Thief gets a lukewarm reaction from critics

Man. These are the worst. About 20 reviews are out right now from Metacritic, and it sits around a 68-70.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/thief

This is really disappointing- not necessarily the 70, but the fact that there are no horrible or great reviews. It just seems to get a lukewarm like or dislike from everyone.

If the reviews were polarized, I'd still consider it. But this is sad. (But I'm sure most of us saw it coming).

I wanted it to be good... but apparently it's neither here nor there.

I don't agree with the negative reviews. 6 hours in and I am really enjoying the game. I think the trick is to set the difficulty at master for your first playthrough (which Is what I did). Been caught quite a few times. The AI can see decently well if even if you're in the pitch darkness. If you're out in the light - good luck. They can sense doors that were open and closed nearby (they don't have to see it), same with safes and chests that were left open and light sources that were turned off or snuffed out. I never played the original games but this is bringing back fond memories playing Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. Not for the kills, but in the goals of attempting to get a silent assassin rating. So I am aiming to take everything that's not bolted down while not raising ANY suspicions.

People are bugging out about not jumping, but it isn't really an issue because the levels have been designed so far with that in mind. I paid $33 for it and I think it's well worth it. Game looks great.

Bugs: I'm noticing sound bugs mostly and some loading bugs with the state of the AI being a bit messed up. No crashes yet.

Being a kleptomaniac has never been so much fun

I've been playing it as well and its fantastic! I don't know whats up with the "official" reviews. Personally, I don't trust the official reviews anymore.. I go by player reviews and personal taste.

Thanks for these opinions!

Bill

If you remove the morons who actually listen to the critics, its actually almost like a stamp of approval that the critics are a bit "meh" about the game. After all its the same people who praise Gone Home and Bioshock Infinite.

So i am 100% getting it now and have bought and the preload is ready on steam for the 28th.

I've played it for about 2 hours, and I've already encountered 3 serious bugs. Guards being glitched and running in place/subtitles not going along with the cutscenes... I think the game is cool, but its sloppy.

The game is clearly shit regardless whether you listen to the critics though.

I'm really enjoying it. Like said above, it is a bit glitchy and comes off a little unpolished, but it has its merits. Keep in mind that many of these critics are keeping only one thing in mind when reviewing this: is it Thief 1/2?

It falls short but is still a good game. If I were to score it so far I'd say it's a 7.5-8. But it's scratching my stealth itch nicely. The peek and swoop abilities really make you feel like a thief. Don't listen to these people, give it a shot. Just don't expect the world.

The game is a lot of fun so far. I think most of the reviewers are expecting it to be to be like the original thief game, which it isn't. It plays sort of like Dishonored to me. So far I haven't seen any glitches. If you have Redboxes in your area rent it and try it out.

Not really, is there bugs, sure but the game is far from shitty and almost everyone I have heard play it really enjoys it, it might not have the identical feel of the old thief but its close enough.

This is one of those games were critics should just go play Gone Home instead of a game like this and stop making it harder for the game to sale, because unfortunately some do listen to them

The fact that you can easily get through the game without stealing a single thing, and the fact that the environments are far more linear tell me that it doesn't even begin to have the feel of the old Thief games.

Well, yes the game is easy if you choose for it to be easy, again i don't see any problem with the game giving you the option to just steal the key elements and not touch anything else, if you dont like that then steal everything and get 100% which i can assure you isn't easy at all not to mention that you can do custom difficult setting and make it harder then anything you have ever played.

And the environments are not that linear, there are often multiple alleys and ways to get through a level, its all about you and what you choose to do, if you like Dishonoreds levels you will also like these, there arent that much difference in size and choices.

Even my customised master difficulty setting is pretty easy, since the guards won't see you unless you're directly in front of them.

Then again, ghosting the game on customised settings kind of sucks, since the mission rewards and loot placement were designed with knockouts in mind. It doesn't seem possible to properly ghost the game and get 100% of the loot at the same time.

This. Seriously, from what I've read, if you get caught while sneaking, you have little chance of fighting back and are pretty much going to have to restart. That's complete garbage.

A game called "Thief" where you can easily complete the game without ever stealing anything is a bit like making a game called "Jumping Man" where you never have to jump.

@Pffrbt:

What a weak argument against Thief being bad.

