If there's one thing playing Thief has taught us, it's that stealth isn't our forte.
Even in a game where guards can stand all of a few feet away from you, and stare you straight in the face without noticing they're looking straight into the eyes of a master criminal, not just a suspiciously human shaped blot on the wall; even in a game that plays a specific sound effect for a few seconds to warn you when someone's looking at you, before they actually "spot" you; even in a game where you can skim a guard's nose with a bottle you've thrown, and they'll instinctively look to where it landed, not where it came from, we still get caught. Even when we're only playing on Normal.
The first time, it was because we trampled over some broken glass on the floor. That was our fault. The second time, it was because we got too close to a guard, and backed off quickly when he turned around, knocking over a priceless vase that had been left balanced in just the wrong place, on the edge of a box, as we scuttled into a corner. That was probably fifty fifty. But the third time was when the game decided it was going to break the laws of physics.
Yoink.
There we were, in an upstairs bedroom in a run-down house. A candle flickers near the window, next to an empty bed, and there's a bit of a scrotty rug skewed across the wooden floor. The window may have been our way in, but as there's only a single door here, that must be our way out. Easy enough, right?
All too aware of how much floorboards can creak in a rickety old place like this, and not knowing who could be around in another room (or downstairs), we instinctively crouch, as we slowly skulk our way towards the door. Doing our best Lloyd Grossman impression, we lean forwards, and peer through the keyhole to check there's no-one on the other side. Coast clear - time to get to work on the lock. Pressing square to bring out our lockpicks, we wiggle the analogue stick a bit and tap R2 when the on-screen dot turns green, as the lock soon succumbs to our master skills. But just as we go to touch the handle, a voice rings in our ears. "I HOPE I DON'T GET THE GLOOM!" Scatter!
In a fit, we simultaneously jump out of our skin, turn, run, and leap towards the nearest cupboard, hammering the square button until we throw ourselves inside and pull the door behind us, shivering as we peer through the slats, waiting for our wannabe assailant to come through the door. And wait. And wait. And wait. Yet no-one comes. Maybe he did get the gloom after all? Or maybe he wasn't on the other side of the door to begin with? Peering around the room, all that's left in here is an open window, an empty bed, and a rubbish looking chest of drawers. Nothing that could have yelled in our ear about gloom, anyway. Or even Oddish.
Emerging from our wooden hideaway, we go back to work on the door again. Peering through the keyhole, just to double check no-one's appeared to complain about the town's mystery illness once more, we check and check again as far as we can see, before sucking it up, and deciding to try the handle. Reaching out, we pull the handle down, and slowly inch the door open a crack, before the silence is shattered once more. "RIGHT. I'M OFF FOR THE NIGHT" comes a voice, as the handle's snatched out of our hands, the door slams shut, and a foot flies through the bottom of it. Repeatedly. Seemingly having accidentally slammed the door in his own face, before becoming completely confused by the piece of wood in front of him, the man begins an endless march into the stout door, unable to realise the futility of his situation, with only the tip of his foot occasionally making it through.
And that puts us in a tricky position. After all, what can we do? The "AI" guard seemingly isn't intelligent enough to open the door for himself (obviously using a loose variation of the term "AI"), and it's the only way to get through the level. There is no other way around - without getting caught by the guards downstairs, anyway. So we take a gamble. Freeing the guard from his self inflicted trap, we tug the door open. Apparently pleased the his persistence had paid off, he strides into the room, and is about to shout something else (to himself, apparently, as there's no-one else around), when we bop him on the head, and deposit his unconscious body on the other side of the bed. Talk about making the best of a bad situation.
They'll never see it coming. Much like they didn't see a door coming either.
Yet in a kind of microcosm, nutshell-y way, this is a pretty good summary of what playing Thief's like. For all it's faults, and for all its weird glitches, there's a good amount of fun to be had here. A current/next-gen reboot of an age old series long known for its shadowy ways, while earlier games thrived by presenting you with a target, and giving you a million and one potential ways to get in, the new take on Thief offers a much more streamlined approach. While there are still multiple ways in to any building, there are fewer possibilities to choose from - and even if you do everything right, there's still a chance you'll be spotted.
The story here revolves around master thief Garrett, an experienced criminal who's... well, we don't really know what he's doing, to be honest. Set in a sort of steampunk-esque world, where early machinery sits side-by-side with wattle and daub buildings, there's some monks doing something to a strange blue power, and a lively criminal underworld, but in all honesty, it's not really all that gripping, even if you can follow what's actually happening. In fact, it's the story (or lack thereof) that's one of Thief's biggest disappointments - but then again, it was a plot written by Tomb Raider scribe, Rihanna "hey, did I mention Terry's my dad?" Pratchett.
Narrative disappointments aside, however, the levels on Thief mostly revolve around a similar idea - there's something you need to retrieve, and you'll need to find a way in, nick it, and get out without tipping off the guards. Whether you're breaking into someone's house, finding a way into a jeweller's shop, or sneaking your way through a brothel (while the topless, er, employees, wander round), there's nothing if not a wide range of locations to explore.
