THIEF Review

Title: Thief
Developer: Eidos Montreal
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PC, PS3 (reviewed), PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

In the year 1999, when I was mashing buttons while trying my hands at Sonic or Super Mario Bros, a debutant title appeared out of nowhere and blew my mind away; changing my perspective towards gaming and level designing to a great lot. That title was developer Looking Glass Studio’s Thief: The Dark Project, maybe the first commercial stealth based game. The first Thief was not just a rebel in level designing and gameplay, glorifying the use of shadows and sound effects in a video game, but it was a game changer in its own ways. Stereotypical gameplay was changed for good, with the advent of a pure first person perspective along with loads of detailing (both in story as well as levels) to introduce that immersion that we often talk about in gaming. Thief was the only game back then that wanted your brains more than the brawn. And before we forget, the title commercially introduced dark forces, ghouls and magic, into a steampunk metropolis that can be traversed on foot or acrobatically, all this for the first time.

With Thief: Deadly Shadows ending the proud trilogy in the year 2004, the title was almost pushed into oblivion. Until Eidos Montreal took the reins of Thief and revived the Master Thief Garrett along with the mystical city “City” and its rebel order – namely the secret society of the Keepers. In the 2014 reboot of the original Thief series. Let’s find out how it went.

Story

In this cutting edge story and single player driven age of gaming, Thief relied majorly on a one-track story, that of retribution and anarchy. Garrett loses his apprentice when she falls to her death, while he himself gets surrounded by guards but manages to wake up in a safer district within the city. From time to time he interacts and works for the secret society that wants to usurp the corrupt Baron, led by Orion, the leader of the masses. A fellow rebel, who goes by the name of Basso often briefs Garrett about missions and side quests, from a tavern. Most of the missions are not just laid out neatly in terms of imagination and story, but they become your only mission brief inside the chaotic levels of each chapter. From escaping a fight, to visiting a haunted asylum to facing the Baron in his study room to knowing what you were actually doing, the story is broken into sequences. But the story is never the hero, somehow the level designing, lighting and your weakness as a Thief with no magical ability becomes the pivot.

The City

Traversing the city often becomes the key of storytelling in Thief, unlike Dishonored, in which the boatswain Samuel takes you ashore to reach the various plots. You will meet guards on the way, they will chase you to hell, and you will need to memorise every shadow and rooftop in The City. Eavesdropping conversations often lead you to secret cellars and mythical artefacts, but what often lures you away from your mission are the gleaming lights that come out of jammed windows. Greed is a disease, and the disease takes over your soul in this title.

Stealth and Gameplay Mechanics

Looting and stealing is the key to everything in the game, that’s your means to upgrade your gear. (for better stealth or health) There are two thief modes that help you scout, the vision mode and the focus mode. In the vision mode, you simply magnify an environment, naturally inspecting the scene before getting knee deep into it. While going for a focus mode, interactive elements within the room get highlighted. You can use Focus for quicker lock picking or to figure out the weak spot of an aware enemy.  It is non-replenishing just like Hitman’s Instinct ability, consuming Poppies refill the bar.

Lockpicking isn’t a tough nut to crack in Thief, but every time you click the wrong side while picking, the lock gives out a loud sound, making the nearby enemies aware of your presence. You can literally stay a ghost throughout your missions, but if you move quickly in front of hounds or caged birds, you may end up blowing up your cover. Patience rewards you, patience shows you unknown gateways and rooftops. If you can purchase wrenches before heading into a mission, you can as well unlock a secret passageway or an air shaft. If you get spotted, the best would be to flee, dashing through the hallway and waiting usually above ground level. If you want to fight it out, you will need to parry/block and hit in order to get a quick retribution. The guards have a fast backup, and the chances of one on ones is nearly negligible. Hiding inside a closet is an instant game save trigger; it is not a game changer, but definitely helpful when I’m truly immersed in a sequence and giving no second thoughts to save my progress.

