Thief Reviews
Garrett deserves better
Ultimately, Thief is a victim to the issues contained within it. These are things that could have been easily resolved, as well. Erin's capture should have been due to poor circumstance or even a legitimate failing on Garret's part; not his own self-righteous attitude. He should have had a better dialogue. The guards on the overworld should only arrest Garret if he gets caught stealing/doing thief activities, instead of on-sight, and the glitches should have been ironed out. Had those few aspects happened, Thief would have been a decent, if rather slow, game. As-is, it's just frustrating and tedious to play.
of the original will likely find parts they love about Garrett's new adventure, but anyone bred on more recent stealth games likely won't see what all the fuss is about. Eidos Montreal has done an admirable job, but too much holds it back from being the reinvention of the franchise we all were hoping for.
Thief is an okay game that has been dragged down by its major problems. I thought stealth was done very well in the game, and that the choice of how you want to play allows players to come back and try again which adds replay value, and replay value is a very important part of a game that I look for when I review a game. I just couldn't get in to this story at all, and I really did try too. I also felt Garrett was an extremely forgettable and dull main character. Thief is a game that had potential, and had moments that really impressed me but due to its negatives it will never reach its true potential.
It's perhaps unfair to compare and lambast Thief against games that the series itself has spawned. Yet ten years in obsolesence is a long time in the gaming world, especially one bustling with the likes of Splinter Cell, Deus Ex and even Assassin's Creed. Long-term fans may gain more enjoyment from this revival, but in the main, Thief seems unlikely to steal many hearts.
Perhaps what is most disappointing is that Thief does its best to make you believe that there's more to it beneath the surface, and you'll drudge through much of its mess with that glint of hope. That isn't the case, though, as it's very much a "take it as it is" experience, and if you're willing to do so you'll find that it just might steal some time from your weekend.
Except that it's just that core that has been ripped from the original game's chest. Garrett's plight and interaction with the olden days of The City gave an ephemeral feel to every jaunt into the darkness. What would getting caught or killed entail? What were the Hammerites up to? What was the great evil befalling the city? There is none of this left; the shadows in Thief hide not great, unspeakable mysteries but only more immaculately rendered cobblestones. Perhaps it's time for Garrett to steal this new vision of Thief a personality.
You can't help but think Eidos Montreal have been caught between reverence to the original but the need to incorporate everything good in modern-day AAA titles. They setup some wonderful moments in the game then take control away as it's not really a Thief moment at that point. They do include some boss-type battles - with feedback from Deus Ex understood - still when it's just not needed. They give you half of what's good about Dishonored and forget the rest and they model their storytelling on Lara's latest or Drake's series of adventures but forget to actually write the story to tell. It all adds up to the most frustrating of games. It looks great and plays smoothly. It encourages you to play in a certain way and sets up some wonderful moments only to drop you into a world of frustration, failure and insouciance nigh-on immediately. There are glimpses of wonder but this is the top layer of gold only. The bulk of the game is a frustrating, irritating, random mess. In itself this is frustrating, as what could have been great struggles to be merely average.
Thief is a disappointment. However, laying beyond its shortcomings with movement mechanics, combat and narrative, is a satisfying core of theft and stealth that can, at times, still have you feeling like a master thief. If you're looking for something to waste hours collecting digital trinkets on, and feeling like a total bad ass thief while doing so, then this may be for you. For anyone looking for a story-driven, combat-focused, narrative-based experience you'd be better off looking elsewhere.
Thief feels more like a blatant money grab during a game drought than something polished enough to warrant a $60 price tag
Longtime fans might find the new take on Garrett hard to swallow. Thief's thin story doesn't explain much in the end when it tops things off, but I enjoyed the time spent in the City. I wouldn't mind revisiting for another go in Garrett's shoes, but I hope that by then, some of the training wheels will have been removed.
Thief isn't terrible, it's just not as good as other games, so in a way I want to say leave Thief for a while; come back to it when it's on sale, wait for it to be a steal.
The Thief name has a significant legacy in the stealth genre, and Thief, confusing title and all, is clearly straining to live up to it, with its inclusion of water arrows, "taffer" references and more. It's even sort of successful. Even with concessions to 2014 game design - the optional Focus vision mode, the linear escape sequences that might as well be quick-time events or cutscenes - the core stealth still works. But the weakness of everything around it made me wish I was playing Dishonored.
Thief effectively retains the series' focus on stealth and compelling atmosphere, I just wish it had retained the quality.
In fact, of all the games I've been in, this one is definitely the worst. I've been in some terrific games though, so that's not as damning a verdict as it looks. If I adjust the difficulty by turning off HUD elements, never ever get into any sort of combat with the incompetent AI and try to ignore huge chunks of the game in which I'm forced into criminally unimaginative and unstealthy situations, and then pretend that the zombies don't exist, and then maybe just not play the last two chapters at all, then this is an okay game with two or three good missions.
A poorly-designed outing that might, in another continuity where the previous Thief games never existed, have earned itself the heady accolade of 'barely average'. Unfortunately, we all know that it could be - and has been done - so much better.
Best when played stealthily, Thief is an excellent stealth title and a welcome addition to your next-gen library.
Though this might seem incongruous with the rest of the review, Thief is definitely a game that's worth playing. It gets a recommendation, despite the final score and its many, many, many flaws, because the stealth gameplay really is great, and with pure stealth games becoming such a rarity it's gratifying to find a game that really brings the art of thieving to life.
The three major strengths of past Thief titles - wide open mission design, sound propagation and narrative - are this game's biggest weaknesses. That is a fundamental problem it cannot hope to overcome.
Thief was one of my most anticipated games of 2014. I have to say, I'm disappointed in its lack of cohesiveness in terms of story, its lack of stability and solidarity in terms of technical stuff, and the missed opportunities. At the same time, I never seem to tire of looting the most difficult-to-approach treasure caches, and Garrett is a suitably entertaining character.