Again if you do not like a Thief game without stealing, then steal away. You have a choice and in my opinion you have be a selfish prick to see any fault in a developer who tries to cater to as many people as possible.

So please if you do want to find faults find the ones that are actually faults and not area´s where its a design decision.

So because you cant "ghost" the game and steal what needs to be stolen without knockouts, its the game which are at fault and not because you are just not good enough?

And if you have it on 1300 and find it to easy, i call BS

I wasn't making an argument against Thief being bad (because it is bad). I was point out how it doesn't feel like the old Thief games.

"in my opinion you have be a selfish prick to see any fault in a developer who tries to cater to as many people as possible."
That isn't being a selfish prick, that's just not wanting an experience watered down in order to appeal to as many people as possible.

"So please if you do want to find faults find the ones that are actually faults and not area´s where its a design decision."
Design decisions can be and often are faults.

There are some certain stuff that u can't ignore n u can't blame reviews or sth , the AI for example , it's not good n every one admits that , even in game play trailers u could see how it is , in such a stealth genre AI matters a lot so u shouldn't expect higher scores , i don't know much about story but it seems that it's not gratifying .....in case of reviews n stuff , my first priority is The Angry Joe Show , then some critics which i know already n i believe in them ....it's all about experience when it comes to reviews , u can't ignore'em ALL!

I'm sick of your hard on for Bioshock Infinite ! man there are tons of reviews out there which makes you laugh your ass off yet you seize every little opportunity u get to diss this game!

For instance , GS gave Rambo 6 ! Rambo is seriously below 3 ! in GS logic Rambo = Thief ...i can mention reviews like this but seriously Bioshock Infinite is a great game n u can't just treat it like a below-average game....

But the game isnt being watered down. Its just not forcing you to steal everything but just the most needed. The rest is left up to the player.

I honestly don't see a problem, so because it doesn't force you to steal everything its not a thief game? after all its not like it doesn't reward you if you do want to steal also as the character says "its not how much you steal but what you steal" also its a reboot not a remake of Thief so if you really wanted a true copy why not just go play the org?

Its pretty much the same problem i think the critics had, they have this nostalgic feeling for thief and wanted it to be and feel identical and when they saw a game that on its own merits are a pretty decent game, but as a thief game did so many different things then the org, they had to like you, find flaws and i am 75% sure that no matter how good the game would have been, it would have been hammered by the critics.

Design decisions can be faults but giving the player more control in a game sure isent.

Why is there certain stuff you cant ignore? and i don't blame critics for anything except sometimes ruining a games chance because some people do listen to them. But as to what i can or cannot ignore thats up to me and if a game is decent enough i can overlook a lot of things as long as it doesn't ruin my experience and fun with the game.

And i don't have any priority when it comes to critics and reviews, i do read them and i do comment on them but i have decided long before if a game is worth a buy or not. Since again why the hell would anyone allow anyone to decided what they like and do not like? its just crazy.

And as to bioshock well infinite is a piss poor game and when i have to use a example of a piss poor but highly critic acclaimed game, Bioshock Infinite is the usually the best to use.

And Rambo lol seriously i rented that game and i am surprised that someone actually gave it a 6 or even a 2 , it should have had a 1 and a disclaimer on it never to buy. It reminded me of Ride to hell.

Making the entire point of a series completely optional in a cynical attempt to "appeal to a wider audience" is watering it down.

"also its a reboot not a remake of Thief so if you really wanted a true copy why not just go play the org?"
No one said they wanted a copy. Being a completely unnecessary reboot isn't justification for completely missing the point of a series.

"Its pretty much the same problem i think the critics had, they have this nostalgic feeling for thief"
I don't have a nostalgic feeling for Thief, because I've never played one and I don't want to.

"and wanted it to be and feel identical and when they saw a game that on its own merits are a pretty decent game, but as a thief game did so many different things then the org, they had to like you, find flaws and i am 75% sure that no matter how good the game would have been, it would have been hammered by the critics."
It's far more realistic that the game simply sucks in addition to missing the point of the series.

"Design decisions can be faults but giving the player more control in a game sure isent."
It can be, so you're wrong there.

I played like 4 hours of it. My simple opinion is that it's a neat game that just has too many small technical issues. They really start to muddle the experience. It's a cool game. But it's a little sloppy. Glitched AI, messed up subtitles in cutscenes, getting stuck on objects when running... just a bunch of little things that grate on your nerves.

