IGN: Thief Review

Every guard you come across in a stealth game is a sort of puzzle. How do I get past this guy without being spotted? Or do I put an arrow through his face? That’s the kind of thing Thief does well, using nice-looking shadows and scenarios with multiple paths to make us think before we steal. Everything else, from a clunky story and flat characters to a frustrating mess of a central map made me wish that this Thief reboot hadn’t bothered trying to connect those scenarios with fiction at all

[DeletedAcc]

ouch...

[Salooh]

I for one didn't expect anything special from this game. It's just a normal game. You don't have anything else to play ?. Or you like to play normal games?. Buy it. It's as simple as that.

[TheXgamerLive]

Wrong. This is anything but anormal game.
Theif is the 4th game in a series that started some 14 or so years ago.
It's supposed to be so many things to many of us and still is yet, yes they've treated it as though it isnt. Using UE3 was the start.

[Salooh]

Didn't disagree ^^ . I'm not a fan of the series because i never played them and even knew they exist until this one. Judging from the fans it's awful but as someone who didn't know the previous games this one is just a normal game and i'm not hating it or praising it , i actually bought it day one because of the idea of the game , i'm just being honest and stating my opinion.

I don't consider my self a sony fanboy . I'm only against bad experience. I don't like Xbox but doesn't mean others shouldn't . you have the right to enjoy Xbox as long we are all honest and state facts because that's better for all of us :P

[zeal0us]

Well after hearing about the development woes back in April of 2013 I'm not totally surprise.

http://www.polygon.com/2013...

[ProjectVulcan]

In the immortal words of Top Gear

"That's not gone well!"

[KwietStorm_BLM]

So you played it then?

[starchild]

There are also quite a few 8s and 9s. It's averaging around 7, which is not indicative of a bad game.

Here are a few examples...

9s
http://xboxoz360.wordpress....
http://slumz.boxden.com/f13...

8.5
http://gamingtrend.com/revi...

8s
http://www.cgmagonline.com/...
http://bgr.com/2014/02/24/t...
http://home.bt.com/entertai...
http://www.dualshockers.com...

So, yeah, the opinions on this are all over the place. It's always best to use your own judgement. You shouldn't let others make up your mind for you. With reviews from 9s to 3s, who's to say that you won't agree with the reviewers who gave it the higher scores?

I mean, how many of you guys' favorite movies received low scores on metacritic? How many movies that received high scores are movies you don't even like? Games are no different. It's a very personal sort of thing.

[Salooh]

Yes i played it ^^
It's been leaked for like a week now :P

[Oh_Yeah]

Unreal engine 3 is a generic ass engine that takes some pretty talented devs to make something that stands out...borderlands batman bioshock dishonored Alice madness returns, mass effect.... Think that's it for the games I actually thought were good/ decent that used UE3.

[psman012]

@Oh_Yeah - can't forget bulletstorm. Not the best game ever, but it's well worth the five dollar gamestop price...and it's UE3.

[-Foxtrot]

Knew it...that's what happens when a developer tries to turn a game into something it's not.

I'm a massive Thief fan but nothing about this game seemed interesting. I don't feel the stealth elements at all watching trailers and that.

They should of left this alone, plus trying to continue the story but call it Thief...like it's a reboot is confusing. They should of just started a new timeline all together.

I guess Dishonored took Thief's identity...can't wait for Dishonored 2 :)

[frostypants]

This is what happens when they try to take an awesome vision, and tweak it to cater to ADD kids so they can sell more copies.

[SilentNegotiator]

I'm tired of all of these "But you can use stealth as an option" games. They aren't built well for straight up stealth.

[H0RSE]

Yeah. From what I've seen, it looks like the moved the focus from actually being a thief, which means little to no combat and strong focus on stealth and subterfuge, to changing Garrett into more of an assassin that steals things, so now if you are detected, you don't have to hide or run and hope to not be discovered, and instead you can just engage in combat and break some necks or such... Seems like they shifted the stealth mechanic to more of an option than a necessity.

That being said, 1)I didn't enjoy Dishonored at all. I felt that game was also too different from the original Thief games to warrant a comparison. 2) I don't give an ounce of interest to reviews, especially IGN, which I see as one of the absolute worst and often bias reviewers out there. The only person's opinion that matters when reviewing games, is my own.