Even if they are mostly bluey-brown.
The missions themselves are divided up into main quests, and side missions, with the main levels driving the story forward in their own, self contained levels, and the side missions giving you something to do in the game's hub area, which tries its best to pretend it's a large city waiting to be explored, but in reality is little more than a confusing nest of crowded cobbled streets and narrow back passages. Almost impossible to navigate, even by map, the hub is made even more awkward thanks to the regular patrols of guards that wander the area in pairs, meaning even moving from mission to mission isn't free of risk.
No matter where you are, then, staying in the shadows is of utmost importance. Luckily, not only does the screen flash when you step out of the shadow and into the light, but on the PS4, the controller's light bar will light up in bright white - which is probably the first truly useful job for a feature that's so far been more style than substance. Clicking the left stick to crouch, you'll slink around behind boxes, leaning out, watching the guard's movements, as you wait for the right moment to dash by. While you can run by holding the left trigger (which also lets you vault over anything waist high), pressing X lets you "dash", a shorter range move that's incredibly handy for scooting from one piece of shadow to the next.
Sometimes, of course, getting past the guards won't be as easy. At times, you'll find a guard who's that little bit too attentive, or you'll be faced with a corridor that's far too brightly lit to try anything sneaky. Luckily, there's always a solution, as master thief Garrett has a range of tools at his disposal - from water arrows, which can put out candles and unnecessary torches, to the aforementioned bottle, which is great for creating a distraction in a pinch.
While most other first person games put all the emphasis on the action, in Thief, combat is actively discouraged, and very much a last resort. Sneaking past the guards, you'll be given the opportunity to knock them out with a press of R1, if you sneak up behind them, but you'll need to pick a choose your moments carefully. Try to knock out a guard as his friend's coming round the corner, and it won't end well for you.
The long sword of the law
Should you end up in a pinch, you have one of two choices - you can either engage in toe to toe combat, and rely on your superior agility to dodge your opponent's blows, or, you can do what any other Thief would do, and leg it. This was our usual strategy when we inevitably ended up wandering in front of a guard because we hadn't scouted the area as well as we should have. They'd spot us, we'd hold the left trigger down, and sprint as fast as we could, hoping we didn't run into a dead end.
Luckily, objects of interest in the environment often have a slightly blue tinge, which you can enhance by pressing triangle, engaging Garrett's spirit-vision-esque focus ability. Slowing time down, and letting you move that little bit quicker, it'll also highlight everything nearby that's usable in blue, picking out a handy grate, or even better, a cupboard you can hide in - which is especially useful when you're on the run. Unfortunately, it isn't fool proof. Huffing and puffing as we legged it away from a guard, we used the focus ability to spot a nearby cupboard. Great, we thought, as we leapt over a wall, into the room, and ran up to the unit hammering square to shuffle inside. If only. Instead, Garrett came to a complete stop, reached out, and carefully opened the front of the cabinet to have a look inside, pocketing a candelabra before the guard caught up with us and knocked us silly. Note to self: there's a subtle difference between a cabinet and a cupboard.
But as much fun as the stealth can at times be (and we never thought we'd write that), Thief does have several large problems that put a massive downer on the gameplay. One of the bigger issues is the game's bizarre audio, which sees conversations that are actually taking place several rooms, or even floors away, sound as though they're happening right next to you. It's kind of hard to be stealthy when you're having to turn and backtrack every few seconds, because the game makes it sound like the man four doors down is about to tread on your foot. Surely people should get louder as they approach, and quieter as they move away?
Then there's the random performance issues. While the game chugs along at a fairly steady speed, it isn't as smooth as we'd like - and oddly, in the pre-rendered cutscenes, the whole game goes to pot. One scene early on in the game looked more like we were watching a stop motion cartoon than a professionally rendered video, and to make matters worse, the sound fell completely out of sync with what we were watching too. With subtitles that seemed to be several minutes ahead, and sound that seemed about 30 seconds behind, it was confusing to say the least, and not what you'd expect from a game like this.
The game's controls are a little bit on the weird side too, especially the inventory. While using L2 as an "all in one" run, jump, scoot-over and leg it button is fine, putting the game's inventory on the PS4's touch pad is not, as it makes finding the right tool, and equipping it in a pinch more of a faff than it's worth. While the touch pad is surprisingly accurate, it's a solution that's only just about usable, especially where the d-pad would have been so much quicker.
But despite the glitches, the sometimes dodgy AI, and the much smaller in scope levels, there's still plenty of fun to be had with Thief. With an adjustable difficulty level that lets you tweak the guard's attentiveness to your liking, the optional focus ability highlighting useful bits and pieces in your environment, and the always handy ability to clonk guards on the head what they get that little bit too close, even stealth novices should be able to find their footing here. While there's no option to go in guns blazing, like on other stealth games offer (and how could there be - there are no guns!), Garrett has more than enough tools to turn things in his favour. While the map could be better, and the stealth sometimes frustrating, this is a pretty successful return for one of gaming's older names.
Format Reviewed: Playstation 4
