Played the first two to three hours of the new Thief game (got it for 32 dollars on Green Man Gaming!). It's actually kind of funny how things have come full circle. Dishonored took a lot of what made the original Thief games great and added special powers (and optional combat efficiency, although I played all stealth). Now the new Thief game feels like it took a lot from Dishonored.
It's not as good as Dishonored, unfortunately, but I also can't say I don't like it. The main annoyance is that there is no jump button, just a context sensitive button that servers a variety of tasks. I have no idea why they did it this way, and I also can't imagine no one on the development team mentioned that it was a terrible idea. It works most of the time, but that's the problem. You're never really sure when you can jump on an object, and there's not really any consistency as to what you can and can't climb onto. It makes the "open world" segments of the game feel more restrictive and less fun.
Visually the game looks great. The lighting is very well done, and really lends to the stealth. There's a neat visual effect that illuminates the screen a bit every time Garrett steps from the shadows into the light, which means you always know when you're exposing yourself. The context sensitive button also has a feature that lets Garrett slide about ten feet almost instantaneously, and it functions very similar to the Blink ability in Dishonored, albeit not as cool and not quite as useful. It is useful, though, when a guard catches a glimpse of you and you need to slide back into the shadows before his vision bar fills up and an alarm is sounded, or when you want to close the distance between you and a mark so you can pickpocket him.
What the game does do well is tension, which is important in any stealth game. It has a quick save feature (at least on the PC version...I can't speak for the console ones), which is basically required for any game that relies on a lot of trial and error like Thief and Dishonored. Unlike in Dishonored, though, once you're spotted in Thief it can mean a quick death. I haven't really gotten into any combat situations yet (since I always just quick load when I fuck up), but it's no secret that Garrett is not equipped for combat situations. If it's one guard you might be able to get out alive, but more than one generally means you're a dead man if you try to fight. Personally, I find that refreshing in a stealth game. You don't fail if you get spotted (at least after the tutorial mission), but you also can't stay and fight. It adds a tension that Dishonored mostly didn't have, because in that game if I got spotted I could easily decimate an entire squad of guards, especially later in the game. Granted, I still hit the quick load button in that game, but only because I wanted to preserve my full stealth playthrough.
I'll post some updated comments once I play the game a bit more. I've heard the story is total garbage, but Dishonored wasn't exactly the pinnacle of great videogame writing either (although it was mostly solid if predictable). As long as the gameplay remains fun and the level design is solid, I can forgive a shitty story.