[SnotyTheRocket]

Well, I guess Eidos can work on Deus Ex now. A series that they did right by, and Human Revolution was Amazing.

[Austacker]

IGN gave Betafield 4 a whopping 85/100 on release.

That turd is still broken even today and IGN gave it an 85!!!!

So I take ANY 'review' from IGN with a massive grain of salt.

Thief might be good, it might be bad, who knows? All I know is I have no faith in IGN as an unbias review platform for my gaming choices.

[MxRBrobaFett]

Dishonored was a terrible game in all honesty

[SaturdayNightBeaver]

IGN 6.8 , This gotta be a good game after all.

[diehardmetallicafan]

gamespot gave it a 6/10 and they layed into it for bad loading times and shitty ai. im still gunna get it when i find it cheap though

[frostypants]

ARGH

Just kill the IP. It's ruined. They'll never recapture the awesomeness of the first two.

[TheXgamerLive]

IMO Thief III deadly shadows was the best in the series.

[imXify]

Don't act like 6.8 is a complete disaster...

[Austacker]

@XGamer - Metal Age was the best IMHO.

[frostypants]

@imXify, how is 6.8 NOT a disaster? 68 out of 100 is a bad thing in any walk of like. It's a freaking "D" grade. Don't act like it's anything but a disaster. People who think like you act as if "average" would be a 50. That's not how it works. Average in just about any scoring system on a 10 or 100 point scale is a 7.5/75.

[WillM17]

Just another trash game.

[Ashunderfire86]

Another one bites the dust.

[rafaman]

Not terrible as a lot of people are saying.

[FamilyGuy]

I was watching someone live stream play this game on PS4 last week, early copy I guess. Doesn't seem very fun and the highlight was this bordello with holes in the wall so you could peep in on the people. lol

6.8 is basically its average right now so IGN are pretty much spot on.

[Neonridr]

hmmm, not the score I was hoping for. Game looks like it has a solid foundation, but just not quite there. Here's hoping a demo surfaces on the PS4. I would love to try this game out before having to commit to a purchase.

[Concertoine]

Ive been apprehensive about the game since it was first revealed, with QTE's and "hold button to see everything around you" and all the other modern stealth problems. Sone of it was taken out but even then the game looked like a complete downgrade from thief 1-3.

[Eyeco]

I'm a huge fan of stealth games so I'll probably pick it up, 5-7 scores usually mean that a game is worthwhile if you're a fan of that genre.

It's funny that in every other medium 5-7 is usually a passable- good score, but in gaming everything below an 8 is considered utter trash.

[Raf1k1]

I agree.

I was hoping for better scores too.

Doesn't matter though, as a stealth fan I'm sure I'll have lots of fun generally sneaking around, eavesdropping and stealing stuff.

Pre-ordered the limited edition since it was the same price as the normal. Looking forward to playing the bank heist mission.

[creatchee]

5-7 scores mean more when you're paying 60 bucks new for something. I'm more likely to see a 5-7 scored movie at 10 bucks than a game at 6 times the cost.

[vallencer]

My guess is its because of the amount of money people drop at ONCE. If you just go to a movie that's a 5-7 it's only ten bucks where as you buy a video game that's a 5-7 it's 60. That's why I think people have such a problem with it.

However I think a 7, or rather 6.8, is grounds for a decent, if not, good game.

[styferion]

It's because of the money we have to spend for a new game is quite much compared to movies or books, that we have to be more selective in buying games.

For me though, in games metascore above 8 means it's a great game even those who didn't like the genre would find it interesting, and 6-8 means good for those who like the genre.

[-Foxtrot]

"It's funny that in every other medium 5-7 is usually a passable- good score, but in gaming everything below an 8 is considered utter trash. "

It depends on what the game is

If it's an 8 or below for a new franchise then it's totally fine...no biggie, the game is new and it's trying to establish it's self in this market full of amazing AAA titles that have been out for years. It's expected.

If it's an old franchise which has something to live up to then yeah, for me if the majority of scores are below 8 then it's a downgrade and not worth my time. It means the developers have failed in respecting the old franchise and the IP in general.

You have to think though with this gen just starting, new games on the systems are a little more pricey...not everyone is made of money

[XabiDaChosenOne]

I think the problem is that in gaming journalism 8-9s are handed out so easily that when a game gets a 7 and below it is perceived as trash. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Which is why I never go buy reviews.

