Poll: Thief 4: Anyone scared yet?

[karamazovnew]

Let me be quick here. The day I heard that both Deus Ex and Thief would get sequels, I thought I was dreaming. Deus Ex was... well, Deus Ex, you know, the granddaddy of every realistic rpg/shooter out there, from Stalker to Fallout 3. And mentioning Thief is like teasing an orphan by saying "mother".

But both games are made by the same studio (although probably different teams), just as the former titles were made by Ion Storm (Looking Glass for Thief 1&2) and, since Deus Ex Human revolution just came out, it merits to ask the above question. I have just finished HR and the feeling of disappointment I have regarding the Deus Ex series is overshadowed BY FAR by my panic regarding the new Thief series. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I didn't like HR. I barely had patience to finish it. But I'm cool about it, because ever since the original, many other great titles have carried the torch of rpg/shoot/sneak/hack in various ways. But Thief is unique and even a flawed game like Thief 3 (much, much better than HR, both in graphics, design, gameplay) felt great. I forgive any flaw that that title had, just for the unique Cradle level. Heck it was actually my favorite Thief title

If you've been annoyed by the static world, the idiotic AI and the overdone story, you might share my view that Eidos Montreal has shown itself not even being able to release a decent game based on a masterpiece. Nonetheless a "sequel". So, is the Thief series the next to fall?

 

[Blue_vision]

Wait, so we're not allowed to say that we're not worried for Thief 4, because we actually liked Human Revolution? Apparently, disposition towards art has become an objective thing behind my back. Have we made any other statements on what's good or not? I'm particularly interested in whether the gods have decided whether Avatar is good or bad.

 

[lacktheknack]

"I have this opinion, and if yours is different, then stuff it. You're wrong. If you want to agree with me and complain, then feel free!"

That's exactly what you said. If you want this to be even REMOTELY about Thi4f (dumbest title ever), then you'd better kill that paragraph.

Except I really can't take you seriously! You admit the heavily flawed Thief game is your FAVORITE, then you up and diss the Deus Ex game that everyone actually likes. How bizarrely backwards.

Anyways, I can only hope that you despise the next Thief. I think I'll enjoy it if you do.

 

[karamazovnew]

"I have this opinion, and if yours is different, then stuff it. You're wrong. If you want to agree with me and complain, then feel free!"

That's exactly what you said.

My only concern was not to turn this topic into "wtf? I loved Deus EX". And that's why I said "I'm not interested in hearing why you thought it was great". Things that went bad with HR might go bad again in Thief. If you liked HR there's no doubt that you didn't care or see its flaws. But you're right, what I've said is misleading, I'll edit the first post and give a chance to the 99% of people here who loved HR to press "Good"

 

[The Madman]

I lost all hope in Thief 4 ever being any good the instant I found out its name was 'Thi4f'. They couldn't have made a more stupid and annoying name if they'd tried, though at least they're acknowledging it's a sequel and not just naming it 'Thief' like a lot of other game companies are doing these days.

But while I liked Human Revolution I'm kinda concerned they're just going to copy/paste the stealth system from Deus Ex over to the Thief game they're making, and that just wouldn't work. Thief is first person, Thief 3 tried the whole third person glances around corners thing and it didn't work well, stick with the first person perspective. Deus Ex is also much more fast-paced and action driven, with rolls between cover and the like. Thief has always been much more slow paced, more thoughtful and strategic than reactive and fast-paced.

So yeah, it'll suck. I hope I'm wrong, I really really do, but I'm probably not.

I mean THI4F? Seriously?

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Now, chances are you loved HR, in which case, I'm not interested in hearing why you thought it was great. You either have not played the original, or have not played any games made since.

Erm what? I played the original and have definately played games since. I know becuase I remember *nod*....I think this version of DE is really good if filled with FF7 references (which isn't necessarily a bad thing ) I think they did a really good job. I do agree they could have used a more up to date engine, but it does it's job.

In light of this I'm really looking forward to Theif 4. I love stealth games. I am playing Deus Ex through on my first go on 'Give me Deus Ex' and pacifist run it is really fun and challenging. I can only imagine I will find Theif 4 fun too :3

My only complaint is that they are spelling it Thi4f...this makes no sense... :| That would be ThiAf surely rofl.

It amuses me that as of writing there is only 1 vote for 'bad' and I'm assuming that's the OP.

 

[Benth08x]

I really liked Deus Ex: HR.

OT: I think the studio took something that would be nearly impossible to please purists with and did a good job with it. I haven't played Thief but Eidos Montreal tried damn hard to remain faithful to the source of Deus Ex while updating it to modern game mechanics, and I'm sure they'll bring the same to Thief.

