Thief |
7/10
James Davie |
DEV: Eidos Montreal
PUB: Square Enix
RELEASE DATE: 28/02/2014
FORMAT: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox360 & XboxOne
There’s nothing quite as salutary as filching from the rich, especially when they waltz around ‘The City’ with a snobbish grin smeared across their faces, and an aristocratic status they slept their way to the top for. In a Victorian slum where peasants roam around like vermin and tyranny runs amuck, the affluent are holed up in their palaces, dining with their gold and silver plated cutlery, sipping from their chalices and sending lackadaisical guards off supposing a special somebody might want to nab an heirloom or a prized portrait of theirs from under their noses.
That ‘special somebody’ is Garrett, the lightly spoken fellow adorning a balaclava. He has the innate ability to uncannily blend into the dark, so none of the dim-witted patrols can skulk you out, unless you get dangerously close, to which they’ll be alerted to your vile odorous musk. He returns to his home after a long sabbatical, and pairs himself up with a young lady named Erin, who is a younger, more inexperienced thief, preferring to carry out her deeds by killing and getting reckless. These acts land her and Garrett in trouble, as Erin proceeds to take on a seedy job, leaving the veteran former to watch helplessly as Erin falls through a glass ceiling, where a spiritualistic ritual is taking place. Erin is absorbed by the spiritual energy, whilst Garrett collapses and wakes up a year later to find The City in ruins, as a plague known as ‘The Gloom’ has taken hold, where humans turn into something resembling a resident evil creature and an alien with rays of blue emitting from their eyes.
The story takes you to some interesting places such as a brothel, where buxom courtesans sexually pleasure the snobbishly rich; as well as underground caves with peeping holes etched through them, so you can take a peak at some of the naughty goings on. Mixing the occult with a steampunk setting gives Thief a platform to make for some intriguing exploration, but the story never feels crucial enough because it detracts from the thievery of the gameplay. You spend narrative segments chasing after Erin when she fantastically appears to make you run about for her, and whilst the main path provides you with ample stealing opportunities, the tale surrounding it doesn’t. Beyond this the characters are drab, Garrett in particular isn’t voiced with any aplomb, he doesn’t express emotions clearly and it’s hard to take him seriously. Basso is underutilised save from the plentiful side tasks he gets you to perform, and although the Thief-Taker General has a massive bald patch on his head, he isn’t sinister enough to be a great antagonist to feel any sense of loathing for.
PUB: Square Enix
RELEASE DATE: 28/02/2014
FORMAT: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox360 & XboxOne
There’s nothing quite as salutary as filching from the rich, especially when they waltz around ‘The City’ with a snobbish grin smeared across their faces, and an aristocratic status they slept their way to the top for. In a Victorian slum where peasants roam around like vermin and tyranny runs amuck, the affluent are holed up in their palaces, dining with their gold and silver plated cutlery, sipping from their chalices and sending lackadaisical guards off supposing a special somebody might want to nab an heirloom or a prized portrait of theirs from under their noses.
That ‘special somebody’ is Garrett, the lightly spoken fellow adorning a balaclava. He has the innate ability to uncannily blend into the dark, so none of the dim-witted patrols can skulk you out, unless you get dangerously close, to which they’ll be alerted to your vile odorous musk. He returns to his home after a long sabbatical, and pairs himself up with a young lady named Erin, who is a younger, more inexperienced thief, preferring to carry out her deeds by killing and getting reckless. These acts land her and Garrett in trouble, as Erin proceeds to take on a seedy job, leaving the veteran former to watch helplessly as Erin falls through a glass ceiling, where a spiritualistic ritual is taking place. Erin is absorbed by the spiritual energy, whilst Garrett collapses and wakes up a year later to find The City in ruins, as a plague known as ‘The Gloom’ has taken hold, where humans turn into something resembling a resident evil creature and an alien with rays of blue emitting from their eyes.