I still prefer to use Suikoden 3 and Oblivion, myself. :)

I tried Infinite when it became a free game on PS Plus, and the second the game put a gun in my hand and tasked me with using it to shoot other people who also had guns, the game fell apart. Deleted that free game rather quickly. Frankly it left me feeling as if I'd been ripped off, despite not paying a dime for it. Funny how that works.

As for Thief, I'll wait several months and give them time to fix the various programming maladies this game is known to suffer and see if the price comes down. Could help fill in some time in the lull before the holiday rush. Though with the amazing speed with which these new systems digital storefronts are building momentum such a lull may not ever have a chance to exist.

Why is anyone even arguing with Pffrbt? I highly doubt he has even played the game.

That's why you ignore some people on the boards. I've dealt with people like that from time to time. Best to be ignored and moved on. Once you find out how they really function, it's those kinds of people that need to be given a pass from your views.

My first impressions on the game are quite positive, but not amazingly fantastic. The game suffers from some sluggish controls/movement, at times the voice isn't in sync with the actor and cutscenes look terrible! compressed codec files with choppy frame when the sequence starts to move fast, along with allot of weird cuts and transitions. The game's also happens to drop in frame rate at the most questionable times and the fog that constantly filters your view can bug you. However the gameplay for the most part is pretty solid, and going all stealth with the gadgets at hand are pretty fun, and unlike dishonoured you actually feel like your going in silent, The visuals are also quite cool and voice acting at times is fairly well acted. I have alot of respect for whats been done here, and I will finish it right through to the end, however I'am afraid I will run into quite a few problems/irritations on the way. From what I've played I wouldn't give it a 6/10 but perhaps maybe a 8/10.

And you are absolute right, he never played thief or plans to so no reason to continue the debate.

After all why would anyone debate a game with someone who doesn't know jack about the game or even plans to try it out or have played the previous games.

I can never understand when people post things like "All the reviews were wrong. I have played a couple hours and I think it is great. . ." How can anyone accept your opinion as a valid one when you have played only part of the game, while the reviewers have played the whole thing? Imagine the backlash official game reviewers would get if they said they reviewed the game after playing only a couple hours. You may have enjoyed the game so far, but that does not make all the official negative reviews of the full game wrong.

Ehhhmmm because they state their opinion and for them the review were wrong, you know pretty much what the critics do, they post a opinion about the game, not the absolute truth.

And you are mistaken if you think critics play all games to the end, they play enough until they feel they have done enough to form an opinion. Sometimes its the whole game, sometimes its half and with a game like Thief you can be 100% sure they might have finished the main mission but they didn´t do all of the sidemissions and collectibles.

I'm near the end and my opinion has remained that the game is around, if I had to score it, a consistent 7.5. Some of the reviews are laughable in their harshness, and it becomes obvious that they were written with an underlying agenda to smash the game as hard as they could because it chooses a different design philosophy (admittedly inferior to the older games, but still nevertheless enjoyable in its own right) than its predecessors.

Read the Giantbomb review. It's pure vitriol from start to finish. To read that you'd think the developers had killed the guy's family. I'm sure he feels like EM has raped his childhood with this "abomination", but such a critique is ridiculous. The game has faults for sure, but nowhere to the extent that that review would have you come to believe.

If this game didn't hold the Thief title, it wouldn't be getting nearly the amount of bad PR it is.

@MirkoS77:

I really wonder if the people that have liked this game played the originals as I did. I got this game on Tuesday and I'm not going to even bother finishing it and here is why:

The game is too linear with regards to its navigation. You are surrounded by ledges, boxes, crates, rooftops, pipes, etc. and unless the game makers have designated it as a point where you are allowed to go up them, you can't. After a game like Dishonored came out that reinvented this type of thing, I don't see how they failed so miserably at this in Thief. So you could be looking at a reasonably low ledge, but forget it if the makers didn't want you going up there.

You can't control your jumping and by that I mean that unless it, again, is a designated "jump" point set up by the makers, you cannot jump. Jumping is carried out simply by engaging the run feature and if you happen to hit a spot that is "jumpable", your character will automatically do it. I could have overlooked this if the world was truly open, which it isn't. I don't know how many times I was facing an easily reachable ledge, roof, pipe, crate (whatever) and simply couldn't get over to it by jumping.

