THIEF: Definitive Edition

Enjoyable in many ways, but absolutely not for series fans. Some series reboots like Human Revolution strike a good balance where the series finds a new fan base while retaining a lot of the appeal of the previous games in a sleeker package. This absolutely isn't that. Everything that's good about this game is completely at odds with the appeal of the original games; Thief 1&2 were great for their intricate, sprawling level design and the open-ended systems that prioritized creative use of tools. Old Thief discouraged combat with clunky sword-fighting and low health; New Thief discourages combat by making it feel straight-up bad. Combat is not only inefficient and risky, but also janky and it feels on a primal level unsatisfying (not to imply Old Thief was great at combat). Playing in a fighting-focused style feels like you're breaking the game in a way unintended by the devs. However, if you enjoy ghosting stealth games, there is enjoyment to be had and good difficulty customization to facilitate it. To ghost a level in Old Thief took either a *lot* of patience or a solid understanding of how to manipulate the game's mechanics; on the other hand, New Thief is tuned for satisfying, silent, invisible B&E right out of the box and its tension comes from the inevitable temptation to play recklessly — performing more and more risky maneuvers to steal as much petty treasure as you can. Like a hybrid between a collectathon and a stealth game. To be clear, it isn't great; it's still let down by repetitive and long animations for collecting treasure, jank, and occasional bad level design. It's fun but hard to recommend. There's a lot to like as long as you aren't expecting more The Dark Project. They're nothing alike and those that compare the two to explain why "New Thief is bad and Old Thief was good" are overlooking the enjoyment that this game can give the right audience; and if you're a big fan of Old Thief, that audience probably isn't you.

It's terrible in almost every way except for surface level aesthetics, but then only at a glance because it does hinder gameplay and design. It's just, just watch StratEdgy and their video on this or watch LoadingReadyLive and Alex Stacey playing it then like a year or two later revisits it with Cameron Lauder on Talking Simulator and they give like a 3 hour in depth dissection of how this cynical waste of developer effort is just horrid in every way possible. I'm seeing reviews be like "Dont compare this to thief or dishonored!" so uh, I guess don't compare this to quality high effort stealth games. Even comparing it to other games like MGSV or Styx or Deus Ex or Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun or System Shock or Prey or Arx Fatalus or DUSK or Bannerlord or STALKER or Sekiro or you get the point. This game sucks and the only way these people can justify it existing is if they pretend it is inside of a vacuum and that no other games are available. Just, just stay away from this, it can only be a waste of your money, you would be better off buying a game you already own again so that the money at least ideally goes somewhere of value.

The game itself isn't what I'd call "bad". If anything, it's simply "alright". It suffers from the same problem a lot of games did from the later 2000s/2010s, in that they want to be more "cinematic than fun". Player agency is pretty reduced because of this. Its not simply the lack of jumping either. Movement is pretty smooth through the levels, and the "dodge/swoop" works pretty nicely, with the very tactile peeking mechanics. The "special powers" you get are kind of neat little aids to get past challenges quickly, but are superfluous if you prefer a more "pure" experience. You can play the game without them, certainly. The story is weak. Garrett's only driving force is finding his missing protege, who I feel like would have been more interesting as a playable character, rather than relegated to "damsel in distress". Otherwise, he barely has any say in the Main Story. In fact, he doesn't seem to honestly care which faction wins in the "class warfare" that's being driven by severe disease and poverty. Basso was the only character that had "character", from what I can recollect, and even then the writing didn't serve him too terribly well. The game is very gloomy, and stages/missions don't necessarily seem different between levels, because they insisted on the "cyan color grading" being EVERYWHERE. However, besides that, the graphics are quite nice, and definitely utilize Unreal Engine 3 pretty well for its age. If you really need to own it, get it on discount.

I loved the first two Thief games and enjoyed the third, but this is just bad. It pains me to say, but I almost wish I hadn't played it... and I'm a masochist. Boring stealth, terrible story, and some of the worst puzzles I've ever seen. The "Swoop" function is cool and I would love to see it used again elsewhere.

I'm writing this because all negative reviews feel unjust. Yeah, this game pretty much rewrites Thief's world. No keepers. No hammerites. No pagans. No taffers. No Stephen Russel. What about the game iteself? + levels are big & atmospheric + stealing 100% loot is a real challenge + customisable difficulty, none of the options breaks the game + customisable interface + "magic" is optional + lockpicking is the most fun out of entire series + there are plenty of side missions to keep you busy + AI is actually smart, difficult is difficult... and you can crank it up even further + looks good + camera works great + rope arrows are back + no dagger/sword - no option to play in 3rd person [if you liked that in Thief 3] - the plot isn't the best - AI often breaks; reloading a save does not always fix it - no dagger/sword - map could be more useful [it takes a lot of time revisit the city looking for missed loot] I enjoyed it a lot gameplay wise. Story wise it's garbage. I'd rate this 5 stars if it wasn't called Thief. Grab it on sale and enjoy a solid stealth game, you will not be disappointed.