[gaabrielz]

Comparing movies to games, either price or rate, makes no sense to me because there is duration.

A movie lasts 1-2 hours, games can easily be 6 times that, glad price doesn't scale because games like Oblivion would cost a lot...

[kevnb]

Most people don't care about reviews

[starchild]

Wow, you guys put way too much stock in reviews, and especially review scores.

You shouldn't let others make up your mind for you. The reveiws are all over the place, from 9s to 3s, so who's to say that you won't agree with the reviewers who gave it the higher scores?

I never care too much about what scores movies or games get. We all are individuals and our interests, tastes and preferences are simply too varied to rely on the opinion of another. Besides, there are too many people who are simply petty, irrational and biased to really trust reviews.

Lots of my favorite movies got low metacritic scores. And some critical darlings are simply poor movies in my opinion. Same goes for games.

Based on everything I have seen, Thief will probably fall somewhere between a 7 and a 9 for me and I really don't care what anybody else thinks of it. And neither should any of you.

[ABizzel1]

To be honest it's about what I was expecting, maybe 7.5 / 10. This game looks like it should have been a smaller condensed PSN / XBL version rather than trying to build a $60 retail version.

I don't get it, I know everyone wants to think their game is amazing and worth full price after all the time they've put into it, but someone has to be telling these developers that this game just isn't good enough, and it might be better to condense the game and release it as a downloadable for $20 - $30.

If they downscaled the game it could have been a condensed version of all the good aspects, map and loading issues wouldn't be problematic, level design shouldn't be an issue, review scores would go up, and people interested in your game might be willing to go ahead and pick it up at the reduced price rather than waiting for a price drop and forget about the game later.

[Darth Gamer]

Agreed! comparing a game to a movie is just plain stupid. $10 for a 1.5 hr - maybe a 3 hr movie compared to a game that will take you at least generally speaking 8 hrs unless your doing a speed run or something and not enjoying it at all is ridiculous.

[MrSwankSinatra]

So it's above average.

[Hicken]

Barely, it would appear, given the scores from other publications.

[SpiralTear]

You're 100% right. Sadly, though, with so many different rating scales and the ever-present use of score aggregation, it's so hard to tell when a game's score is "above average" or "average." It's a huge problem.

6/10 is mathematically equivalent to a 3/5, which is to represent the median score. It's an average game. It's elementary school math, gaming industry...

[josephayal]

Terrible Game

[Mikelarry]

this is the reason why i am weary of reboots, because we enjoyed a games franchise many moons ago does not always mean it will resonate with gamers years after, same thing happened with bionic commando, syndicate 2012 etc. ah well i guess back to the drawing board or even better a new IP's

[TheProdigy]

Quite a letdown...

[FogLight]

I expected worse if you ask me. The reviews say that it is mediocre, not horrible but not great. I will still rent it and see it for myself. I could end up enjoying, or I could end up hating it.

[imtheman2013]

This is getting pretty mixed reviews so far, so I think that it'll either be a hit or miss with a lot of people. I hope I enjoy it, the only thing I've read that seems consistent is the long load times. Which is actually quite annoying; long load times is what sorta killed the new Sly Cooper game for me. Let's hope they're not too bad.

[FogLight]

Thank you! People are jumping to conclusions in my opinion. The reviews say that the game isn't HORRIBLE. It is just it is not great too. You would either like/love it or dislike/hate it.

[imtheman2013]

People often take reviews as gospel nowadays. When I see the consensus on a game anywhere in the 70% range, I assume that it's a 'play it for yourself' sorta deal. Which is what I definitely plan on doing.

[Mikelarry]

"People often take reviews as gospel nowadays"

the reason that is for me at least is the price of gaming especially here in the UK where games cost £50 i tend to read several reviews and watch videos before making a decision to make a purchase as i don't want to/ cant really afford to spend £50 on a game just because of nice looking trailers and nostalgia

Edit

"but surely a demo will be released"

i really hope so as i do enjoy the stealth genre. this is why i cant wait for Sony to start talking more about the tr before you buy feature that was briefly touched on at the ps4 reveal event

[imtheman2013]

I totally understand that. Reviews are meant to inform the consumer on whether or not a product is worth their money. The price of being a gamer isn't a cheap one, but when reviews are this mixed -- in the 70% range -- it's more a case of try it first. I have loads of games that have average Metacritic scores, but I would rate them far above that because they just appealed to my tastes.

