Anyone playing the latest "Thief" game?

[Platapus]

The reviews on Steam are not favourable.

I have been looking forward to this game for years. But the more helpful reviews say that if you liked Thief 1,2,3 you won't like 4.

Too bad.

Anyone here play it and if so wadda ya think of it?

[d@rk51d3]

Really wanted to give it a go, but too many bad reviews.

[Threadfin]

I've been playing Thief since The Dark Project, huge fan of the series. I bought Thief 4 despite all the negative talk about it, since I love the series so much I had to see for myself.

And I like it. What it is missing mostly is the Thief lore, and has a weak story line. But I found a lot to like. The actually 'thiefing' is well done. It has the most fleshed out city in the entire series. Graphics are good. People complain about stuff like loot glint, but I just turn it off so that everything isn't so obvious. Loading screen carry overs from the console port can be annoying, but there ya are.

I didn't buy it at release, I bought it a couple months ago. So maybe it improved from the initial reaction. I think people, and gamers in particular, tend to look at things through nostalgia-tinted glasses. Some are unable to take things at face value and instead base their judgement on their expectations.

For me, just looking at T4 as a game standing on it's own, I found it well worth the money I paid for it, even if perhaps it doesn't display true fidelity to the games that came before.

[Platapus]

Good to hear from someone who actually played it.

While it has a well developed city, did you find the gameplay linear? That was one of the complaints. Were you able to jump from any point or only select points?

Was there a patch that fixed the sound problems? That's a killer in a sneaking game.

[Threadfin]

No not linear. And really Thief TDP and Metal Age were more linear, as you could only do the missions. T3 added a bit of freedom with being able to move around about the various districts. T4 continues with this, you can move around as you see fit. You can get many missions and side quests that you can do when you like. Obviously to move the story forward you will need to do the main missions, but there are so many side quests available that it gives it a sort of quasi-open world feel to it, even if perhaps it's more of an illusion, but it's good enough for me.

As for the sound, yes, I found that 'positional' sound cues could use some work. Voices, in particular, might sound too far away, or too close considering the actual distance to the player and the environmental obstructions, such as walls. Regardless, it didn't bother me much, but I suppose I tend to look past such things and not let them ruin what I found to be an otherwise good game.

Metal Age is one of my favorite games ever. Levels like Framed, First City Bank and Trust and Life of the Party are to me the quintessential Thief experience. And while I won't go so far as to say T4 lives up to those memories, I also realize that I may also have a bit of nostalgia-tint as well.

With T4 being a $10 game these days, I think any fan of the series should pick it up. It may be a disappointment, but what do you have to lose?

[banryu79]

I too am a fan of the Thief series (played Thief:TDP and Thief:TMA in the fabulous Looking Glass era).
I recently discovered "The Dark Mod" and found it is no more a mod but a stand alone game... It's done with the engine of Doom3 and I'm currently in the process of playing it.

Well, in a word: it's the most "Thiefy" experience I had since the time of Thief:TMA. Quality of the gameplay is superb and high fidelty, IMO.

Try it: it's free. You will not be disappointed.

http://www.thedarkmod.com/main/

[Threadfin]

Thanks for the heads up. I remember the Dark Mod from years ago, but IIRC it was then based on the T2 engine, so looks like it's been redone.

Which missions did you find best? I tend to like missions like the ones mentioned above. Framed was the level that really put Thief among my favorites of all time. It was the third mission in T2, and the Basso mission was like a tutorial, and Shipping and Receiving was a bit tedious, but still good. But man when I played Framed I thought this is amazing and to this day it is one that defines the Thief series to me.

Bafford's and the Cathedral missions from TDP, Framed, the Bank, Eavesdropping and Life of the Party from T2, Bloodline Opal, Moira and especially the Cradle mission from T3. Matter of fact I think the Cradle mission is a masterpiece is psychological horror. It's like Hitchcock in a Thief game.

[Stealhead]

I do not personally own it I did however play it on a friends Xbox One for a few hours. I was not impressed at all. It just does not have the feel of the original Thief titles (1 and 2). Most of the actions are contextual meaning that you van only jump at certain points and the contextual button(or key if played on a PC) is the same.