The story takes you to some interesting places such as a brothel, where buxom courtesans sexually pleasure the snobbishly rich; as well as underground caves with peeping holes etched through them, so you can take a peak at some of the naughty goings on. Mixing the occult with a steampunk setting gives Thief a platform to make for some intriguing exploration, but the story never feels crucial enough because it detracts from the thievery of the gameplay. You spend narrative segments chasing after Erin when she fantastically appears to make you run about for her, and whilst the main path provides you with ample stealing opportunities, the tale surrounding it doesn’t. Beyond this the characters are drab, Garrett in particular isn’t voiced with any aplomb, he doesn’t express emotions clearly and it’s hard to take him seriously. Basso is underutilised save from the plentiful side tasks he gets you to perform, and although the Thief-Taker General has a massive bald patch on his head, he isn’t sinister enough to be a great antagonist to feel any sense of loathing for.
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Thief boasts an open world made up and composed of discreet blocks, separated by brief loading screens that interrupt the flow of the action as you roam from area to area. Each environment you come across doesn’t differentiate itself much from the last, comprised of narrow streets and patrolling guards always sceptical of you no matter what you’re doing, constantly hampering your exploration and if you’re not vigilant, they’ll scurry towards you, putting you in dire jeopardy. All this adds up to make you feel trapped inside a world that feels bland and unchanging. Even after you complete the main story, you will still be ruthlessly targeted, highlighting how inconsequential the main thread is and how rote the action can get.
There are various means for you to apply your trade in Thief. There are doors to lockpick, rooftops to trample over and wooden beams to scuttle across, often hiding out of the way vents for you to crawl through and trap mechanisms to disengage. On top of these, you’ll find bookshelves masking hidden rooms, paintings on walls where you can feel out triggers in order to open up secrets, and of course those pesky safe boxes you need to find combinations for. Lock-picking is easily the most satisfying and involving, having you rotate the right stick to search for rumble feedback and a circular white visual cue, making you feel like a thieving master, which is indicative of thieving pursuits in general.
Unsurprisingly the locations in the story are the best places to plunder, filled with spacious areas for you to repossess wealth in, and a myriad of secrets to uncover such as vaults containing rare treasures and expensive paintings. These missions often contain traps laden within exposed tiles on the floor and given your fairly miniscule health bar, they should be avoided at all costs. There are a few puzzle sections to figure out to, because some patricians just can’t have their possessions pilfered; these sections require very little thought, asking you to match each segment to form a fragmented picture. More of these sprinkled outside of the main story would’ve helped to add a spice to a stealth game often devoid of a diverse range of objects to pinch.
Every valuable item you can steal can be viewed up in your clocktower. The more you collect in each chapter, the more you’ll be able to make the clocktower a more ornate spectacle. Adding to the intrigue are documents you can find scattered around, giving Thief some desperately needed insight into the lives and stories of the people living in The City. Much like the characters themselves though, most of what you find doesn’t breathe personality, leaving Thief in a stale world alongside the stale characters accompanying it.
There are various means for you to apply your trade in Thief. There are doors to lockpick, rooftops to trample over and wooden beams to scuttle across, often hiding out of the way vents for you to crawl through and trap mechanisms to disengage. On top of these, you’ll find bookshelves masking hidden rooms, paintings on walls where you can feel out triggers in order to open up secrets, and of course those pesky safe boxes you need to find combinations for. Lock-picking is easily the most satisfying and involving, having you rotate the right stick to search for rumble feedback and a circular white visual cue, making you feel like a thieving master, which is indicative of thieving pursuits in general.
Unsurprisingly the locations in the story are the best places to plunder, filled with spacious areas for you to repossess wealth in, and a myriad of secrets to uncover such as vaults containing rare treasures and expensive paintings. These missions often contain traps laden within exposed tiles on the floor and given your fairly miniscule health bar, they should be avoided at all costs. There are a few puzzle sections to figure out to, because some patricians just can’t have their possessions pilfered; these sections require very little thought, asking you to match each segment to form a fragmented picture. More of these sprinkled outside of the main story would’ve helped to add a spice to a stealth game often devoid of a diverse range of objects to pinch.
Every valuable item you can steal can be viewed up in your clocktower. The more you collect in each chapter, the more you’ll be able to make the clocktower a more ornate spectacle. Adding to the intrigue are documents you can find scattered around, giving Thief some desperately needed insight into the lives and stories of the people living in The City. Much like the characters themselves though, most of what you find doesn’t breathe personality, leaving Thief in a stale world alongside the stale characters accompanying it.