I'm not advising people to spend $60/£50 to try a game, but surely a demo will be released. If not, there's always renting, buying used, or waiting for a price drop.

[Synthax]

I will not read any other IGN review. Ever.

[One-Shot]

...um why?

[aLucidMind]

Because they often are very biased towards whoever pays them. The most obvious example is Mass Effect 3 and how they went into full PR mode on behalf of BioWare since it was very likely they were getting a cut of the game sales due to Chobot being in the game as a lot more than a quick cameo.

[DooBBoyz]

Ign has gotten pretty strick with their reviews. Might get it today looks like a 7.5 at best

[TomahawkX]

SE should have cancelled this game and made a new Sleeping Dogs or Deus Ex instead.

[curtis92]

Next gen deus ex confirmed already and in the works. I'm guessing (hoping) by the A team at eidos montreal.

[Mikethejew]

you know it's really bad when ign gives it a below 7. Geez what a disappointment.

[xBraiNshOcK]

IGN gave Remember Me a rating of 5.9/10 and I enjoyed every moment of that game. Very underrated. Play the game yourself, then judge.

[MidnytRain]

If only I had that much money.

[starchild]

Right on, man. I loved that game too. People place waaaay too much importance on review scores these days.

A game that averages around 7 is not supposed to signify a bad game anyway. It means that there were just as many people that scored it better than a 7 as there are that scored it lower.

Who's to say you won't enjoy it as much as the reviewers that gave it a 9? Or even more?

[Plagasx]

Looks like this reboot didn't get lucky like Tomb Raider...

[weirdo]

not gonna bother with this game since it's just ok and not brilliant

[giovonni]

I put this on my gamefly q so if it's bad, ahhh well no harm no foul

[redknight80]

Same here :) Gotta love Gamefly

[giovonni]

Hell yeah, can't just be spending 60.00 bucks all willy nilly. Gots to keep it nice and breezy around these parts.

[redknight80]

Aye indeed! $60 for a game that I am on the fence with is asking a bit much. Gamefly is definitely one of the better investments I have made because I have played every new game on PS3 and PS4 now that I have had even the faintest interest in. Ended up buying a few, too, with the already discount you have for keeping your game and the coupons...ahhh pure bliss :D

[Gore-Content]

A shame. I was looking forward to this game being that it's the first AAA title for the PS4 this year. Then again, a 6.8 is not THAT bad. It's 2 points below a 7.

[iistuii]

I take reviews with a pinch of salt nowadays. Ive pre ordered it from the videos I've seen of it being played. Let's face it they gave Battlefield 4 8-5 yet it's buggy unfinished, laggy & even to this day is wiping the campaign save files from hard drives. I'm getting it for my PS4, let the thieving begin..

[MuhammadJA]

This is a ten dollar game at most.

[Mister_G]

It will be very soon :)

[Mister_G]

It sounds like they've just ported the PS3/360 versions over to PS4/X1 without allowing for the extra RAM which would've reduced the annoying load screens.

Shame.

[Beastforlifenoob]

ram doesnt reduce loading speed. HDD/SSD read/write speads change loading screens.

[Am_Ryder]

But the PS4/X1 have faster read/write speeds, no?

Even if they don't, the consoles definitely have bigger pipelines for holding that read/written data in the RAM. I.e. they can do more at once incl. reading more and holding more of that data in cache.

So basically if Eidos had been intelligent with the PS4/X1's greater RAM, Thief would be loading all that stuff in the background while you install/ boot the game up.

But they haven't. They kept it taught to the PS3/360 versions obviously, so it doesn't do any loading until the game begins. Then it takes ages.

Pretty retarded.

[Snappy]

Preorder canceled basically a port and a shoddy one at that. Might give it a benefit of a doubt if I can pick it up for a tenner in the future.

[SpiralTear]

I hope this single review wasn't the lone deciding factor toward you cancelling your pre-order.

[topgeareasy]

just watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[iistuii]

Yeah thanks. He seemed to like it a lot. I didn't see anything that would put me off. I know you can't go on the rampage and fight guards, which is correct as you'd die pretty quick considering your just a thief not a swordsman. Ive pre ordered it & am looking forward to it. My only worry is that the PS4 or console version as a whole has a lot of loading.

