Thief 4 First Gameplay News & Details – New Mechanics & Stealth Options

Game Informer has posted a very in depth preview of Thief 4, with lots of juicy info on Garret, the main hero, and his equipment, tools and abilities.

Thief 4, which is actually just called Thief, will be releasing in 2014 on PC, PS4 and other next gen consoles. The new Thief game is set in the Gothic industrial metropolis known as The City. Below you will find a ton of information that was revealed, thanks to Game Informer. The helpful bullet point list came out via Gaming Everything.

You can also check out our video –

http://youtu.be/wLlmlv-j5QY

AI

• Garrett isn’t a fighter
• Fighting against four or more guards in combat won’t go well
• Guards and other NPCs are aware of the level design, so they know where a person might try to hide
• Guards understand the topography of the level and which areas could be useful for hiding
• Different NPCs will look for Garrett in different ways

Gameplay mechanics

• Navigation beacon shows players where to go
• Dev. team wants players to explore environments as they see fit
• Multiple entrances and exists in each room
• Multiple options available for stealth approach
• “Focus” mechanic: has many uses, including being able to aid Garrett’s vision as he navigates through open levels
• Focus lights up the screen and highlights pipes you can climb + candles you can put out to make the room darker
• Can upgrade Focus
• Doing so will give you a bigger radius of things to see
• Fingerpints system: gives you hints on which drawers are best to look in
• Every drawer is accessible
• Can pickpocket
• Use Focus while pickpocketing to slow time and swipe up to three times as many items from others
• Can spend money to upgrade supplies and equipment at the end of each mission
• Various artifacts are scattered throughout the game’s levels
• Can use these to decorate Garrett’s hideout
• Garrett is motivated by the thrill of stealing something that others can’t take
• Focus will show a number of attack points on enemies
• Can select a point (like the chest) to do a quick push that will buy him more time to dash off into the shadows
• Can also string together a number of points to perform a more debilitating attack
• Team is trying to find a balance between making combat enjoyable and allowing players to enter combat if they want
• Major mechanics are in place

Tools

• Blackjack: use when sneaking up behind guards to knock them unconscious
• Bow: powerful, can be used outside of combat (ex: fire at a bottle in another room to lure a guard away, trigger a switch to lock the guard inside
• Specialty Arrows: different uses; dry-ice arrow can be used to snuff flames from far away; smoke-starter arrow: cover and a distraction
• Claw: grapple attaches to certain points

General

• Garrett design made by game director Nicolas Cantin
• Garrett’s scar represents that his past has left long-lasting effects on his life
• Eidos being vague about how faithful the team is remaining to the original Thief lore
• Many of the series’ magical elements will be toned down
• “Eidos-Montreal compares game development to a high-speed train collision between art and technology.”
• Team was kept small and “stayed within the concept phase of development for a longer period of time.”
• The staff experimented with featuring a new character, making it a third-person game involving either tactical gameplay or environmental clambering (like Assassin’s Creed)
• “At one point in development, the game had so many third-to-first-person transitions that the constant camera shifting was making people sick.”