If you grew up with a PlayStation 2, there's a good chance Sly Cooper and his crew have a permanent spot in your memory because it felt alive: banger soundtrack, saucy villains, and classic heist themes throughout that made you feel like the ultimate thief.
Released in 2004, Sly 2: Band of Thieves was a full step up in every direction from the first entry in this series and holds up as one of the best games of its generation.
Sly 2 came in and asked: what if every heist fully immersed you in the setting the band lands in for each mission? Each chapter drops you into a sprawling open hub: Paris rooftops, multiple stops in India, and much more. You case the joint and prep using every member of the team to finally execute the plan to grab the Clockwerk part each villain is using in evil ways (without a misstep, right?). It felt cinematic in a way very few games managed to pull off.
"Sly 2 didn't just let you play the hero. It let you feel like part of a crew."
The biggest leap from the first game is that you're not just playing as Sly anymore. Bentley gets his own missions: hacking terminals, planting bugs, and going full spy-thriller mode. Murray gets brawler sections that hit like a cartoon action movie.
Cycling between all three, the game starts to feel less like a video game and more like a heist film you're actually inside of.
That crew dynamic is what made Sly 2 special. Sucker Punch understood that a heist is only as good as its team, so they made you care about each character. Bentley's anxiety, Murray's loyalty, Sly's confidence, it all comes through not just in cutscenes but in how each of them controls. There's real personality baked into the gameplay itself.
The world building was on a different level
Every chapter in Sly 2 had its own antagonist, setting and mini-story, but they all connected back to a bigger plot about the Klaww Gang and the stolen pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. That structure kept things fresh without ever losing the thread.
In one chapter, you're sneaking through Paris while going toe to toe with the jive-est lizard who won’t let you forget it (“Show your bling and let me shine you!”), and the next you're navigating a Bollywood-inspired palace run by a regal, spice-smuggling tiger. And don’t forget Sly’s eternal game-spitting at Carmelita. The tonal range is wild, and it leaves you wondering what fantastic enemy is coming up next.
The art direction holds up too. Playing it back today, Sly 2 had a cell-shaded, animated-series look that aged way better than the realistic graphics of its era. The game drew clear inspiration from heist stories across the ages, and that aesthetic choice meant it could go as stylized and expressive as it wanted to craft a world that feels unique and fresh.
Is it a perfect game? Yes, and don’t let anyone tell you any different (although, we’ll nitpick a bit for the final score).
At a time when every platformer competed with the spectacle of God of War or the sprawl of GTA, Sly 2 carved out its own lane. Stylish, funny, emotionally grounded, and genuinely fun to play. It didn't try to be the biggest game on the console. It just tried to be the coolest one. And it was.
For all our Sly Cooper fans out there: What would you rate it? Let us know.
Ratings
9.3 – Gameplay
9.3 – Story
9.5 – Art & Style
9.2 – Soundtrack
9.1 – Replay Value
9.3 – Final Score
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