Sly 2: Band of Thieves

About Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Sly 2: Band of Thieves launched in September 2004 for the PlayStation 2 from Sucker Punch Productions. It is a stealth-action platformer that picks up two years after the first game. You play as Sly Cooper and his crew, Bentley and Murray, to stop the Klaww Gang from stealing Clockwerk parts. The story follows them across Cairo, Paris, India, and beyond. This sequel expands the world with open-ended mission structures compared to its predecessor. Players switch between characters to use specific skills for theft and escape. It remains a single-player adventure focused on heist planning and execution rather than constant combat.

Gameplay

You control Sly or his teammates through hub worlds before selecting missions in Paris, India, or other locations. The core loop involves sneaking past guards, disabling turrets, and stealing items without alerting authorities. A typical session sees you switching to Bentley for hacking terminals or Murray for smashing through walls when stealth fails. Each character has distinct abilities that change how you approach obstacles. Sly climbs ropes and swings from chandeliers while Bentley operates computers remotely. The game tracks your performance with a score based on stealth and speed. You complete specific tasks to unlock new moves or items before moving to the next target.

What Players Think

PlayPile data shows this title holds strong favor among our members. Critics gave it an 88 from Metacritic while IGDB lists an 81.5 score across 149 ratings. Community moods lean heavily toward "nostalgic" and "satisfying." Average playtime sits at 14 hours for a main story run, though completionists spend over 20 hours finding all collectibles. Our members rate the character switching mechanic as a standout feature that keeps gameplay fresh. Review snippets frequently mention the improved stealth mechanics compared to the first game. The community also notes high replay value due to multiple mission paths in each level.

PlayPile's Take

This game is worth playing if you enjoy methodical heist games with distinct character abilities. It costs around thirty dollars on the used market and offers 35 achievements to chase. The open structure lets you choose your approach for every mission without forcing linear progression. Some players find the combat sections less polished than the stealth segments, but the overall experience remains solid. Do not skip this title if you want a well-designed platformer with memorable characters. The achievement count provides enough extra content to justify a second playthrough.

Storyline

Two years after defeating Clockwerk, Sly Cooper breaks into the Museum of Natural History in Cairo to steal the Clockwerk parts and destroy them to end his threat against Sly's family for good, but discovers that the parts are already missing. Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox and her new partner, Constable Neyla, confront Sly, but he escapes before Carmelita and Neyla can arrest him. Before making his escape, Sly hears Neyla suggest that the evidence actually suggests that the Klaww Gang stole the parts for their own use. The Cooper Gang heads to Paris, where the first Klaww Gang member Dimitri is using Clockwerk tail feathers as printing plates to create counterfeit money. Sly and the gang shut the operation down and Dimitri is arrested by Interpol. The gang then heads to India, where the second Klaww Gang member Rajan puts Clockwerk's wings on display at a ball he is hosting. Rajan is also the kingpin of a local crime syndicate that grows and sells "spice", an illegal plant indigenous to the Indian jungle. Also present at the ball are the other Klaww Gang members and several undercover Interpol agents, including Carmelita and Neyla. The gang steals the Clockwerk wings in the middle of the ballroom while a disguised Sly creates a distraction by dancing with Carmelita. After the Cooper gang escapes with the Clockwerk wings, Carmelita blows her cover and starts making arrests. The Klaww Gang flees the scene, and Rajan goes into hiding somewhere deep in the jungle. The gang tracks him to his spice-growing facility in a long-abandoned temple, where he is using half of Clockwerk heart to super-irrigate his spice crops. He carries the other half of the heart on the end of a staff that he carries with him at all times. The gang steals both halves of the heart and incapacitates Rajan, but Carmelita, Neyla and the Contessa arrive. Neyla frames Carmelita of working with the Cooper Gang on the night the Clockwerk wings were stolen. She betrays the Cooper Gang and puts Sly, Murray, and Carmelita under arrest.