Is Thief linear?

I was watching some gameplay footage of it today, and it looks fairly interesting. However what are your thoughts on it? I'am worried that its going to be one straight forward linear experience, similar to dishonoured I guess. Can anyone comment on whether it is or isnt?

If it is, then it's not a Thief game.

Maybe the earlier tutorial levels are linear, and the game opens up later on? Or maybe they completely missed the mark and ruined one ofnthe best features of the series?

Linear Progression but Open Ended design. Those are usually good.

Yeah, it is.

http://www.examiner.com/article/despite-linear-story-eidos-montreal-s-thief-controlled-by-gamers

“I won’t lie to you, the story’s linear,” narrative director Stephen Gallagher said. “It’s a single arc where Garrett sets himself up –– ‘I do not kill without good reason’ –– and the arc kind of follows that in a way.”

“But in the end you buy the game, it’s your game, I’m not going to say, ‘You must play like that.’ I think as a player, even though you’re going to follow the story, the tools that you choose –– Do you want to be the ghost, non-lethal, undetected, or (do you) kill as many people as you want? –– are up to you.”

I wouldn't worry too much though: the first two Thief games were linear and they were excellent.

I'am not doubting the game's quality, I'am just not sure whether I wanna blow full retail cash on a linear experience that can finished in 5 hours. I would've preferred it to be less story oriented and more about open city gameplay with open choices on how you approach the game.

Yup, so did I. I say wait for confirmation from reviews and howlongtobeat.com if duration is a decisive factor.

I guess its much easier for Devs to ignore choice and effect, with all the variables involved and just throw you into one set path already thought out for you. Some games I don't mind like Transformers, but after a while it almost becomes a bit of a chore, as though you're just doing things for the sake of it.

Easier and cheaper and this Thief game doesn't have a large budget to start with. Maybe they will surprise us like Deus Ex Human Revolution did: that game started from similar premises and turned out excellent.

Surprisingly was never a huge fan of HR. Whilst I respected its premise, story, fanbase and artsyle I found the game too restrictive and almost a big clunky. Each to his own.

Considering the age of gaming we're living in, it was beyond my expectations. More than the game itself, I think much of the relative disappointment I've heard comes from that three-way choice at the end. You can simply tell they ran out of time.

Ran out of time? ever played the new tomb raider? Great introduction, interesting premise and alot of potential to dive into. About 3 hours in you slowly begin to realise that they must of ran out of time as every level soon becomes one cover shoot out after another( almost like a bad gears of war clone). Was very disappointed. However the game was pretty highly acclaimed so I may of been one of the few that thought that way.

We knew that from the trailers though, it was going to be, by design, an area free roam Uncharted clone with a sprinkle of FarCry. I liked the style of the previous three Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider games, but this one was still an interesting change of pace (having twice the budget as Tomb Raider Underworld helped as well, I imagine). The next one should focus on puzzles and exploration more than shooting, I agree.

i buy it for ps4 after price drop

Here's a video of the first mission after the tutorial. Don't know if this is the one you've seen or want to, but at the beginning it says there's more than one way to get to the objective. Considering its a fairly big city, I'm betting it won't be very linear. Holding out hope at least.

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=769307&page=1

Looking pretty good to me. I'm sure the developers understand that freedom of approach is of the utmost importance in a Thief game. It's likes 99% of the point and the fun. They give us all these gadgets (rope arrows, etc), and then funnel us down pre-determined corridors? I just can't see it, and would be very surprised if that turns out to be the case. Aside from everyone's fears, I think this is going to turn out to be a really good game. The main reason it's gotten so much bad publicity is it's being measured against one of the all-time greats.

Looking forward to Tues.

The fact that they have to mention that there is "more than one way to get to the objective" Shows that they acknowledge the fact this is game is still quite linear in its design, I'am still pretty 50/50 with this one guys.

@mesomorphin: even so, if it does end up linear it looks to still be an enjoyable experience nonetheless. I'll enjoy it for what it is.

Little OT....you know what's funny? The most annoying thing to me about that video I linked was the absense of thunder with the lightning.

Guess I'm just an audio freak. Good sound design in games adds so much.

Yeah I'am very similar in the sense that I'am picky with audio aswell. The final product will fill that in for sure.

so long as you're allowed to be a murderous psychopath if you so choose, i'm in! hell i love games where you can kill as you please even tho its not advised, cause that usually means that the killing path will be much more difficult thus increasing the challenge even further like in Deus Ex, i'm probably one of the few who's really looking forward to this game, i can't wait!