesn't amount to much and feels like wasted potential. the gameplay is still sly enjoyable platforming and minor puzzle solving but the games pacing lacks focus and the main antagonist doesn't help much. The new character designs look good in 2d but in 3d can kinda look off especially Carmalita. Some off the mini games are kinda meh as well although the inclusion of more hacking mini games was nice. But really the only 2 things I feel truly hold it back from being at least as good as the other games in the series is the ending and the character shift in there personality> Maybe these things could have been fixed in a sequel and I would be more forgiving but 6 years later and no sign of one coming leaves me with this ending and that really disappoints me.… Expand
  9. Hart3
    Dec 18, 2018
    7
    definitely the oddball of the sly games, thieves in time involves time travel, cuz that's never been used in a video game! sly meets his ancestors and overall, it's ok. it is a bit gimmicky, but the leveldesign is extremely fun, and the new art style sanzaru introduced is pretty nice. it's definitely not great, but it's not so awful that you'd give it to oj simpson for christmas! its alright.
  10. MazdoTechno
    Nov 19, 2019
    5
    This game had years of hype and expectations to live up to, and it really didn’t
    There’s not much to be found here apart from occasional funny moments
    The final boss is laughably easy and uninteresting
    They should have left the Sly trilogy alone and not made this teased and yet ultimately unnecessary game
  11. PMG
    Jan 25, 2014
    7
    This game may not be as good as the first Sly games, but i don't care. After 8 years of waiting, i was satisfied. The ability to play as Sly's ancestors was a great addition, especially Rioichi. The combat was tight as ever, the charactars are joyfull and the artstyle reminds me of nothing but good memories. My only problem is that the game is really short, and even that is made of forThis game may not be as good as the first Sly games, but i don't care. After 8 years of waiting, i was satisfied. The ability to play as Sly's ancestors was a great addition, especially Rioichi. The combat was tight as ever, the charactars are joyfull and the artstyle reminds me of nothing but good memories. My only problem is that the game is really short, and even that is made of for with good missions and colletables. A great way to make Sly even better!… Expand
  12. andoarias
    May 12, 2014
    6
    The childish focus of the game prevents it from aiming higher targets. The combat system is too simple and the development of the game turns quite boring after some hours.
  13. LordCuppington
    Sep 2, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time is an action/adventure 3D platforming game, and is also my first Sly game I have ever played. I have played it from beginning to end, and am now currently in the process of working towards the platinum trophy. Needless to say, I have seen quite a bit of this game, and now I shall breakdown how I feel about it.

    Graphics: The look, colors, and overall presentation of the game are nice. Character models are fun, and animations/cutscenes are also fun to look at. It bears a cel-shaded look which reminds me of Wind Waker. Bottom line for the graphics is that they are just fine. It resembles a cartoon look, with cartoon characters, and yes cartoonish humor. It works well.

    Sound: It's not that great. The sound effects are very standard, and sound like they came off of some soundboard app. As for the actual music for the game, it's very boring. I actually found myself shutting the music off because I'd rather hear the clinking clank of collectible hidden bottles scattered throughout the game, because they make a distinct sound when you are near them. The most praise I can give for this game in this department is that the voice acting is top notch and enjoyable.

    Controls: They are ok. Just ok. I mean you are able to get things done relatively easy, however there are some gripes. There are areas where Sly or other playable characters can access, but require a button to press. For example the circle button is needed to jump onto a wire suspended in the air, but lets say that the wire is just a little bit out of reach. This will require you to perform a double jump towards that wire. To perform a double jump you obviously need to press the X button twice. You would think this would be enough, but it isn't. Now you must press circle in order to "verify" that's where you want to jump. So it's 3 button inputs for most of your jumps in this game. Very unnecessary, and annoying. Speaking of annoying another gripe I have with the controls is that since the game allows you to play as quite a number of different characters, there is no move list in the options. The only way to review any moves while in game is to look at them through thiefnet (an upgrade screen only accessible via the hideout) with so many playable characters and so many purchasable moves to use, you would think they would put a move list in the options! One last thing to mention about the controls....the camera often gets stuck on or behind objects. The camera does not clip through objects in game and can easily get obstructed. A rookie mistake for sure.

    Gameplay: The game has a lot going for it, such as nice hub worlds, entertaining missions, different playable characters, and lots of treasures to find, and pockets to pick. However the game suffers from quite a bit of bad things as well. Enemies are strewn about all over the place, and while I enjoy a challenge, it seems to be in overkill mode here. The moves sly gets to use are all pretty much useless once you get a move that allows you to quickly dispatch foes from behind. Instead of the game putting you into situations where you may need to employ different moves onto different enemies, this game just lets you do what you want for the most part, which is good, but bad at the same time. In other words I felt the game was very easy. Other issues with the game include poorly lit areas, choppy jumping, lazy missions (mostly found in the 3rd and 4th episode) annoying boss battles, no checklist for sly masks (a collectible), treasures are not placed in order in hideout to make a nice and easy checklist (most treasures are placed in order, but for some reason a few are out of place and have messed me up) and many more inconsistencies. I noticed some major rookie mistakes in the game, and was a bit confused since this is Sly's 4th outing on consoles. I knew something had to be wrong, and then I looked it up and noticed the developer is someone new. Sanzaru games developed this latest installment, and not Sucker Punch. So perhaps Sanzaru still has room to grow.

    In Conclusion I know that reviewing a 3 year old game is quite a bit late, but I just had to put down my feelings on how I viewed it. It's not a great game, but it's not terrible either. I think a 7 is a fair score. While it lacks in some departments, it makes up for it in others. Now that the game is a few years old it would definitely be worth the price tag. I wouldn't pay no more than 20 bucks for this game, and thats about what you can find it for new, and even less used.    … Expand
  14. Erosion
    Jan 27, 2017
    7
    Eh, not bad at all, but it has some flaws, It was pretty dang good, but, it feels very different, I don't really like the Voice acting for other characters except Bently, Murray and Sly, And also the fact that in Sly 2, The mechanics were outstanding, In this, 0.1% better.

    In conclusion, Sly 4 is amazing, but with average flaws
  15. Elite_Soldier
    Jul 24, 2021
    5
    Dropped the game after the first 3 hours, the controls are janky and the dialogue just isn't that entertaining. Was bored out of my mind playing it, defo does not hold up to the original trilogy.
  16. EvilPlayer
    Jul 10, 2022
    7
    Well, this part is weaker than trilogy. Developers ruined the plot and characters, you have less gadgets and abilities than in trilogy. Without these things I can't play this game and enjoy non-stop, but it's playable. Getting the platinum was some challenge, but I did it. Because of game flaws I spent there less time than in trilogy.
  17. Mellorates17
    Dec 2, 2021
    6
    Disappointed in this one my least favorite in the series but theirs fun to be had here.

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best PS3 Game of 2013
20
#20 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2013
55
#55 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 69 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 69
  3. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. XGN
    Sep 17, 2013
    60
    Sly is back and we applaud that, kind of. The game is outdated, too simple and too childish. It’s a good deal that you can buy the PS3 and Vita version for the same price, so that offers twice the amount of fun.
    Read full review
  2. Official PlayStation Magazine Benelux
    Apr 22, 2013
    72
    The return of Sly Cooper not only signals the return of a classic franchise, but also the return of a classic, almost forgotten genre: the 3D-platformer. Fans can rejoice, because it feels like Sly never truly left the building. [April 2013, p.71]
  3. Games Master UK
    Apr 13, 2013
    81
    Sly hits the current generation with charm, variety and humour in spades. An excellent return. [May 2013, p.80]
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