In the original games, anything wooden could have a rope arrow shot into it, you could climb up, and then jump off to explore. In this game, you can only shoot arrows into pre-selected mounting points (which glow blue under "focus") which is just dumb seeing as how you are surrounded by wooden structures. You could also recover your rope arrows in the old ones, something you can't do in this one either. So again, you could be looking at a window that can be opened (apparent by the blue glow), a ledge in front of it, and a rooftop with exposed beams on top, but unless it's a designated anchor point, you can't get up there. It's the same thing with getting off the ground in general - unless you come across a grate or something on a wall (again, it will glow blue under "focus") for you to wall run/use your claw to get up, you can't get off the ground. I also find it amazing that are certain parts of the game, it switches to third person mode so you can scale a wall using a grapple line, but you can't do it anywhere else in the game.

Combat - in the old games you always had a sword as backup to the blackjack and how you played was up to you (kill or knock out). In this game, all you have is the blackjack and if you get into a fight with a guard, you're expected to basically run away or continuously bat at him with the blackjack until you get the "hold button to takedown" prompt. Sure, you have your arrows, but it takes like three arrows to their head to kill them, so they're basically pointless and won't do you any good in a face to face fight anyway. Of course the point of the game is to sneak, but should I be discovered, let me be able to do something about it besides run.

Windows - why oh why oh why do I have to first hold a button to initiate opening a window, then have to button mash a few times to actually pry the dumb thing open on EVERY SINGLE FREAKING WINDOW in the game world? Once I get through the window, should I decide to leave right away, I turn around and find the same window that I just came in from is closed again. So I have to press and hold button, then button mash again to get back out - just dumb and a waste of time.

While we're talking about windows, let's talk about what you get to explore, or rather don't get to explore, once you get inside the windows. With very few exceptions, all I got as a reward for fighting my way off the ground to get to a window was a single freaking room. No full house to explore, no multiple floors, nothing - just one freaking room. While we're talking about the rooms, let us also talk about all of the doors you may see in the room that can't be opened either, what's the point?

Exploration - every door has to have the lock picked which I get, but it just gets tiresome. It also doesn't help that after I bother to pick a lock to a door, I am once again greeted with a whole whopping single room to loot and not be granted access to a full house to explore like so many other games on the market (Dishonored, Elder Scrolls, etc.). This is further rendered cumbersome by the fact mentioned above that simply trying to get around is just way too difficult. There are times when you are prompted to look into a hole in a wall or window just to see loot behind it, but I'll be damned if I could ever do anything about it since there was no window to open, no door, no way in, etc. If you are going to allow me to play a thief in a world like this, I need to be able to get around without having to use your pre-established rail lines you've scattered around the world.

People - the townspeople walking the streets couldn't care less that you are there sneaking around, but the if the guards are within a mile of you, they see you and charge you. What's the point of populating the world with NPC characters that don't react to, that you can't interact with, and in the case of this thieving game, why in the world can't I pickpocket the people walking the streets? Unless they're a guard, all they are is an empty body wandering the street - what's the point? Many times you will hear phantom voices coming out of nowhere talking about hidden loot or something along those lines, but I'll be damned if I could find any of it since the world is just so inaccessible. Sometimes you see a crate and it will let you get on top and then around the corner, the exact same crate is not climbable, etc.

Resources - There was no tutorial and no book for the game (360). I had no idea that focus required something to restore it (poppy) and after I burned out the meter in the first few seconds of play, I had no way to refill it (which you don't really have to do anyway because when you hit the focus button, even if you're out, you'll still get a focus boost for about a second or so to see the glowing blue things). I only came across a poppy in the world one time, other than that, I had to buy them from a vendor. I also found myself to be lacking in funds since so many of the items in the game are so expensive. For example, I had no idea that I needed to buy a razor, wrench, wire cutter, etc. to get around certain parts of the world. After I did, I had found that I had spent all my money on arrows. It's also stupid that I am given a side quest of retrieving a painting, only to find that once I get to the painting, I can't complete it because I didn't have the money to buy the razor. Some kind of hint or prompting early on would have helped so that I could have bought those tools rather than waste them on arrows that I really couldn't use either. It was also nice to know, once again after I had spent all of my money, that I could donate money to the old croon in the graveyard for bonuses as well - thanks again for the heads up game makers.

