So Thief 4 anybody?

[optmusprimenumber]

Before I keep forgetting to ask... can you disable the fog around the HUD? That's probably my biggest complaint so far. Maybe it's the FOV? I haven't altered that, but it's nice to see an option for that popping up in more games lately.

Nah. I haven't found anything like that. I don't like it much either. In the E3 demo they explained that it's part of knowing when you're concealed. I could do without it. Meh

[Wispmage]

I'm about ten hours in now, and I think I'm enjoying the game just as much as I was when I first started it, if not more. I think the choice to utilize full body awareness makes perfect sense for the character and the game, and feels very fluid and intuitive after playing for a while. The grabbing animation doesn't bother me at all, and actually gives me a greedy sense of satisfaction. And as far as the FOV fog, seeing it in the trailers and gameplay footage prior to release had me worried, but I haven't really noticed it as much as I thought I would. What does bother me are the immersion-breaking third person climbing segments, though I've only encountered two or three so far.

I'm also finding the overall difficulty level to be hard, but not impossible, and the AI to be very alert and intelligent. The birds and dogs also present an interesting new twist on how you can be detected. Sometimes I find the difficulty to be a bit frustrating, and I'm sure playing without Focus could be contributing to this. But other times I find myself reveling in the challenge of timing a take down or putting out a torch, so it all balances out. I'm curious to find out how everyone else feels about the game and it's difficulty. And to that point, what elements of the HUD and features of the game are you using / not using?

The story however seems pretty weak thus far. The only thing that got me even vaguely interested in the plot was in the House of Blossoms mission.

After delving into the ruins beneath the brothel, I came to the pleasant realization that they're quite clearly the old Keeper libraries. This leads me to believe that the factions and lore from the old games isn't gone for good, and may play a role in the remainder of the story.

[Xeogred]

I'd agree that the difficulty seems pretty high so far. There's been numerous parts where I'm standing there at a loss about how to get around some guards or how to get that treasure over there, etc. So it seems you really have to take advantage of your arsenal and surroundings, whereas in the older games it was a bit easier to slip by sometimes.

I'm not using force either. That makes me want to ask though, are some of the other upgrades automatic? Like speed and things like that, or does everything there only activate when you use force?

Everything else I left on and am playing on the normal difficulty. I actually did this with Deus Ex HR and didn't mind stuff like the object highlighting and whatnot.

The plot is indeed so so, but as I'm always saying I thought the same about Deadly Shadows. But both that and this still excel in terms of awesome dense atmosphere.

[optmusprimenumber]

I'm playing it pretty stripped down.. I've had Focus off from the start.. As I continued on I turned off the lock picking and frame switch visual aides, I really like going off feel for those, not to mention his fingers wiggle when he's in the spot.. and I found them ultimately distracting. I tried turning off object highlight so those hook grates and the ropes wouldn't be blue, but with it off objects you are targeting won't light up, which is something I kind of rely on. It really is funny tho, whilst hanging from a rope it stays blue.. (really?! I can interact with this rope that I'm holding right now?!) .. I just switched off enemy icons too, it was making me lazy, and ultimately I find it goofy to have the icons on screen.. I've never liked on-screen waypoint markers..so those are off too.

And jeez louise I can't wait for someone to make a labeled map..

Ultimately I'm finding the difficulty satisfying.. everything seems in order as far as that all goes. I'm a little nervous to get around to playing on Master difficulty.. but when I do I'll have a better answer in regards to that.

[optmusprimenumber]

Well I just finished it. 57 hours.. Generally satisfied with the game. As said, the map could be better, and as someone else said, the swearing is unnecessary.. but all in all I don't have many complaints. I miss the factions and silly variations of English, along with the word taffer, from Deadly Shadows, but for a reboot I'll say they did their homework and didn't screw it up. Guess it's time to start over on Master difficulty.

[Xeogred]

Are the Hammers not really in this?

The lore was so damn good in the original two.

[optmusprimenumber]

Are the Hammers not really in this?

The lore was so damn good in the original two.

Yea they're not.. And i agree..well, I played Deadly Shadows, which had the same lore as the first 2. In this reboot it's about the Baron, Thief-taker, and the Gloom... No Keepers either.

I'm half considering firing up Deadly Shadows instead of another go with this one. But we'll see.

[Xeogred]

I will have to say the "Gloom" is something I'm not caring about at all here. Just a really old cliche' plot we've seen a dozen times by now in all kinds of media.

[optmusprimenumber]

Yea, it's not very riveting.. it fits into the grander scheme of things tho

[Wispmage]

Well I just finished it. 57 hours.. Generally satisfied with the game

Well done sir. I'm working my way through it, currently about 15 hours in, 10 of which are probably City exploration and side quests. At this point I feel like the developers were able to retain the core of what makes Thief so enjoyable, but ditching the lore, factions, and Stephen Russell all kept it from being a truly great successor to the franchise.

In this reboot it's about the Baron, Thief-Taker, and the Gloom... No Keepers either.

Well that's unfortunate. I was really hoping that

Orion was going to resurrect the power of the Keepers (who I assumed had faded into legend) using the book you steal for him from the underground Library. Oh well

I will have to say the "Gloom" is something I'm not caring about at all here. Just a really old cliche' plot we've seen a dozen times by now in all kinds of media.

Right? I hear NPC's complaining about it, and I just could care less. They should just be thankful they don't have to deal with the rat plague