Thirith on 2/4/2013 at 11:49

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I'll probably regret posting this here, but I was hoping that there was a relatively sensible discussion to be had about the question of rebooting Thief.

So far I'd say we've been getting mixed messages as to how much of a reboot the new game is going to be. On the one hand, the developers say they're committed to core elements of the series as well as to Garrett as a large part of what made the original games. On the other hand, this isn't a straight sequel or prequel, the world is a different one (possibly in subtle ways, perhaps in more fundamental ones). Art work so far looks/feels more like Dishonored than like old-school Thief, although with the advances in tech the game would most likely look quite different from the originals even if they were working from the original design documents. Finally, there's a real possibility that they'll get a new voice actor for Garrett.

At the moment I'm not too worried about how different or identical the game's going to be. The old Thief games aren't going away, so to some extent my thinking is that I'll be happy a good stealth game, regardless of how similar or different it is. Yes, I wouldn't want Thief to be Metal Gear Solid or a third-person Splinter Cell clone in a steampunk universe, but without more concrete information I have no way I could say "too different!" or "not different enough!"

What I do mind, though, is how they seem to be stuck in between making this a reboot and confirming that it's still very much Thief. I have no fundamental problems with reboots. I'm a big fan of the new Battlestar Galactica - although that's a different situation, because the original was a) very different and b) extremely cheesy. Honestly, I wouldn't mind them pulling a Starbuck of some sort if there's a point to it; the contrast between old and new Garrett could say interesting things about the two versions of the character. If they're half-hearted about it, though, it's much less likely that there'll be anything much of interest coming out of the changes. To a large extent, I wish they'd commit to saying, "This is not your father's Thief!" or going, "We are bringing the Thief you know to modern platforms. Yes, it won't be identical, but it'll still be recognisably Thief, nostalgia'n'all."

From what we've heard so far, the direction seems somewhat undecided between the two approaches - or some of the rhetoric designed to please old-school taffers is mostly PR talk. Then again, I don't think the information we have so far is concrete enough to allow for a strong informed opinion either way. Happy to see how this develops... but yes, I do hope that we don't end up with too much of a wishy-washy in-between thing.

Thirith on 2/4/2013 at 12:01

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I have to say, I'm not entirely sure what that means, especially since Deus Ex (potentially more of an issue, because people have no idea what the hell a "Deus Ex" is...) was pretty much a straight prequel.

P.S.: By the way, I'm not too interested in getting too caught up in reboot vs. reimagining discussions, because I don't think that discussions about definitions are all that interesting. I'm more interested in talking about what sort of changes the information we have suggest and what sort of changes could be interesting/worthwhile once we get away from the notion that any change first and foremost should be met with suspicion. Even if the latter may be justified to some extent, depending on where you're coming from, it only lends itself to fruitless back-and-forths of the "You're stuck in the past!" "Well, you're no real Thief fans!" sort.

Starker on 2/4/2013 at 13:57

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A commentator on the new trailer said it best:

"I'm fine eating horse, just stop calling it beef."

Lootleach on 2/4/2013 at 17:32

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Thief: infinite

Starker on 2/4/2013 at 21:26

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Thief: Warrior Within