They also "re-envisioned" the entire Thief universe which is a huge let down. It takes places in more a Steampunk alternate Victorian era except it does not make sense unlike the kind of Renaissance steampunk feel that the previous games had. The new world just is not interesting really. It lacks the immerseive feel that the previous titles have. And at least I personally felt very hindered by the game play. Unlike the old titles you typically only have one or two paths to follow.

In short if you like how the old thief titles played and how you could choose your path (and have a differing feel by using the different paths). As a game in general I'd give it a C- as a Thief title id honestly give it an F. As I played the game I just keep thinking "why did they do this this way".

You are better of playing the old titles with the excellent mods.

[banryu79]

Originally Posted by Threadfin

Thanks for the heads up. I remember the Dark Mod from years ago, but IIRC it was then based on the T2 engine, so looks like it's been redone.

Well, give "The Dark Mod" a try.

There is not a "campaign" in the classical Thief sense... but a database of FM (fan mission) done with extreme care from talented people.

You could download them directly from the game UI (start menu) and if visit The Dark Mod site/forum you could read a lot about each single mission design and user feedback...

I think you will found some mission with the right look & feel that will take you back on the great old times of Framed & Co.

Since now I only played the tutorial mission and the "Tears of St. Lucia" mission (both installed with the game). I found Tears of St. Lucia very good and fun! (I also downloaded another buch of mission but will play them in the not so near future).

If you plan to enjoy this game, first of all pay a visit at The Dark Mod wikia from their site and read about the game lore (the geography of the world, the empire, the different guilds, the pagans... ) then take your time on the tutorial to prefectly tune the gamma/brightness and experiment with the gameplay (mostrly similar to old dear Thief with some new updated mechanics, above all the awsome mantle system and the object manipulation system).

I play it wearing high fidelty ear phones (that I buy mainly for SH3 - immersion factor skyrocked! - )
I really cannot tell enough how good this game is, especially for the Thief entusiast!

[Platapus]

I like the Dark Mod. My main complaint is a lack of documentation on the various missions. I have tried to play several of the more common missions and I get lost-- not lost as in direction but lost as in what am I supposed to do?

But graphically and game play, the missions with the Dark Mod are great!

Anyone else get lost or is it just me?

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Platapus

I like the Dark Mod. My main complaint is a lack of documentation on the various missions. I have tried to play several of the more common missions and I get lost-- not lost as in direction but lost as in what am I supposed to do?

But graphically and game play, the missions with the Dark Mod are great!

Anyone else get lost or is it just me?

I dont..... only becauase I will pull up a youtube video when get lost I mean slightly confused.

[zachanscom]

no, because from the videos and reviews i've seen, it's obviously a pile of garbage that betrays the root of the franchise

[banryu79]

Originally Posted by zachanscom

no, because from the videos and reviews i've seen, it's obviously a pile of garbage that betrays the root of the franchise

De gustibus... I disagree (base on my own experience thus far, which is not much, btw).

Originally Posted by Platapus

Anyone else get lost or is it just me?

Do you remember a name or two of this missions you get lost in?
So, when I have time, I will try them for myself to see if it happens to me too.
So far I only played "Tears of St. Lucia" and I didn't feel lost at all...

[Swabbie]

I'm one of those long time fans of the series too. Been playing since 99.

I didn't like this new Thief game at all. I thought is was horrible and deserving of all the bad reviews it got. Over the years I've replayed The Dark Project and Metal Age many times. Only played the new game once and then uninstalled it. To me, Dishonored felt more like a Thief game then it did.

The Dark Mod is really good. The Thief's Circle and TTLG forums are good places to look for fan mission for thief 1, 2 and 3. Thief 2X, Shadows of the Metal Age. Is a whole 13 mission campaign. With the female protagonist Zaya. Not bad for a fan made game.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by banryu79

Do you remember a name or two of this missions you get lost in?

It was the one where you are infected and you need to steal some medicine.

I painstakingly searched every building, found the secret room in the inn. Got into the sewer system and it led to some big house. I assume that was my next objective. But it was frustrating to have to wander around basically taking out every guard so you could search blindly every building that could be broken into.