1. Afternearlyadecade since the franchiseslastrelease,Thiefhasfinallyreturned. The most
recentiterationinthe serieswasreleasedonFebruary25th
of thisyear onthe Xbox 360, Xbox One,PS3,
PS4 and PC platforms. The game wasdevelopedbyEidosMontreal andpublishedbySquare Enix. Eidos
Montreal have workedpreviouslyongamessuchas Deus-Ex:HumanRevolution(2011),TombRaider:
Multiplayer(2013),and Deus-Ex:The Fall (2013). At itscore, the Thief franchise hasalwaysbeena
stealthgame andan incrediblydifficultone atthat. The gamesare knownforbeingunforgivingandfor
incorporatingintelligentpuzzleswithinalreadytense situations. Forthe mostpart, Thief livesupto
these standards. Fromthe verybeginningof the prologue itbecomesquite clearthatthe game does
not intendto,“holdyourhand,”or coddle you(Thisismade incrediblyapparentbythe factthat upon
choosingthe difficultylevel of yourcampaign,Novice,Thief,orMaster,youare not allowedtochange it
after). The prologue introducesplayerstoThe City,anindustrial gothiclookingmilieuof small corridors
and cobble stone streetsthatservesasthe central hubof the game. Dispersedthroughoutthis
landscape are hintsof magic andthe supernatural givingita similarfeeltothe kingdomswithinthe
Fable universe,thoughwithadarkerundertone. Afterplayersare introducedtothe citythe game
proceeds toacquaintyou withvariousingame mechanicsincludingstealingloot,hidingincabinetsto
gainquickauto saves,vaultingoverledgesandoutwindows,crouchingtomove more quietlyover
brokenglass,andputtingoutcandlesto remaininthe shadows. Additionallyplayersare introducedto
the litanyof objectsintheirequipmentsuchasrope,blast,fire,choke,blunt,saw tooth,broadhead,
and waterarrowsas well ashowto properlyuse them. However,afteratool or mechanicsinitial
introductiondon’texpectanyonscreenpromptsor hintsonwhento use theminlatermissionsor
situations. EidosMontreal andThief require the playertobe a quicklearnerwhichisincrediblydifficult
but equallyrewarding.
The story of Thief followsthe protagonistGarrett,dwellerof the shadows,inhisquestto
uncoverthe cause of a mysteriousplague called“The Gloom,”thathasrecentlytakenoverThe City.
The plot alsofocusesonGarrett’sattemptto reconcile varioustraumaticeventsinhispastinan attempt
to move forwardwithhislife of thievery. The campaigncontainseightmainmissionsdirectlyrelatedto
the plot,roughly25 mini side questsperformedforGarrett’sfriendandblackmarketentrepreneur
Basso,as well assix side questmissionfor varyingclientele. IclassifyBasso’smissionsasmini quests
because theyare essentiallysearchingandlootingvarioushomesandofficesthroughoutthe cityand
are generallyveryquick. Conversely,clientmissionsandmainmissionsall provide aratingupon
completion,statisticsof kills,loot,andcollectiblesfound,andthe abilitytoreplaythe missiontogain
anythingyoumayhave missed. Youare alsogivena title uponcompletingeachmissionwhichpertains
to yourplay style. Playersare eithergiventhe,Ghost,Opportunist,orPredatortagdependingonthe
amountof knockoutsperformed,howmanyguardswere alertedandhow well youmaneuveredthe
environment. InmyplaythroughIcompletedeveryBassoquest,Clientmission,andcampaignmission
inroughly20 hours. However,the average time maybe somewhatshorterasmyplaythroughwason
Master, the hardestdifficulty.