(Hopefully they'll change the title.)

 

[The Madman]

It amuses me that as of writing there is only 1 vote for 'bad' and I'm assuming that's the OP.

Nope, that was me, being the bile-driven hate-fuelled monstrosity of a gaming grognard that I am.

 

[karamazovnew]

it amuses me that as of writing there is only 1 vote for 'bad' and I'm assuming that's the OP.

Nope, actually I didn't vote Look, I edited that part, but you can imagine my frustration at just finishing a game you've waited for a long time, just to see it fall way below your expectations. And being praised everywhere at the same time. Kind of makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me.

 

[SirCannonFodder]

I lost all hope in Thief 4 ever being any good the instant I found out its name was 'Thi4f'. They couldn't have made a more stupid and annoying name if they'd tried, though at least they're acknowledging it's a sequel and not just naming it 'Thief' like a lot of other game companies are doing these days.

But while I liked Human Revolution I'm kinda concerned they're just going to copy/paste the stealth system from Deus Ex over to the Thief game they're making, and that just wouldn't work. Thief is first person, Thief 3 tried the whole third person glances around corners thing and it didn't work well, stick with the first person perspective. Deus Ex is also much more fast-paced and action driven, with rolls between cover and the like. Thief has always been much more slow paced, more thoughtful and strategic than reactive and fast-paced.

So yeah, it'll suck. I hope I'm wrong, I really really do, but I'm probably not.

I mean THI4F? Seriously?

While I wouldn't say having it named "Thifoureff" made me lose all hope, it does make me rather pessimistic. Especially with how Eidos have been treating that other stealth property of theirs which I loved, Hitman (no David Bateson (Agent 47), no Vivienne McKee (Diana), and no Jesper Kyd? Yeah, this isn't going to end well).

 

[blaize2010]

i'm sorry, but sir, i'm afraid you are a video game hipster. that and, i really don't care what your reasoning is, you brought up HR. if you didn't want people to talk about HR, don't mention HR. if you want the conversation to remain focused on thief 4, only talk about thief 4, and don't tell people to not talk about HR unless they thought it was bad, because that just makes me want to trollout and scream "I THOUGHT HR WAS MAGNIFICENT DURR HURR" when i only thought it was mediocre. and, i played deus ex,despite my age, i suffered the graphics in this modern age of halo 17 and COD: brown and gray 9, and yes, i did like the game a fair bit. thief 3's graphics weren't as good as HR's, though it's graphics aren't amazing but still pretty good. i've played the thief games, and i look forward to thief 4, and i try not to be pessimistic cause THATS WHAT VIDEO GAME HIPSTERS DO. yup, i'm done.

 

[Sonicron]

Aside from its immensely stupid title, I'm looking forward to Thi4f. If it's indeed made by the same developer as DX:HR, all the better.

You've got a little something on your fa-- wait, it's just your nostalgia goggles.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

it amuses me that as of writing there is only 1 vote for 'bad' and I'm assuming that's the OP.

Nope, actually I didn't vote Look, I edited that part, but you can imagine my frustration at just finishing a game you've waited for a long time, just to see it fall way below your expectations. And being praised everywhere at the same time. Kind of makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me.

It's okay to have different tastes to other people. Deus Ex has it's flaws but they are mostly graphical which is a pretty easy thing to look past. For me the open gameplay massively outweighs the annoyance of the LOLURINCOMBAT boss fights and thunderbird-like animations on the people. The engine is pretty old, (The same one as TR:Underworld) if heavily modified and that is a mistake on their part.

However, a friend and I are playing through together and he has done the same levels completely different to how I have done them. That's one of the really nice things about it. (He says I am Inspector Gadget and he is Robocop...-.-)

It's just a really, really fun game. Maybe you should try and treat it as and IP and not go into it with such high expectations that might be the issue? perhaps.

I am really sincere when I say that the stealth gameplay is tremendously fun. I love getting the Ghost or Smooth Operator xp reward and so I really have no fear for Theif 4 if it is anything like DE: HR.

 

[The Madman]

I am really sincere when I say that the stealth gameplay is tremendously fun. I love getting the Ghost or Smooth Operator xp reward and so I really have no fear for Theif 4 if it is anything like DE: HR.

I'm worried Thief 4 will be too much like Deus Ex now. While Human Revolution had some fun stealth mechanics as I say above Thief is built on a foundation of first-person stealth of a more slow-paced and strategic sort whereas Human Revolution by contrast is fast-paced action oriented reactive stealth.