Combat isn’t a word Thief uses much of in its vocabulary, but from time to time there is a need for knocking out or outright killing. The weapon you’ll most commonly use as a projectile is a claw, which can also be used to scale otherwise unreachable places such as rooftops. The claw is best use to take out guards surreptitiously and from an elevated position, but will take a few whacks if you are confronted face to face; a weak weapon but can get the job done in a pinch. Several types of arrow for your bow can be bought for both stealthy and non-stealthy means. Water arrows can rinse out fires from lit beacons and candles, rope arrows can be shot at context sensitive rope laced beams for you to able to swing to unreachable areas, choke arrows emit a gas to leave your foes grasping their throats for air to breathe among several other variants. Like everything in your inventory, these items are limited, so you’ll have to make frequent trips to a merchant to stock up on supplies. You can also buy materials for your apparel, making subtle changes suited to the sneaking you’ll no doubt be embroiled in throughout your adventure.
There is a minor upgrade system in Thief, but it’s barely worth mentioning, as it never feels significantly impactful to the gameplay. Focus points are acquired once you have achieved a certain objective. There are two upgrades per attribute to spend your focus points on, and they are somewhat rare to come across. For example, one upgrade can have your face-to-face combat attribute improved, so that you can stagger a guard quicker than you originally could; the full upgrade being you can knock him out with one strike.
Undoubtedly the most striking and impressive thing to note about Thief is its visuals. You’ll feel submerged in a nineteenth century steampunk city, where the rich/poor dichotomy is at its strongest. The interiors of the apartments you sneak into are most lavish, and indicate the prestige and wealth of the victims you are stealing from. Accompanying this is fantastic sound design. Every creak of the floorboards and clunk of the cobblestones on the roof really ensures you that the sound is instrumental and fundamental to Thief’s core design. The only downside of the sound design are the unnecessarily drama-filled tones of walking in the light, as you’re likely to misconstrue this with enemy awareness of your position. Voice acting seems tired and the script is vaguely bland for a game in this genre. There are hints of a tyrannical upper class regime going on, but nothing said ever feels truly resonating, more thought should’ve gone into representing Thief as a period piece and whilst aesthetically pleasing, the speech and script delivery is undercooked.
There is a minor upgrade system in Thief, but it’s barely worth mentioning, as it never feels significantly impactful to the gameplay. Focus points are acquired once you have achieved a certain objective. There are two upgrades per attribute to spend your focus points on, and they are somewhat rare to come across. For example, one upgrade can have your face-to-face combat attribute improved, so that you can stagger a guard quicker than you originally could; the full upgrade being you can knock him out with one strike.
Undoubtedly the most striking and impressive thing to note about Thief is its visuals. You’ll feel submerged in a nineteenth century steampunk city, where the rich/poor dichotomy is at its strongest. The interiors of the apartments you sneak into are most lavish, and indicate the prestige and wealth of the victims you are stealing from. Accompanying this is fantastic sound design. Every creak of the floorboards and clunk of the cobblestones on the roof really ensures you that the sound is instrumental and fundamental to Thief’s core design. The only downside of the sound design are the unnecessarily drama-filled tones of walking in the light, as you’re likely to misconstrue this with enemy awareness of your position. Voice acting seems tired and the script is vaguely bland for a game in this genre. There are hints of a tyrannical upper class regime going on, but nothing said ever feels truly resonating, more thought should’ve gone into representing Thief as a period piece and whilst aesthetically pleasing, the speech and script delivery is undercooked.
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In the end Thief is a potent mixture of good and mediocre. The splendid visual identity, great sound design and pleasing thief based gameplay are offset by a rote and restrictive world design, poor story and characters, and the sense that nothing you do changes the world around you, making Thief a decidedly middle of the road experience. There isn’t a game on new-gen hardware with the scent for historical intrigue like Thief does. It’s a stealth game designed for the purists, those who are enamoured with the mainline series, who may find that retaining the core stealth gameplay will give Thief a place alongside its forbears; but for as much as it gets right, this new entry will likely leave you feeling robbed.
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+ Sound design matches up with the stealth gameplay,
+ The incentive to steal anything makes you feel like you’ve stuck it to those rich snobs, + Interiors look suitably lavish and Victorian - You never feel like anything you do in The City matters, - Characters are lukewarm in the worst possible way, - The world too often feels compartmentalised. |
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