Thief

Issues with navigation and annoying load problems are impossible to ignore, and it stings to think of a version of this game that doesn’t suffer from those drawbacks. Still, Thief is just about the best modern Thief game I could ask for.

At times, the developer seems ill-fitted for the franchise, but the studio has padded out this selection of classic stealth challenges with crafty cat-and-mouse moments that help intensify Thief’s ­slow ­pacing.

Thief is best when it sticks to the involving, slow-paced stealth that made its ancestor such a tense affair. In its subtle moments, Eidos Montreal gives your creeping a sense of closeness and texture, in a game where you almost always have your nose pressed against things.

Satisfying gameplay mechanics and excellent environments and sound design meet an unsound technical production, irritating and overly repetitive character dialogues and a lacklustre enemy AI. Stealth games lovers will still find good elements in the new Thief, but it isn't the triumphant return we'd hoped it would be.

It's a bit rote, and dealing with the same two basic guard types (swordsman and crossbowman) for the bulk of the game doesn’t help. The repetition is slightly offset, however, by the wealth of tools at your disposal for staying hidden.

Despite its slow and dreary start, Thief builds to deliver an experience that most stealth fans will lap up. However, most Thief fans will mourn the loss of the reboot’s freedom and choice. That said, Thief is ultimately a game that delivers epic highs and mediocre lows, and for the highs alone, I have no issues recommending it to anyone.

The game’s technical performance feels like a struggle at times on both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, and after a strong buildup that takes you through cleverly designed missions and well-considered spaces, the game departs from its strengths in an attempt to build dramatic confrontations at the end of the game. It’s not exactly a perfect run for Garrett, but players will still find many things worth taking.

The story and characters are somewhat forgettable, most of the missions are straight-forward, and the locales tend to blend together after a while. Having said that, there's a lot of potential here if you dig deep down into the game's ingenious difficulty sliders and challenge modes. In that sense, Thief succeeds as a bold stealth game, despite its bruises.

Thief stumbles in some areas, but purely as a stealth game it does have some shining moments.

Hiding in the shadows and taking out each opponent like a ninja, albeit a non-lethal one, is satisfying. But Thief shows one too many unrefined edges, occasionally catching itself unable to resolve the issue combining classic design with modern production.

Thief maintains the strengths of its stealth-centric predecessors and offers plenty in the way of actual thievery, but don't expect any fun, new gameplay mechanics or an enchanting story in this reboot.

A solid stealth genre game. If you’re after an action-packed slaughterfest, look elsewhere – Thief will appeal to long-term fans and gamers that prefer to take a more cerebral approach with their anarchy.

A decent-enough but sadly cramped and wayward take on a classic stealth franchise.

Ignoring the story and cherrypicking the best side missions is the best way to approach it.

Thief has its hang-ups, particularly with frustrating loading times and repetitive gameplay that will have players unlocking the same doors over and over again. However, Eidos Montreal has captured the essence of stealth gameplay with their take on Thief.

There are elements of a better game in Thief — maybe even a great one. I enjoyed Garrett's adventure when it was about stealing, when it was about getting into a structure creatively and sneaking away, about accumulating and spending loot. But I wanted much more of that breaking and entering than it was willing to give me.

It's a game that adds up to less than the sum of its parts. Undeniably, Thief suffers greatly by comparison to Dishonored - its more coherent, more thoughtfully and successfully designed cousin, in whose shadow Garrett and his game now cringe.

As Thief seesawed up and down, my enjoyment of it followed suit. Each time I thought I might fall in love, the game doused my passions with a new annoyance.

And therein lies the game’s real issue. Whereas Dishonored (which does feel like Thief’s more charismatic and popular older brother) and Mark of the Ninja have toyed with established hide-and-seek mechanics and shown that there are still ideas to mine in this genre, Thief just sticks to the shadows.