Arrows - as in the original one, you've got water, fire, rope, and choke arrows. The rope arrows are useless unless you have a mounting point (see rant above). Water arrows are fine if you extinguish something that a guard doesn't just walk back up to to relight, something that happened quite a bit (realistic yes, but for gameplay it was kind of dumb) and you only have so many arrows. I never got to a point where I could use the fire or choke arrows and won't since I stopped playing the game.

Save game - you get one, that's it, just one. So if you figure out that you screwed up earlier and you've saved your game (or it's auto saved) since then, you can't go back to an earlier point.

I'm sorry, but this game just fails on just about every level that once made it, and games that have come along since the originals like Dishonored, great and a joy to play. This game is nothing but a wooden on rails snatch fest (and why exactly are there random gold candle holders, jewelry, lock boxes, etc. scattered around outside on barrels or on ledges? And while we're at it, why is a gear so valuable?) and if you really like this game, you owe it to yourself to go play something like Dishonored or even find copies of the originals.

That was entertaining. :)

Thanks, I'm fully aware of everything that you've mentioned and I (with a few exceptions) agree with you on pretty much all of these complaints. Especially on the navigation/context sensitive actions. As I said in my previous post it chooses a different design philosophy, an inferior one to the older games (which I've all played, as well as Dishonored), but I still find this to be a mid-average game. Definitely not without its flaws, but still enjoyment to be had for what it offers.

A few points of yours to address:

-you can do something with combat, even if it just restricts you to the blackjack for combat. You just have to dodge and counter, then takedown. If you get caught by more than one guard, yea you're basically screwed and it's probably best to run. But this is the way it should be. It's a stealth game that affords the ability to take down one/two guards at most, not an action brawler.

-windows: agreed, but it's obvious that's the product of a game that's been plagued by problems during its development. I agree it's dumb to have one room closed off both ways by a loading window, but that strikes me as two conflicting level designs that were quickly thrown together instead of overall unified designed from the start. If you've been keeping track of Thief for the last five years, you'd know that it has gone through hell and numerous revisions, and I believe that these windows that lead to dead ends are strongly symptomatic of it. No one level designer would be so stupid to do such a thing. The entire city to me comes off as very haphazardly, hastily thrown together and poorly laid out.

-about the guard relighting the torch. This is just nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking. If they relight it, you have people such as you complaining that it's "realistic, yet dumb for the gameplay", but if they didn't, it'd be "the A.I. is unobservant and moronic!!" What exactly would please you? And why couldn't you use the choke or fire arrows? What was stopping you? I had them from the very first mission.

-you're playing on the 360? And there's no tutorial? As far as I'm aware, the entire prologue serves as a tutorial level. At least on the PS4 it does, but I doubt it's different for the 360.

-a few of the complaints you make indicate that you're playing on custom difficulty (expense of items). If you chose that, the economy is ridiculously imbalanced. Items are not expensive on default, and if you had taken the time to browse the merchant's wares during your very first meeting with him you'd have noticed the tools section before even beginning chapter 1. If you explored and looted the city, you'd easily have enough cash to buy these tools by chapter 2-3. I did. I could easily afford gear and gear upgrades by this time. As for donating to the old lady, they let you know that at chapter 1 (IIRC, 2 at the latest). The very BEGINNING of the game. You spent all your money by then? Did you want the devs to stick a post-it note on the screen from the moment you were first able to play?

I'm not saying this game's perfect, but some of your complaints are pushing it.

@MirkoS77:

Which complaints are "pushing it", I'd like to know - especially as you seem to agree with most of what I said. I already admitted the torch relighting is realistic, but given the limited resources available in this game (unless I missed something - the old games you could always find water arrows in water features, fire arrows in fireplaces or things like that, etc.), that's a big deal. If I only have a handful of water arrows and they (guards) are constantly relighting what I'm trying to extinguish to get through an area, that is problematic (to me at any rate). It may be petty, but it does affect the gameplay.

Yes, you can engage bad guys with your blackjack, but if you're being attacked by more than one, you're not going to come out of it very well if at all. Again, the original games always allowed you a sword as a back up, why not here? Pretty much every stealth game I've ever played has always given you the "lethal force" option should you chose to use it (and I'm not talking about the arrows here since they are ranged) and this game franchise has never been any different. I'm well aware that this is meant to be a stealth game, but if you are going to be in a position where you are engaged by hostiles, you should be able to defend yourself better than either simply running (and hoping you happen to be near enough to a pre-designated grapple point to get off the ground) or having to hit them over the head several times with the blackjack. If not, it may as well just end the game there with a "you were noticed" message and restart your last checkpoint.

