Here's my review from Amazon:
Thief is the fourth Thief game and a reboot of the original series. Thief has dedicated fans that have spanned a decade and a half because the original wasn't just a fantastic game, it defined a whole genre of games. This reboot attempts to take the heart of the game and then spawn a new and fantastic world from it.
Overall, it's been achieved. But here's my breakdown:
Gameplay:
Garret (the protagonist) has very limited mobility. He operates like a normal human. He can't fall great distances, he has no spectacular strength. But he does land light on his feet. And it is with those skills that you must observe guards or anyone else who might sound an alarm and make your way past them -- often stealing their purse on your way.
Unlike previous Thief games, you're not very fast and you can't jump unless you're in a spot where you're allowed (which are not marked, but almost every place that makes sense to jump, you can). Instead of relying on speed to get away, the game strongly wants you, as the player, to sneak past your enemies (or knock them out or kill them). If an enemy sees you, you may have a few quick moments to attempt to hide (similar to the game Amnesia in many ways -- hide in a closet if you can or behind something where they won't find you).
You are also armed with gadgets to help you on your way. Using your arsenal, you can knock out or kill people and lights. You can even drop a rope, though the areas where rope drops are allowed are fairly rare.
Speed control and rumble add a lot to the game, so I recommend playing it with an XBOX Controller plugged into your USB port.
Graphics:
Thief was optimized for AMD cards. My nVidia 650Ti card handles the graphics nicely, but I do not see much improvement between very low to low to medium graphics settings. I do not know if that is poor optimization for nVidia cards or if another component is bottlenecking the overall performance. I get some stutter -- especially during level loading.
Nonetheless, what I see is gorgeous. As a thief, you'll want to look in every nook and cranny. And every nook and cranny looks great. Everything has a hand-crafted feel to it. You'll see many duplicated objects (especially paintings), but their placement in the world just works, making the overall feeling of the world a place that has actually been lived in.
Characters look like people, though somehow just a shade comic-book-like in proportions. But everything works together, so the characters are still very enjoyable to look at.
Overall, the graphics are quite nice.
Sound:
The sounds in the game are, for the most part, spectacular. I play with 5.1 surround and I can hear exactly where everyone is. Environmental effects on the sounds cue you as to what type of environment that they are in, so you can hear when they enter a marble room versus a small cozy bedroom versus a wide open dining hall.
Level Design and Loading:
Overall, I'm in love with the level design. It feels a lot like Batman: Arkham City/Asylum in its build. However, sometimes game play trumps what makes sense in the world. And I would prefer the two to blend together.
A few examples of this would be: Some doors to homes don't have locks on some of the doors that lead outside, while other doors do. And there are ventilation areas that just don't make sense (except to move Garret from one place to another).
But overall, like I said, I'm in love with the level design because they've built a world where you feel like you're sneaking through real homes and businesses and snatching up what you need.
As you move from location to location, the game loads more content. This can cause hiccups and I've had one crash during the loading. The constant load/unloading takes a toll on overall performance, but rewards you with high-fidelity graphics that makes the world feel real.
Although the levels are designed well, they are still a guided tour. You cannot stack crates and get on top of a bookshelf. You cannot get into a wagon and hide. You cannot jump over a small box and hide in the pile of debris on the side of the street, even though you'd badly like to. In fact, you can't get anywhere unless the designers specifically allowed you to get there. This makes a bit of a more linear game. That said, there are so many options that are available to you, that I was able to forgive the lack of total freedom.
Difficulty:
I am a Thief veteran, so I decided to start up on the most difficult setting. So far, I've been pleased with the difficulty. Early reviews indicated that enemies could not see Garret when they should, but that has not been my experience at all. If I'm out of the shadows, someone's going to see me if they look my direction.
If you have played some of the later Splinter Cell games (Conviction or Blacklist), then I can assure you that it works similar to those. When an enemy can see you, a small gauge shows up. If it fills up, then you are seen. So if someone sees you out of the corner of their eye, you can still dart into shadow and the enemy will just assume their eyes were playing tricks on them.
So far, I'm quite satisfied.
Is This Game For You?
If you enjoyed the first Thief game, then you may want to give this a shot just to experience it. But it is not the first Thief. Amazon sells Thief and it's a great game that still plays just fine today (after you reassign controls on your keyboard -- WASD was not very popular back then).
If you played and enjoyed Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction or Blacklist or Tomb Raider, then you'll feel at home with this game. Also, if you want to have a great experience of sneaking around as a Thief in a low-magic fantasy steampunkish (more steam, less punk) setting, then do yourself a favor and pick it up.
Overall:
The game is not perfect. You do not have free reign to do as you please as much as previous Thief games and without a very good computer system, you'll likely have some stutter periodically. But I'm have a great time playing it. I feel truly sneaky when I pull off a great heist. And given Garret's limitations, the feeling is even greater. I just have a sneaking suspicion that the developers knew the exact path I'd take for most of my sneaking, which mildly diminishes my sense of accomplishment.
Enjoy!
