Pretty much took the words out of my mouth. Visuals were good and created a great atmosphere to the city, but the framerate sucked whenever cinematics occurred, which, you know, kind of are high tension points where you don't want to be sucked out of the story. The AI was buggy, but the gameplay wasn't bad, and some parts were fun. Like the sanfranman, however, I was also disappointed that so much of the previously established lore of the series had been removed. I'm not saying a reboot shouldn't offer a fresh take on an old franchise, but the problem here is that the new take on the franchise is a cliché that's been done a thousand times before, while the bits this new story replaced were original, compelling and interesting. Ultimately, it felt like nothing of substance was really gained from the new plot. I wouldn't call this a horrible game, just a disappointing, kind of average one.
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Not Worth the Wait
Platform reviewed: Xbox 360
As a fan of the original trilogy, I wondered if gamers would ever see the franchise again. Since Deadly Shadows, games inspired by the franchise such as Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Mark Of The Ninja, and Dishonored have been released to universal acclaim. However, it was not until 2014 when Eidos Montreal finished the long-awaited revival of Thief. Sadly, when compared to its spiritual successors, Thief falls short.
The game is not a total wash. For one, Eidos Montreal nails the visuals for the game. Even on 7th Gen consoles, the graphics look fantastic and the dark, gloomy lighting of the City fits the tone of the franchise. The swoop mechanic was also a nice touch and felt great when I had to get out of a sticky situation in a pinch. Finally, I enjoyed creating my own Custom difficulty with mods such as slower movement and Final Death.
Unfortunately, just about everything else in the game is a colossal disappointment. The level design is more linear than Deadly Shadows, yet strangely infuriating due to its horrid navigation prompts and minimap. The fact that Garrett can't jump freely (high-profile instead, a la AC) worsens this, since there's only so many ledges and corners that can be climbed or jumped on. Also, the game wants players to use Focus, since the design of the last few levels made it nigh-impossible to clear them without it.
The game also feels incomplete. The frame-rate drops frequently and the audio design contains numerous glitches, such as repeating dialogue and missing sfx. Worse still is that the AI is hopelessly inconsistent. On Master difficulty, there were times when guards did not notice me in the light, only to quickly spot me in the shadows. Given that the inverse should be true, this is a rather bewildering bug that almost broke the game.
Moreover, the game entirely abandons the mythos of previous games. Gone are the Pagans and the Hammerites. Instead, we have the run-of-the-mill "Occupy" plot. Without spoilers, this ultimately leads to two poorly done boss levels and ends with a blatant DLC hook.
In short, Thief (2014) could have been great, but its numerous flaws make this revival very disappointing.