A person born on the release day of the last Thief game would turn 9 years old soon. That means we’re all gonna have to listen to a bunch of third graders grumbling about how this new Thief looks like a ripoff of Dishonored.
The rest of us ancient humans can enjoy the fact that Dues Ex: Human Revolution developer Eidos Montréal is working on a reboot of the Thief franchise. Publisher Square Enix plans to debut it in 2014 on PC, PlayStation 4, and other next-gen systems.
The new Thief is a re-imagining of the classic stealth-action franchise where gamers take control of a master thief, Garrett. He is out for loot, but he also has to deal with complex social upheaval in a city (actually called “City) that is overrun with a plague and ruled by a tyrant named the Baron.
“We’re handling a precious gemstone with Thief,” Eidos Montréal general manager Stephane D’Astous said in a statement. “Fans remember the original games very fondly and we want to preserve that essence which we have excellent experience of doing at Eidos Montréal, while also introducing Thief to a brand new, next-generation, audience. Our goal is to deliver the fantasy of being Garrett, the master thief, and we’re building this game around that core experience.”
A Russian website published a handful of screenshots that it claims are also from the new Thief. Square Enix confirmed the images are real, and we’ve included them in a gallery below.
Thief screens
Developer Looking Glass Studios released Thief: The Dark Project in 1998. Critics lauded the game for its ambiguous morality system and emphasis on stealth over shooting. The company followed up with Thief II: The Metal Age in 2000. In 2004, developer Ion Storm (with many people from the Looking Glass staff) released Thief: Deadly Shadows.