ReviewsbyIGN andGamespotinparticularhave givenThief alot of flakfor its“bland”story. I
disagree. While the storymaynotbe somethingcompletelynovelandisinsome casespredictable,itis
still more original thanmanyothergame’sstoriesonthe currentmarket. Battlefield4andCall of Duty:
Ghostscome to mind. If anythingthe storymay notnecessarilybe toomemorable butitisthe ingame
mechanicsandaudiowhichgive Thief itsgreatestissues. There are numerousscenesthroughoutthe
game where audiodoesnotmatch withcharacter modelsorwhenitcan getstuck inseeminglyinfinite

2. loops. Additionallythe game usesaudioasa wayof signifyingthe alertlevelsof AIandat timesthe
audiocan triggerwhichdoesnotcorrespondwithyourcurrentin game situation. Settingaside these
flawsthe audioisgenerallyverygood. The musicpicksupinstyle andpace the tenserof a situationyou
are inand the soundsof rain, openingcabinetsanddrawers,steppingonglass,aswell asmanyother in
game soundswere flawless. One of the mainwaysGarret stayshiddeninThief isbymovingquietly,to
thisendEidosMontreal dida fantasticjobof makingyouattunedto the noisesbothGarretand The City
generate. The game controlsandmechanicsare probablythe area inThief thatI took the greatestissue
with. For starters,otherthanthe optiontoinvertthe y-axisthere isnocustomizationavailable inthe
control schemes. Generallythiswouldbe alrightbutinthiscase ittakessome time to getusedto using
the lefttriggeras yourprimarybuttonto interactwiththe environment. There are timeswhen the
game can’t differentiatebetweenwhetherornotyou meanto dropfrom a ledge,vaultintoanopen
window,orjumpto a newplatformwhichcancreate for a clunkyexperience attimes. However,
figuringoutthe nuancesof the mechanicssystemispartof the difficultyof Thief andplayerswhotake
the time to masterit are greatlyrewarded.
While Iplayedthe Xbox 360 versionof the game I can honestlysaythatfor the mostpart the
visualsare stunning. The Citycomesalive asyouexplore itsdarkenedalleyways,underwaterrivers,
abandonedcathedrals,brothels,andsmugglersdens. The openingmissionorprologue alsofeatures
one of the mostimaginative andbeautiful nightskiesIhave everseeninagame. Largelydue to the
lightingandshadowsthe visualscertainlydon’tdisappoint,especiallyonthe PCversion. Onthe Xbox
360 I facedsome instancesof flattexturesthatlookedsimilartowhatmanyplayersof Skyrimare
familiarwithbutnone of these momentswassosevere astodeteriorate my ingame experience. Forall
of itsmechanical bugs,Thief doesalotof thingsright. I have neverfounda game that immersesyouso
much inthe role of a thief. Beingakleptomaniacandlootingeveryshinyobject,painting,andhistorical
plaque inmissionsandonthe streetsof The Cityis highlyaddictiveandtremendousfun. Learningthe
properwaysto utilize yourarsenal of arrowsto putout firestodarkenareas,silence noisyandalert
guard dogs,grapple fromrope arrowsto higherplaces,orjust snipe aguard fromafar is alsogreatbut
at a cost. Resourcesinthe game are veryexpensive andpurchasedfromvariousvendersthroughout
the city. These same vendorsallowGarretttopurchase permanentnew equipmentsuchasa wrench,
razor, more armor, andmore health. Additionallyplayersare able toupgrade anabilitycalled“Focus”a
supernatural abilityof sortsthathas varioususes. For spoilerpurposesIwill notdivulgeanymore
informationonit. Resourcesare expensiveinThief andloot isnotworthmuch unlessingreatsums
whichcombinestoencourage playerstofindwaysthroughmissionsthatdon’trelytooheavilyon
external equipment. If youcanaffordit however,playersare rewardedforexplorationusingrope
arrows andthe wrench byfindinghiddenareas. These areasgenerallycontainagooddeal of loot,a
hiddendocumentandmanytimesone of the games82 total collectibles.
Much of the joyin Thief isinfindingthe quickestandmosteffectivewaystonavigate The City
and properlyavoiddetection. While youdohave the optiontoengage incombat directlyitisincredibly
difficultespeciallyonthe higherdifficultieswhereaguardwill kill Garrettinone to twohits. Overall,
Thief isa good game,nota great one. It feelslike EidosMontreal mayhave rusheditscompletionand
overlookedmanyapparentmechanical glitches. Butif you’re like me andgrowingtiredof anFPS
dominatedmarket,Thief isabreathof freshair. It’s challenging,addictive andimmenselyimmersiveall
at the same time. While the game mightnotbe foreveryone,forthose lookingforachallengingnew

3. stealthgame,Thief isasteal (See whatI didthere?). Igive ita solid7.8/10. For more reviewsonthe
hottestgamesonthe marketstaytunedto Eywavegames.
ColinKolhoven