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Thief (originally labeled THI4F) is a reboot of Eidos' award winning Thief series. It is developed by Eidos-Montreal Studio, and published by Eidos. The game was officially confirmed on May 11, 2009.[1] Thief is not a prequel or sequel to the original games, it is a reboot of the franchise with only a few elements of the original, and is slated for release on February 25, 2014 in North America, February 27, 2014 in Australia, and February 28, 2014 in Europe. It will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Some leaked trailer footage here.

Thief Coverage Trailer - Game Informer

Announcement[]

A posting on Eidos Montreal's website suggests that Thief IV may be about to undergo development. The post states that, "Eidos-Montréal is proud to announce the recruitment for our 2nd "AAA" project. … A hint! The title begins with the letter " T "… The article then goes on to draw several other conclusions. Nothing is known yet on what a possible new plot might be, apart from claims that it was initially intended to be a "retelling" of the original games. May 11th, 2009 would be the reveal of Eidos Montreal's latest project that starts with a "T".

Confirmation[]

T4 gameplay photo cropped

First screenshot of Thief 4.

Eidos-Montreal has recruited the "very best core team" for Thief 4, which is in the early stages of development.[2] No further details about which game platforms will come for or expected date was revealed. The Thief series fans can connect to the like-minded fans and discuss more about the upcoming title at the Thief 4 Forum.[3]

"We're in the early development stages for Thief 4, but this is an incredibly ambitious project and a very exciting one. It's too early for us to offer any specific game details, right now we are focused on recruiting the very best talent to join the core team at the studio and help us make, what we believe will be one of the most exciting games on the market."

Stephane D'Astous, General Manager of Eidos-Montreal


Development[]

Eidos-Studio-2009-03-LE

The team at Eidos-Montréal studio working on Thief 4

Thief 4 is currently being developed by a team of about 50 talented designers, at Eidos-Montréal studio. The producer of "TH4" (as it is known on the Eidos website) is Mario Aguera, who oversaw the successful release of numerous titles on the Xbox, Play Station and Nintendo Gamecube consoles. Mario has been creating games since the late 1970’s.

"We are all very excited to be working on such a fantastic project. Good team chemistry and an obvious passion for our work are two key ingredients we look for in maintaining the high production values essential to deliver the quality experience this game deserves."

Mario Aguera, TH4 Producer at Eidos-Montreal


In 2010, Eidos-Montréal appointed Paul Weir as the Thief 4 Audio Director.

T4 devs Paul Mario

Audio Director, Composer & Sound Designer Paul Weir (left) of Earcom and Mario Aguera (right)

Controversy[]

Thief4

Some controversy had arisen over the name of Thief 4.[4][5][6][7] It is reported that THI4F will not be the final name this game, and is only a working title.[8]

Eidos Montreal (was) taking the voice work of Thief 4 very seriously,[9] and they are well aware of the feelings of the Thief fan community.[10][11]

Several fans have reacted to the decision to replace Stephen Russell as the voice of Garrett, starting a petition for his return.

Many fans of the original games have shown distaste for some of the things said about Thief in interviews, particularly the lines “We want you to play as a thief, but we don’t want to force you to play as a thief.”  - Stephane Roy and "We wanted to bring him more for the modern audience of today's console market," - Nicolas Cantin, referring to Garrett.

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • The City in the new game has more of a Charles Dickens-esque Victorian or Edwardian feel to it (mid-1800s to early 1900s) (compared to the more medieval/renaissance & mechanist art deco influence of the old). The technology is less fantastical for its period (but looks like what the city in the old might look like through three or four hundred years of progress).
    • There are electric fans (c. 1920-1930's in style), electric lights, and other technology one would expect from the industrial revolution going on just before and during the 20th century.
    • Many people wear top hats and bowlers. General Victorian era men's wear and women's wear. Whereas in the old series men and women tended to wear general medieval to renaissance style clothing.
    • The mechanical security cameras look like 1890s box cameras.
    • The Baron's government is decidedly 20th century fascist in styling with lots of red and black.
    • Guards however still lean towards the medieval. With the elite guards wearing something closer to the Puritan Solomon Kane. There are no guns to be found.
    • Buildings lean to a mix of late 1800s to 1930s wooden/plaster/brick architecture with the mix of old medieval stone fortresses here or there (but many of these look like they were foundations of an older city which the newer wooden city is built on top of).
    • Opium and opium byproducts are a big thing, much like they were shortly before the turn of the twentieth century.
  • In the new game, City is set after 842 of the NRy ("year of Northcrest rule/reign") calendar, it exists in a time of new industrial revolution, it contains several references to the old Games as history of the city (those events having occurred under the BRy or year of Bresling rule/reign) some 300-400 years before (Thief the Dark Project's events occurred at about 434, and The Metal Age at about 435-436 or so).
    • The Hammerites/Mechanists, Keepers, and Pagans represent old religions that were outlawed three times (but not consecutively), and are no longer practiced at least openly for several generations. Many of their structures have been deliberately destroyed by the current Baron, or have long since been built over as the city progressed (becoming the foundations of the new).
    • The marsh-dwellers and their affinity for moss, appear to be a nod to the Pagans.
    • The Trickster is one of the old gods that is no longer worshiped openly.
    • Mechanical Hammer, a book mentioned in the Clocktower Bookbinder store appears to be a reference to both Hammerites and Mechanists.
    • The war with Blackbrook (from Thief 2) occurred in the distant past.
    • The Shalebridge fire (possibly a reference to the Shalebridge Cradle orphanage/asylum fire occurred a couple of generations ago, although this timeline appears to place events of original series much further back into Bresling dynasty)
    • There were old plagues in the distant past (perhaps references to the undead plague mentioned in the old series).
    • The clock tower appears to be built on the location of the old clock tower destroyed in Thief 3 (newspapers suggest that there have been many problems trying to rebuild it for many many years, some think the site is haunted or cursed), scaffolding still surrounds portions of the tower.
    • The Watch are the new City Watch set up by the current Baron, and its said they are not like the old City Watch (a nod to the watch from the old games).
    • The Crippled Burrick was moved from its Original Site after the fires in 662 of the NRy calendar. This is a nod to the Crippled Burrick Pub's location in the original series.
    • Moira Asylum appears to be in the location of the Overlook Mansion in Thief: Deadly Shadows named after the widow Edwina Moira. It was her dream to build an asylum and a Baron Bresling honored that wish.
    • The Forgotten Ruins appear to be the same Keeper Library and Compound as in Thief:Deadly Shadows just after several centuries of abandonment (only upper portions of the library are used by the The House of Blossoms). The rest of the city is built on top of it layer by layer over the centuries. Oddly enough the new Garrett finds aspects of the long dead Ancient religion to be 'strangely familiar' (implying reincarnation or genetic memory?).
    • The Old Cathedral are the ruins of an old Haunted Hammerite cathedral, located near the Old Quarter. Long abandoned, due to the religion being banned over multiple generations.
    • Old Garret's Mechanical Eye can be found inside the Moira Asylum, where he had been imprisoned later in his life (letters hint at what he was doing there).
  • Originally, Thief was supposed to be a modern-day reboot called "Thief 4: Dagger of Ways".[12]

External Links[]

Eidos-Montreal Official
Fan Community

References[]

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