I'm playing on the normal difficulty and I'll be damned if I ever have enough money to buy a few replacement arrows, let alone anything else (like the tools that cost hundreds of gold pieces each to buy). I'm picking up everything that I can find (well I was when I was still playing it which I've stopped at this point) and none of it seems to be worth hardly any money at all. The really "collectible" items get you nothing monetarily because they just go on display in your hideout.

I'm on the 360 and I would not call simply running to keep up with the girl in the beginning of the game a "tutorial" of any kind. When I finally did find the merchant, I didn't have enough money to buy tools and had no idea I needed them anyway (since there was no mention anywhere that they were needed). I picked up a side quest to steal a painting and once found, I couldn't steal it because I didn't have the razor. Why give me a quest when I don't even have the tool to complete it with or the money to buy the tool that I need? How about a "you lack the tools to complete this quest" message or something rather than wasting my time (which is all this game is anyway).

I don't know anything about the designers issues and that's not my concern. With the heritage that this game has (it practically started the whole stealth genre to begin with) and the games that have come out since, how can you put out something like this? I may have been able to forgive much of what I said if I could simply navigate around the world freely if nothing else, but you can't even do that unless the level designer wanted you to get up a particular crate or not. This game has too many negatives (to me at any rate) to allow it any forgiveness, especially with so many other games out there that execute what this game tries to do so much better. I'm glad that you enjoy the game, but I'm as far as I am concerned it's an epic fail.

1) the guards relighting the torches benefits the game play. It forces you to take action and not waste time, to seize the moment while it's available. You know if they didn't relight it you'd be complaining about that also as some flaw of the A.I.; this is what I'm referring to when I say that you're pushing it and nit-picking. And there are various types of arrows scattered throughout the environment and in chests that you have to lock-pick that are often helpful to the situation at hand.

2) I find the combat to be an afterthought and it doesn't bother me there's no lethal alternative here. If fact, I have the game set to fail if I'm detected so combat's not an option for me at all, nor would it be if I could kill because the entire satisfaction of a stealth game comes from remaining stealthy.

3) I'm playing right now, looking at the merchant prices on screen as I type, and these are the cost of arrows (on default difficulty): broadhead: 15g, sawtooth: 50g, fire: 20g, water: 4g (and at such a cost, yea, those guards putting out torches REALLY becomes a drain on resources), choke: 15g, rope: 15g, blunt: 1g. The only arrow that costs a lot is the blast: 140g. While we're at it: poppy: 35g, food: 25g, flash bomb: 25g. All of this is easily affordable even from the value of loot gotten from one single story mission, this is not even including side missions or from simply exploring. When I go back to my hideout after a mission I usually have anywhere from around 600-1000+ in gold. Surely more than enough to buy "a few replacement arrows". Plus I have the chest full of surplus inventory so the merchant isn't even really needed. What you're attempting to claim here is so inaccurate and hyperbolic I'm now coming to suspect whether you have even played the game.

4) the tutorial explains many things. Walking slow over the water as to not attract noise, how to take-down, how to throw a bottle to distract, how to pick-pocket, how to lock-pick, how to swoop, to climb, to remain silent around animals. Did you miss all of these? And did you browse the shop the first time? When it shows you something you can buy, saying basically, "hey, this here is a razor so Garret can steal paintings", that implies that you probably shouldn't take a side mission to steal a painting until you've bought (or can afford) to get the tool required to be able to do so. I agree they should include a message in the side-mission briefings though.

5) these design issues sure sound like your concern from your complaints. Again, I can see where you're coming from. I think the game's biggest flaws (and betrayal to its heritage) is that ultimately it's a game world that has been designed for the player to play it as the designers intended (pre-determined climb points, etc), and not a game world that has been made with player agency and freedom in mind. And that's a shame, but it is what it is. I'm enjoying it, even if it's much on rails. NOT saying it's a superior game to the old ones, no way, but it's fun in its own way. If it's not for you, then there's always the old games, Darkmod, or the hope for a better Thief 5.