Sly Cooper has become synonymous with such Fall images as hot apple pie, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. You just expect Sony to release a sequel sometime in October and November, and thankfully 2005 is no different, as developer Sucker Punch Productions is currently hard at work on a sequel entitled Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. On the surface I thought it looked like the previous games, but after spending some serious time with it at E3 it became obvious that this fox has some new tricks.

Sly 3 picks up right where the previous game, Sly 2: Band of Thieves left off. Our hero and his team managed to win the final climactic battle but just barely, so they're pretty banged up and in a disarray. Bentley's injuries are so bad he's been confined to a wheelchair, and Murray, feeling guilty for what happened to his little friend on the half shell, has decided to leave the team, travel to Australia, and meditate. Meanwhile, Sly has managed to find the location of his family's previously secret fortune, and since he can't keep his mitts off gold he attempts to claim it. However, much to his chagrin he runs into a rival gang that wants the riches for itself, and because he and Bentley are grossly overmatched, Sly goes to enlist Murray's help. Together, these three (as well as a host of new characters) set out to stop their foes from stealing the loot.

Sucker Punch's developers know a good thing when they see it, so they haven't strayed too far from the tried and true gameplay that make the prequels so much fun. Instead, they've added a host of cool features and improvements, some of which are very subtle but still enhance the game and add some depth to it. For example, Bentley now rides around in a wheel chair and has a host of cool moves, my favorite being his pick pocket maneuver that involves you using a fishing rod to snatch money from the back pockets of his victims. There's also a life bar this time around. Yes, no more one hit kills! However, the game's developers mentioned that because Sly can absorb more hits the enemy AI was given a difficulty boost, so expect Honor Among Thieves to pack quite a challenge.

Other notable features include co-operative and head-to-head missions in split screen and multiplayer modes, new playable characters including Lounge Lizard Dimitri and Inspector Carmelita Fox, tons of mini games including a fun opera singing contest, upgradeable special moves, the ability to ride atop a wider array of enemies and use their weapons, and the option to don disguises to pass by enemies undetected, but that's not all. There's a lot of replay value in this game. Not only can you collect a wide assortment of goodies, but you can also check out numerous multiplayer games, go back in time to beat mini games and missions with new abilities, and purchase valuable items through a much larger Thiefnet, an economy system that features a much bigger hideout to stash your loot. However, the best feature is by far the game's realistic 3D, and I don't mean the 3D graphics we're all used to. The game actually comes with a pair of ridiculous-looking 3D glasses, and when you put them on Sly and the environments he's in literally leap off the television, but not all of the time. There are select moments when the game will prompt you to put the glasses on, and when you do this the effect is quite impressive. It's also not gimmicky, which is something I thought when Sony first announced the game. You can actually use the 3D to locate special items that you won't see if you're playing the game normally.

The game's developers know that not everyone's going to like the 3D effects, so you can turn them off if it bothers your eyes, though I don't recommend doing this. After all, playing The House of Flying Sly mini boss level (where you can jump great distances over a lush forest), beg to be played in real 3D.

Each year Sly looks better and Honor Among Thieves is no different. The graphics are even more detailed than the previous games, and I really like what Sucker Punch has done with its color palette. If you recall, the other Slys are rather dark, but this sequel is much brighter, allowing us to see the glorious detail in the environments, which are quite varied. In your travels you'll visit Holland, Venice, China, and the outback, and each environment features special challenges that somehow relate to the various locales. For example, in Venice Sly can hop into a boat and speed down the "streets".

Last year's Sly Cooper game was criticized for being too short, but it appears that Honor Among Thieves is anything but. This is a rich and detailed game that features a multitude of different things to do, and it'll be a nice addition to the Sony platform family when it releases this fall.