Garrett carries an arsenal of innovative gadgets and you will need them from time to time. Distract a guard by throwing a glass down the alley, extinguish the light in the hallway with your water arrow. Put flammable objects into fire with your fire arrow or choke someone with the choke arrow, Garrett knows the best. The introduction of rope arrows provides you a quick escape from a conflict or in case you are looking for a vantage point. Garrett’s first person perspective changes to a third person perspective every time you are climbing pipelines or traversing ceilings. The third person climbing puzzles look and feel very similar to Assassin’s Creed’s map synchronizing puzzles.

There are loads of side quests and online challenge modes once you complete the main story. Play them to increase your cash count and ultimately buy better gear or for skill ups before going for the next main mission.

Visuals and Sound

Thief perfectly leaves you drooling on the environment, with its dark corners and mildly lit up hallways. Sometimes cutscenes seamlessly give way to gameplay. Depth of Field changes gameplay in first person stealth based games, and Thief does a great job in presenting the gamer a flawless DOF, ready to be used for advantage. Garrett’s hands are in fact the hero of the first person story, and they will display various thief-like emotions while playing, he’ll touch stuff on the way, quickly snatch a gold spoon or wallet or try to balance it out while you are running through a roof plank. The cutscenes are not that visually detailed, to top that, the lip syncing is all over the place. Character gestures during serious cutscenes turns into a laugh riot. The volumetric lighting and the level designing aesthetics within Thief makes you want to play according to the environment.

When darkness is your ally, you will need crystal clear sound effects down to the last murmur. Thief provides you the same. You can spot nearby enemies – hear voices in your head; eavesdrop on a conversation for extra loot and much more just by paying attention. The sound effects used in the haunted Moira Asylum freaked the hell out of me, the chills were original.

What’s iLL

I liked the Thief reboot a lot. This may not be 2014’s The Last Of Us, but Thief definitely put forth some key gameplay lessons (like the 1999 original) to be adapted into future stealth games. The swoop option (Garrett’s ability to quickly slide into a corner) and the D pad controlled mini map option (in case you get lost) makes the immersion very natural. You are not Corvo, who can Blink out of sight or use his Dark Vision to detect the location of guards, and this weakness in fact makes Thief the mother of them all. Thief is a cold sword when it comes to Stealth games, it will punish you for your mistakes, reward you for your curiosity. Interesting loots and a few puzzles (like the House of Blossoms’ podium quest) made me work hard for my win. After every mission, your approach will tell what kind of a Thief you were: An undetected Ghost, a craving Opportunist or a lethal Predator.

What’s not

Thief had its moments, as well as its misfires. What’s elementary bad in Thief is the fact that the mission navigation pointer really didn’t help me much in a complexly designed level. Often it’d trust my pointer and end up against a wall or the butt of my enemy. There are a few climbing glitches as well, as you will be unable to traverse a clear rooftop. While travelling through the city, it is key to open jammed windows by mashing your D pad. But somewhere down the line, the devs must’ve thought “F it, we will quickly load the next level every third time he tries to do that”. Even though Garrett’s clichéd macho monologues can be turned off from the main options, it becomes a weakness in script writing. Every time the steampunk Victorian citizens uttered the word Fuck, my immersion went out of the window. The enemy AI was weaker for my prowling, and at times they were repeating the same lines, at the same time, like a church choir – “He’s a man, not a God” (Rambo Style)

Dishonored vs Thief

Most of the articles I read had this weird tendency to compare Thief to Dishonored, and I might say that the similarity is deep. Thief’s House of Blossoms rhyme with Dishonored’s House of Pleasures, there are wrench tools in both games, not to forget Thief’s City versus Dishonored’s Dunwall. Most importantly, there are teen girls and betrayal in both the games. But when you play the two titles, use the different abilities and  contest the different kinds of enemy AI, you experience different emotions. While Corvo burns his midnight oil assassinating political leaders, Garrett merely loots items for the faction. You cannot go beyond slamming a person in his dead, putting him into deep sleep.

If you’ve played and loved Dishonored, chances are that you will like Thief. If you haven’t played Dishonored, start with Thief, master your techniques and step into Dunwall. I’m glad that just like Tomb Raider, Thief made a righteous comeback. It was a long due for the industry.