Recent reviews by Hunch Crunch

I've completed the 3 previous Thief titles and just completed this one. I've sunk over 33 hours (70 in total w/ idling) to complete the campaign and all side jobs/client missions. I completed the game on Custom Difficulty with the following modifiers:

- Base Difficulty of Master
- No Focus
- Stealth Takesdowns Only
- No Reticle
- Specialty Arrows Only
- No Food or Poppies
- Zero Damage
- Expensive Resources
- No Upgrades
- No Kills or Knockouts
- No Alerts

I was going for the peak Thief experience; a thief doesn't kill nor get caught. THAT BEING SAID, I should have completed my first playthrough on Master Difficulty instead of throwing myself under the metaphorical bus.

TL/DR: If you haven't played a stealth-like, I recommend playing Thief difficulty to get a hang of everything. It's fun but has it's faults.

The campaign is nothing like previous titles in the series; there are no thieving quests, instead, focusing on a linear game from mission to mission with side quests available to those who want something a little more. The campaign itself isn't terrible, but it's not something to write home about- it follows the tale of Garrett from previous games, but without the same charm that Stephen Russell brought to the table. Missions generally have you finding lore about the world and finding out what happened after the prologue and before you arose after your yearlong coma. The campaign has the usual twists and turns you'd expect from an action game- new villain here, convenient plot armor there, etc.. Overall, the campaign is decent if you want to experience a stealth game and like to challenge yourself with modifiers in a new game after. MIND YOU, there is no 'New Game+', so you have to start a new game from scratch if you want to change things up.

The side missions and client missions, much like the client missions, aren't much to brag about. They're a decent escape from the monotony of the campaign with a brief collect and escape style approach, similar to older Thief titles. They're very easily forgettable and are only there to bring back bits of nostalgia and give you a breather in between missions.

Similar to Thief: Deadly Shadows, this title features more of an open world/hub- allowing you to transition from one section to another with a loading screen in between. One of the main grievances I had when exploring was breaking into certain areas by button mashing to open a window or move a piece of lumber. The immersion break is a bit of a pain, but it's not the worst thing to experience that the game has to offer. Exploring the world lets you hunt and gather collectibles hidden around apartments, buildings, and in different environments... assuming you've made it far enough into the campaign to GET to the area you can see and reach but can't open.

My time completing the campaign was a pain in the rear to even manage with the custom difficulty I've set for myself- getting caught or hurt leads me to restarting a section from my last save point, OR, at a checkpoint that I just so happened to pass (if I was smart enough to load a save instead of load a quicksave that is). Certain sections of the game are indefinitely harder when you have to time your movements from one point to another to avoid being seen, whether it's dashing between flashes of lighting, a poorly placed lantern that will illuminate you, or that one guard, Benny... I remember Benny.... Fully completing this game with the custom difficulty I've set would be the death of me, and as such, I won't even attempt it. Trying to collect EVERYTHING and not be seen, alerting anyone, or even having the ability to knock someone out is a massive hinderance. Having said that, I DID complete a couple of campaign missions where I HAVE collected everything, and it is wasted time that I will never have the opportunity to get back- it WAS NOT worth it.

Even the random incident where I miss the jump I was supposed to make because the game didn't register my inputs correctly lead me back to certain points in my game where I asked, "Why didn't I save closer to this point? Why do I hate myself?". One of the other grievances I have is with the game registering what you want to do; if you happen to peek around cover instead of swiping out the candle light on a desk, only to have a guard on his return point in his patrol see you just right, you're not alone. Failed to grab the rope right in front of you, only to fall to the next floor down in front of a guard? Welcome to the party. Trying to swoop away from an enemy but for some reason you don't swoop? It's a feature, don't think too much about it.

In the end, the game wasn't terrible, but it definitely is the weakest entry in the Thief lineage. The game felt like it was trying to chase what Dishonored had done 2 years earlier and failed miserably at it- leaving Dishonored to release a sequel that left the Thief series in the dust. Would I recommend the game? Absolutely- though my complaints are honest from my experiences, it's still a fun game regardless. However, if you don't mind some of the archaic controls or older titles, I would recommend checking out the older titles in the series. Thief Gold and Thief II are an absolute must, with Thief II being my personal favorite in the series.

If I can't lose my 10mm, it isn't a real simulator.

Finally, I can build the perfect Dodge Neon!