Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Thief: Explore the Possibilities in this New Trailer


Over the past few months, I have been skeptical about the Eidos Montreal reboot of Thief. I played the original Thief games on the computer back in the nineties and the fantasy and fun that they created for me will be hard for this reboot to follow up. If you've been keeping up though, Eidos Montreal has flooded the web with walk through videos and demonstrations showing a variety of new possibilities in the upcoming reboot. Now, a new trailer released earlier today ties them all together for one big trailer filled with plenty of thieving.

The new trailer has me anticipating Thief more than I had been but I'm still cautious. Incredible looking visuals made possible by modern technology certainly breathe new life into the series. The last Thief game, Thief: Deadly Shadows was released nearly 10 years ago in 2004 so the jump of an entire generation of game consoles is quite the face lift. Eidos Montreal seems to have done a great job with the environments which capture the pivotal dark, steampunk atmosphere. They also seem to have adopted the ever popular free running style of navigating buildings and rooftops which is appropriate for someone in Garrett's line of work. Garrett's arsenal of tools and weapons at his disposable also seems to have been expanded allowing for plenty of ways to reach your goal. 


My main concerns aren't with visuals however, the size of the city or how many tools Garrett has in his inventory. I could return to the original Thief games on the computer and enjoy it for hours. What matters to me is the story and the true feel of Thief. Many have pointed out it looks Bethesda's Dishonored when in fact, Bethesda has admitted to having been heavily inspired by the early Thief games. I don't want Eidos Montreal to feel like they have to live up to Dishonored. 

No, Eidos Montreal needs to live up to the original Thief games by crafting Garrett as the character he was originally conceived as. He's a true anti-hero; a cynical loner shrouded in mystery. He does things his way, because he wants to. His interests serve only himself. He doesn't steal because he needs to, he steals because he wants too. He craves the challenge and the excitement of stealing. He's been compared to Robin Hood but he's more like a medieval Han Solo if you think about it. I think if Eidos Montreal can pull off the creation of Garrett the game will be a success. 


I'm sure many early fans of the Thief series feel the same way and they will have very high standards for this game. What do you think, fan or not are you looking forward to Thief? The game will be available on the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4 and PC February 27th. 

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