Having seen too many heist movies over the years, Th3 Plan plays out like a movie, but it falls short when it comes to the "wow factor" critical for this genre. Everything from gameplay to sound to graphics and dialogue are mediocre. The idea behind Th3 Plan was good, as I haven't played this type of game in a while, but for a new game on the PlayStation 2 in 2007 (or 2006, since it came out in Europe last year), I expected a lot more visually.

The story unfolds in a comic-book-like format, with stills that come across the screen with very little animation. This style works and gives the game a classic yet somewhat clichй feel, especially when you're given an introduction to the characters and their completely unoriginal nicknames like "Headshot" and "Geek." The actual story begins when a group of thieves tries to steal a couple of Rembrandt paintings from the Montreal Museum of Art in exchange for the Florentine Diamond, offered by a man named Anton Karavas. When the job goes sour, two of the thieves take off, leaving behind one man who winds up in jail and another who will go into hiding for several years.

Alan Siegel, also known as "Poker," spends his time behind bars until he gets a visit from Robert Taylor, one of the thieves who had gone into hiding. This time, he comes in as a lawyer and tells Siegel that an opportunity has come for them to get even. There are a lot of holes in this story, like how they manage to just walk right out of prison. I'm probably reading too much into it, but there's nothing better than a clever crime caper that covers all the angles.

The gameplay begins once Taylor is tasked with getting Siegel out of his cell. With the help of Valerie Carrera, the other thief who had ditched them in the Rembrandt attempt, by following the instructions, it is relatively easy to break out of jail. Carrera and Stephen Foster were the ones who abandoned them that night, but Carrera explains that she had nothing to do with it, even though she was Foster's girlfriend at the time. Now the goal is to get even.

The game is set up by missions and objectives. Each objective is listed in your menu, so you'll never forget what you're supposed to do next. Sometimes, the directions can be vague, but with some trial and error, it shouldn't be that difficult. During the jail-break mission, a lot of hand-holding instructions are given so that it's fairly hard to screw up. A majority of the time, you're sneaking around hallways and creeping up behind people to either take them out or to pick their pockets. As long as you stay out of their line of sight, which is rather narrow, you'll be fine. Each thief has his own skill and various levels of stamina that you'll have to pay attention to. Valerie, for instance, is able to pick-pocket, and it works like a mini-game, where you use the analog stick to guide a hand along a specific path. It looks like an out-of-body experience in which you're trying to line up your hand with the one on screen.

Th3 Plan can be played with up to three players. The multiplayer mode is only available if you manage to pick-pocket enough cash from the innocent bystanders in the level. You control main screen, and the bottom third of your screen will split into two subscreens, where you can see where your partners are. Switching characters involve using the L2 and R2 buttons. It is vital to coordinate with your partners in real time. Usually, it involves one person distracting a guard while the other one sneaks by. This part might sound a bit complicated, but after you get used to it, rotating through the characters becomes fairly intuitive.

A mini-map is there to guide you, and the top right corner displays icons that are available to you when you're able to interact with the environment. What I like about Th3 Plan is that it isn't very hard, but this could also be the reason why people wouldn't bother with it since it isn't very challenging. There are frequent checkpoints that will automatically save your progress. It's nice not to have to remember to save all the time, and you can easily restart from the last point if you mess up. However, I found out the hard way that these checkpoints are only temporary save files, so you still need to manually save if you decide to turn off the PS2. Using inventory items requires you to toggle through the d-pad. This would have been useful in the manual, as it took me awhile to figure that part out. I ended up doing this night-vision goggle portion without the goggles.

The downside is that the graphics are not exactly top-notch. Everything feels outdated, including the controls, which can be a bit clunky, especially when it comes to the camera. The dialogue is on the corny side and doesn't improve with the lackluster voice acting. The music and sound fits the overall mood of the game, but there is nothing that will blow your socks off or leave you with much more than a repetitive tune in your head.

Th3 Plan had the right idea, but it wasn't well-packaged. The game can still be fun if you like the back-and-forth coordinating to steal the prize. It's not very difficult, so it's not bad for those who want to check out the genre. I happened to enjoy it by playing a few objectives here and there. I wouldn't have been able to sit down and play this one all day; it's just not that kind of game. Don't be expecting anything new or original.