Save your friend and your city...so you can steal from 'em, in the latest entry in Thief series.
I never play Thief before and i actually never have any intention to get this game, but this game is listed as free game for PS+ region 3 subscribers on November 2015, so i thought why not?
Story (6/10)
+ it's pretty straightforward
- bland and boring characters, i can't feel anything about anyone in this game, including Garrett and the main 'villain'
- the story never excited me, it doesn't feel grand or personal, it's simply boring even during the climax
Gameplay (7/10)
+ Thief successfully make me feel like a thief, it's so fun to collect any trinkets lying around. It even start to feel like OCD, i can't leave a room before checking any closets and drawers
+ traditional stealth mechanics with not many helps, no enemy tag, no sensing enemies through wall, and no arrow to show enemies direction. Just simple enemy hud that show his awareness and music/ambient cue just like on The Last of Us.
+ you can upgrade your tools and your skills by buying it from shadowy merchants in the city or the Queen of The Beggars. There is no leveling up and the game only give you very few skill points for progressing the story so be sure to visit them between chapters
+ pretty smooth control, pretty good to emulate the agility of Garrett
- The City which function as world hub is very segmented and each of them separated with loading screens. It's not too long but it makes the world feel disjointed, sometimes it feels like a chore to move from one part of the city to another to execute a mission, especially when the city is surrounded by guards.
- combat is far from fun, Garrett only equip himself with a baton that do little to no damage to enemy. I often restart the game immediately after a guard spotted me because there is no point in trying to fight 'em
- creating distraction in this game is frustrating, most of the guards have hearing impaired, make my blunt arrow useless and Garrett can only bring ONE bottle/glass as throwable item.
- the enemy AI is simply awful, even worst than Assassin's Creeds' AI. Like i said before, they are deaf, they give up too easy, and you can practically walk around them as long as you crouch and in the shadow.
Graphics (6.5/10)
+ The City have great gothic atmosphere
- unsteady framerate
- stuttering cutscenes, which is the first for me
- segmented world, which is quite embarrassing for a PS4 game. The City is pretty small, probably slightly bigger than MGS V: Ground Zeroes so why there is so many loading screens separating them?
- terrible pop up textures.
- the game simply looks outdated compared to early PS4 games like Killzone: Shadowfall or Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
Sound (6.5/10)
+ most of the voice actors are pretty good
- audio syncing is pretty bad, there are many sound effects missing during cutscene which make them very awkward
- bland and forgettable scores
Verdict (6.5/10)
Thief successfully capture the essence of being a master thief, but there is just so many technical issues on it and the game try too hard to be an 'open world' game. Well, at least it's free.