 

[ACman]

I have a feeling that Thief 4 is essentially going to be Assassin's Creed with Hammerites and Machanists.

As long as they include rope arrows, make sure the game economy doesn't break the first time you touch it like in AC2 and contrive to make it sneakable rather than gaurds being a of tiresome series of blood bags that you have to puncture; I'm okay with that.

In fact I've been crying for an open world burglary simulator since forever. Wandering about town starting small ripping off peasants change jars and picking up and leads to wealthier targets and then "Boom!": Hammerite/Machanist/Pagan conspiracy time.

 

[karamazovnew]

i'm sorry, but sir, i'm afraid you are a video game hipster. that and, i really don't care what your reasoning is, you brought up HR. if you didn't want people to talk about HR, don't mention HR. snip...

Not sure I am a game hipster. I enjoy a good game no matter how popular it is. Sure, I've been around the PC gaming scene for longer than some, I've even worked in game company as game tester and game designer. I've even made mods for games I liked. Call me nostalgic, call me paranoid, but not a hipster. The simple fact is that both Thief 3(arguably the worst in the series for some, but the one which I loved the most) and Deus Ex were made by Ion Storm. Now, Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4 are both made by the same company. Since I was disappointed with how Deus Ex was handled, it's only normal to get concerned about the other title. Now, Deus Ex HR has received good scores and many think that it's a perfect game, I'm not trying to change anyone's mind and it's pretty certain to me that whoever liked HR will like Thief 4 for the same reasons. People who were bothered by HR or even the ones who liked it, but know a thing or two about the Thief series, might also share my concern, but might have more info about the title, either proving or disproving that Thief 4 (sorry, Thi4f, I didn't know this part) will be bad. So tell me, how am I supposed to achieve that without mentioning HR?

Case in point:

But while I liked Human Revolution I'm kinda concerned they're just going to copy/paste the stealth system from Deus Ex over to the Thief game they're making, and that just wouldn't work. Thief is first person, Thief 3 tried the whole third person glances around corners thing and it didn't work well, stick with the first person perspective. Deus Ex is also much more fast-paced and action driven, with rolls between cover and the like. Thief has always been much more slow paced, more thoughtful and strategic than reactive and fast-paced.

Exactly, I hope the devs know this too. At first I wanted to like the stealth system in HR. But... There are few enemies, with very short patrol routes and your speed while crouched is too fast. You then get an augment to run without making noise. Every side path is forced, every vent leads somewhere, every camera can be turned off or simply bypassed. Get a silenced pistol and suddenly, the only incentive to stealth is the extra 30 exp points you get from punching someone. It works for this game, but such small places and such visible routes with such a silly AI would be a killer for Thief 4.

 

[karamazovnew]

I have a feeling that Thief 4 is essentially going to be Assassin's Creed with Hammerites Machanists.

As long as they include rope arrows and contrive to make it sneakable rather than gaurds being a of tiresome series of blood bags that you have to puncture I'm okay with that.

That would be awesome. A sprawling city where you can enter every house and reach every place with just a rope arrow. Thief 3 tried to do this but the city was too small. Still, a step forward from just loading a new level. Throw in a random patrol route and random changes in guard facing and we got ourselves a big winner. Well, as long as you can't fight 10 guards at once like you can in AC.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I am really sincere when I say that the stealth gameplay is tremendously fun. I love getting the Ghost or Smooth Operator xp reward and so I really have no fear for Theif 4 if it is anything like DE: HR.

I'm worried Thief 4 will be too much like Deus Ex now. While Human Revolution had some fun stealth mechanics as I say above Thief is built on a foundation of first-person stealth of a more slow-paced and strategic sort whereas Human Revolution by contrast is fast-paced action oriented reactive stealth.

I'm sure they will realise the difference, I can't see a lil skinny bloke like Garrett punching through walls and he certainly won't have a tranq gun. The abilities and style will probably be a lot different. As well as the setting. I wouldn't be too stressed until you see a preview or some gameplay.

I would argue that the stealth in Deus Ex is still very strategic. The enemies on the hardest mode one shot you so you have to think about what you are doing.

 

[MisterShine]

I was scared when they called it THI4F.

But I loved Deus Ex HR.

^^ This.

Human Revolution is a worthy sequel, which after even Spector couldn't do it, I believed to be impossible and now I don't care if Eidos wants to call it B4by's F1rst St34lth Thi4f Adventure, I'm still buying Thief 4 on day 1. And will continue to call it Thief 4 and not Thi4f because that's just stupid. Who actually uses 4 to stand in for e? That doesn't even make sense.