Thi4f

[Murdoc]

From what I've heard they are doing a lot more in the mobile space, and Thief started with a different team, but I have a feeling a bunch Human Revolution people moved over at some point, because that's usually how it goes.

[filk]

Ugh. I'm on mission 4 now. It's way too long for the no-saves-but-autosaves system. I just timed it, and with a perfectly executed path, it takes 11 and a half minutes to get back to the point where I'm dying, 4+ minutes of which is unskippable cutscenes, elevator rides, or load times.Then, I die to enemies who one-hit kill, or, just now, for being at slightly the wrong angle for a sticky, context-sensitive jump.

 

An hour and a half ago I was thinking about how much I like this game and how it's better than people are saying. Now I hate it. But I hate it for the "ugh why can't I defeat you" feeling, and not the "this game is dumb" feeling.

 

I wouldn't be so mad if it weren't for the infuriating waits. It's fun running through a level quickly without being detected. It's not fun waiting.

[filk]

The end of Mission 4 is honestly just stupid. The guards patrol at high speed, and after watching their circuits carefully I followed one behind only to have them randomly detect me and turn around. No glass or bumping of anything. I have put 3 hours into attempting this now. I want to talk to the tester who accomplished this on Master with the customizations on.

 

Also, they one-hit you, unlike other guards.

[Frenetic Pony]

The end of Mission 4 is honestly just stupid. The guards patrol at high speed, and after watching their circuits carefully I followed one behind only to have them randomly detect me and turn around. No glass or bumping of anything. I have put 3 hours into attempting this now. I want to talk to the tester who accomplished this on Master with the customizations on.

 

Also, they one-hit you, unlike other guards.

 

So I take it from this thread and other sources that this game goes from "Hey it's not as bad as everyone said it was, just turn on the customizations and bam, look I'm stealing shit!" too "Ahhh.... errr. Uhhhmmm."

[filk]

I think it's mainly me realizing that adding options to a game to enable a certain gameplay experience is not the same as designing for that experience. It can get close, but there are going to be humps.

[kaputt]

I finished it. God, what an awful ending. It's like it's missing some scenes, hence why I don't know if they were being literal with waht they've shown or it's something that needs more interpretation. Either way, it's pretty bad.

 

There was a neat idea by the end of the game, some area in which they test all of the skills you learned in the game, without any battle. I thought that was a nice way to create "boss fight" in a stealth game, even though this is not exactly a boss fight. But then, they ruined this idea later in the game.

 

Well, I think I agree with 6/10 given by the press. It's an OK game, gets a bit tiring by the end, and the end is awful, so you feel like you waste a bit of your time, despite the nice visuals and entertaining first hours.

[Architecture]

Would you say this would be a good summer game when it's like $25-$30?

[dibs]

If it's a bad game it's a bad game. I won't be picking it up untill it hits a fiver on steam sale and incan add it to my middle age man collection of games that I will never play.

[kaputt]

Would you say this would be a good summer game when it's like $25-$30?

Hum... I think $20 would be a better price, but if you really want it, even hearing all these comments about it, I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

It's a okay game. It's alright. It's nothing noteworthy though, and it has a lot of flaws. It's enjoyable for some hours.

[Salacious Snake]

... enjoyable for some hours.

I want to see this as a box quote.

[Justin Leego]

Actual box quote: "...I don't think you will be disappointed"

[Gormongous]

Actual box quote: "...I don't think you will be disappointed"

 

"...Noteworthy..."

[kaputt]

I want to see this as a box quote.

 

Haha, yep, that would be very appealing. 

[Griddlelol]

6/10

You feel like you waste... your time

 

With a bit of out of context quotations, I think this is a great one for the box.

[kaputt]

With a bit of out of context quotations, I think this is a great one for the box.

Thief: Depressive Edition.

[Griddlelol]

I've not played it, but it has been on my radar for a while. This thread (along with other people like the Giant Bomb crew) has really made me sad. I like the old Thief games, I wanted this reboot/sequel to be great. 

[Boris Stoke]

"I like ... Thief ... this reboot/sequel ... great." - IGN.com

 

Sadly, despite all the harsh reviews I really want to play this game still.  Mostly I am just really itching for a stealth game for my shiny PS4.  AC4 doesn't really cut it.  Hiding in bushes is basically the extent of its stealth.

[filk]

I gave up on the game last week because it was too stressful to play as a break from thesis work. Master difficulty + modifiers really would push me to the edge when I died too many times, and some of the deaths are really stupid.

 

Now that I'm a little further from the game, I find that my fondness is fading and a more negative take is sinking in. I really hated the city between levels. It's broken into multiple maps, with 1-2 ways to get between them, and it's totally impossible to navigate and find the little gaps through which you're supposed to move between maps. What is the point of having an "open world" section between missions if you're going to constrain movement so tightly and make the joins invisible to boot?

[Granny Dragon]

I finished it. What a weird game. Sometimes, just for short bursts of 15 or 20 minutes, it feels like a cool Thief. I get the sense that I am in a real, interesting place, there are a range of meaningful gameplay option, and I just wish that the entire game was like this. Thief has within its design space the potential to be a great *Thief*. It is maddening that so much of this potential is unfulfilled.

Here and there Thief plays like Call of Duty. I have to cross a burning bridge on a fixed path, jump at the right time, run and stop at the right time, while everything around you collapses in a giant scripted event. It is as hollow as spectacular.

Most of the times I am between the two extremes. The mix doesn't work and confuses me more than the incoherent story which doesn't even succeed in making you understand the main character's intentions (the Baron's, Orion's, even Garrett's).

The scripted failstates are very annoying. Thief is all about not being detected. However, a handful of times I sneak through a level only to be interrupted by a cutscene during which I am found! This is definitely not how I remember the design philosophy behind Thief games.

At the same time this game pays strange homages to the previous titles. The "scary level" is a former asylum. It does not come even close to Deadly Shadow's Cradle level, partly because it tries to pull off the exact same tricks. Another level is set in an old cathedral. However, there is no reason why the events taking place there could not take place anywhere else. The cathedral is just thrown in for flavour (or nostalgia?). However, the effect is diminished by the entire Thief world not having any sense of depth or real history. Remember how different the Dark Project was in that regard. If you paid attention, you could see glimpses of the conflict between Pagans and industrialisation right in the first level! Hints (for instance, pictures on the wall) were subtle enough that they only clicked later on.

Thief is not bad, but it makes me want to play a real game: a game that respects me. A game with huge levels. A game which knows what to do with them Thief made me buy the Dishonored DLC which has been reviewed positively. In my view, Dishonored is the new king of the immersive first person exploration/intrusion genre. It is where the true soul of Thief and Deus Ex went.

[sclpls]

So is this video game thing worth $15, or is it just not worth playing?