I have a timer set on my desktop for 2 reasons. As of this writing it is counting down to February 25th at 9:00 a.m. (11 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes, 22 seconds remain) That day has 2 celebratory meanings to me. The only one of concern on this forum is that it is the launch of Thief 4.

If you haven't seen the videos up till now, I claim you are missing out:

http://thiefgame.com/ (11 videos can be found here on the media page). All are worth watching IMHO.

I think most folks will appreciate the moddable difficulty levels in game (a difficulty so high the devs currently haven't accomplished it yet, is possible). Ghosting will no longer be on the honor system, as you can set that in the options as well ;) Of course, in true Thief fashion, you can play it your way, whichever way that may be.

I haven't seen any current threads here discussing Thief 4. Chime in with your pre-launch thoughts or discuss the Thief franchise in general.

[Game redeemed, removing rules]

Minimalistic design was the biggest strength of The Dark Project................................

I will wait for reviews and to see the gameplay. Then I'll get it when it's on sale for about $4 bucks if it really looks nice :D.

Do you mean the HUD or the game world? I've seen a lot of complaints about T4's HUD which is fully customizable (I believe to where ALL screen real estate can be 100% game world). (i.e. no damage meter, no health, no compass... ).

If you mean the world, I both agree and disagree. I like its simplicity... but in many places, its too empty. One of the reasons fan mods were so wonderful is that they took the time to actually fill in the space they created. Many Thief 1 Official rooms were COMPLETELY empty (single brick texture on every surface with no furniture, items, loot, etc). That felt more lazy than minimalist to me.

If you mean the dated graphics... I fully agree. Even with the HD texture mods, I still like the style of the visual experience. the old, worn, rustic look and feel is perfect. Shiny doesn't fit with the story.

I love the thief franchise, I am hoping to find enough cash to buy Thief 4 before its released but obviously i can put it in front of essentials.

From my first introduction to the Thief games ive been hooked. ever since I saw a now long time ex GF playing it way back in 1997 or 1998 or something like that. (I'm not going into details why i was there and she was playing a game)

If thief 4 can even come close to its predecessors then it will be worth every penny.

Thief 4 is a complete and utter disgrace and insult to the original, and the developers are utterly clueless about what made Thief: The Dark Project so great.

Difficulty is NOT what it's about. Making a some random game featuring a "clocktower residing Master Thief" (ugh...) difficult doesn't make it great in any way. Thief was about the fantastical art design, incredible ambient sounds, surreal gameplay, mysterious storyline, and how it all came together. I would even argue that Thief: The Dark Project is an EASIER stealth game than most of the newer stealth games that have come out recently on hard difficulty (which aren't enjoyable to play at all). It was never about extreme difficulty, it was about a WORK OF ART. Thief: The Dark Project is a creative masterpiece. Making a generic Dishonored clone about stealing that you can optionally set to be "very difficult" is not something I have even the slightest interest in.

This game can go straight to hell.

Well the game is not really Thief 4 it is a reboot, from the same folks who gave us Deus EX: Human Revolution so we should have a little faith in them.

I would really like Thief 4 to work, but I've had misgivings from the very start. From the small blunders, like failing to bring back Stephen Russell (the voice actor for the original Garrett), to the larger conceptual mistakes (like making it possible for the player to battle through scenarios with weapons, for those who don't feel like sneaking), it's clear that the devs have been trying to make a game for everyone - which Thief never was.

The original was a sneaking game for people who wanted to do that and only that, and from that starting point it added style and story and flair and became a classic. Making a game that is a multi-genre experience for the mass market is likely to be bland and full of promise it never really fulfills, no matter how atmospheric the visuals.

Thief: the Dark Project looks like crap these days, and mechanically it's clunky, but it's still fun to play. As is so often the case, I think Thief 4 is likely to mistake brilliant art with solid gameplay. I hope I'm wrong - nothing would make me happier than a great game to carry on the tradition into the future - but I think they are actually making medieval Batman, and not Thief.

One way or another, we'll find out soon.

Correct me if im wrong, but is it not just "Thief" ?

Im hyped for this title. Loved previous Thief games even if my disc broke and I could never finish Deadly Shadows. Hope it will be at least as good as Human Revolution was for Deus Ex series.

I'm looking forward to this way more than other Thief fans, it seems. I don;'t hate modern games on spec, I like quite a lot of them. I'm also okay with change, so if this is different or easier or whatever else I'll still be able to take it for what it is: a new, different game.

I loved Dishonored and I hope this continues the trend of good stealth games. Wish I had upgraded my PC before now so I could play Thief on ultra settings, but my PC should be able to run it fine (quad core, GTX 480).


Just an FYI: this is a different team within Eidos Montreal. At least it was for most of its development time, I think they merged at some point recently to finish it.

I enjoy stealth games in general, and I definitely got more interested in this title after finding out it's from the same company that did Deus Ex: Human Revolution (although it's not the same team). Interesting to see the response the game gets once it's out.

Yes indeed, it is a reboot similar to the recent Tomb Raider. It explains the absence of Steven Russell as it is a new direction, and the game development was probably quite expensive so its not catering only to the niche audience i.e. fans of the original Thief series. It is being released on all the known platforms to reach the widest audience possible which includes people who have never played a Thief game before.

I played the tar out of the first Thief. I only played 2 and 3 a little bit, but I recently bought them so that I can make my way through the franchise.

This new rendition is different, but it looks outstanding. I think there'll be a genuine feeling of accomplishment, stealth and the thrill of nabbing something great from what I've seen. But you never know until you play.

I am a huge believer in changing things that were once great. We gamers whine and complain when someone takes a risk, and when they do, we whine and complain. We still have the old Thief franchise that still works with modern OSes. We even have Dark MOD. And now we'll have something else, something new and hopefully, it'll open itself up into newer, better frontiers. Then again, it could be the reproduced drivel people are afraid it will be.

As Corak the Wise says, Only Time Will Tell.