[Ashunderfire86]

Well after watching people playing it early on Twitch/Ustream from the PS4, it really look bad. Even the people playing it said not to buy the game, so its rental til Infamous Second Son comes.

[Flames76]

Guess they should had worked on the game instead of messin with 1080p and letting the frame rate suffer on the PS4

[MysticStrummer]

"If you’re a stickler for frame rate, the PC version is the only place you can play Thief at 60 frames per second, as both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions are limited to 30 and occasionally stutter below that"

[deadfrag]

Now that i cant understand,this is a new generation of Hardware and we the gamers are still getting games that run with dips bellow 30fps on new console Hardware WTF is this!Its unacceptable,people talk with your wallets and dont support this POS!!Not even lock at 30fps unacceptable,unacceptable,unac ceptable...............bunch of crap developers and greedy bastards! Really i can accept a redution in the resolution,but the framerate must be lock not this crap!

[DC777]

Because they keep porting games to the old consoles and crapping on ppl with the new systems.

I'll get this on steam for 10 bucks in 6 months, 60 fps.

[ziggurcat]

xbone also suffers the same frame rate issues, and it's not even 1080p.

[Iamnemesis4880]

When the people get this game i bet it will get around 8 or 8.5 for sure

[aLiEnViSiToR]

hmm i expected they would give it about 8.5 or at least 7.5 but i didn't see 6.8 coming, i guess its another just above average game... will play it and make my own conclusion i guess.

[higgins78]

So, for Xbox One and PS4 owners at least (I own a PS4, along with my Wii U and 3DS) "next gen" continues to elude us. I really dont see much even in the coming year which is going to make me glad I own a PS4, Infamous Son I am certain will be an albeit solid but unspectacular games, least where it really counts...GAMEPLAY.

Thank goodness the PS4 isnt my only go to.

[90Supra]

I saw people streaming this game on PS4...

looked horrible from what I saw.......terrible AI and meh graphics...

[Orionsangel]

Bad reviews? This is good news! This means it'll be in the bargain bin soon. 10 bucks on Steam.

[Fasttrack76]

You can pick this up online for £35 xbox one. Must be worth that

[Rageanitus]

I was about to preorder it.... now I will just wait till it drops even more.

There is a reason why the preorder (PC version is about $30)

[Geekman]

I have this urge to disagree with every bad score given, but I haven't played the game myself, so I'm gonna shut u for once.

[KillrateOmega]

I had a lot of hope for this game, man.

In a world with many games wherein stealth is supposedly an option, but almost always turns out to be nothing more than a shallow, half-***ed mechanic that is often overlooked in favor of the typical "kill them all" agro approach; this game was supposed to be a beautiful return to a true stealth experience. It was supposed to be a smooth and engaging experience with an abundance of entry options and an interesting story.

Disappointing.

[MadMax]

I had a feeling. Looked very generic and boring. Should've made it like the original thief, which was a third person game!

[Maxor]

The best thing about this review is the Thief Up at Noon video. I just became a fan.

[aondaatje]

Ps4 version drops to 9fps. Xbox version stays a steady 30fps. Nuff said. All that ps4 POWER!!! Disagree and report me all u like, fact are facts and the fact is is that Sony sucked u all in. Maybe the shouldve dropped the resolution to get a steady framerate

[BlakHavoc]

You sir are a desperate fanboy. Just enjoy your console of choice and shut-up please...

[MxRBrobaFett]

As an owner of an xbox one and only an xbox one I would like to apologize for this persons comment on behalf of the non-@#&% head xbox community

[ziggurcat]

The xbone version has the same frame rate issues. Get the facts straight before commenting.

[S2Killinit]

The dying words of a sad defeated fanboy

[Tedakin]

I wasn't impressed by the level 1 walkthrough I watched. Oh well.

[BlakHavoc]

Man, can't say i'm not disappointed to see this, regardless of what others say I usually agree with IGN's reviews. May or may not still pick this up, I don't know anymore lol it's seen some pretty rough reviews so far.

[Lamigol10]

The two things that worry me are 1). The empty lifeless world.
2). The fact the open world is not 'open' .. you should have complete freedom to access the city as you wish .. not be limited to a couple of options masquerading as freedom. I really wanted this game to be great. I'll wait till release and listen to trusted opinions

[S2Killinit]

Thing with ign is i cant really trust wht they say. They are very biased and they also seem to have their own internal politics.