The cult classic Thief franchise is going VR! Courtesy Eidos (its original publisher) and Vertigo Games, creator of the award-winning creators of VR hits Metro Awakening and Arizona Sunshine, Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow is set for release on Quest, PSVR, and on Steam this year.
I'm only surprised a VR reboot has taken this long, because the original games from the early 2000s were all about 3D immersion (both graphically and aurally). By putting the player in the role of a stealthy cat burglar in a steampunk city, Thief made you so keenly aware of the virtual environment (light/shadow, the ambient noisemaking potential of different materials, bored/agitated guards), you felt truly part of the 3D world around you. Done well, it could be a masterpiece of the medium.
And yes, it sounds like Garrett, the franchise's grizzled but lovable anti-hero, is back in some form, and voiced by the original actor, Stephen Russell:
You hear him at the very end, wondering why he's not dead. He doesn't actually die in the original trilogy (do I need spoiler alert a 20 year old game?) so I suspect he's being revived into a new era.
Anyway, may be time to get my Quest out of mothballs if I haven't given it to Goodwill.
More background on the original game's influence in these posts:
- Thick as Thieves: Lead Devs Warren Spector, David McDonough & Greg LoPiccolo on the Upcoming Immersive Simulation's Heritage With the Groundbreaking OG Thief
- Play Gloomwood: Immersive Steampunk Indie Sim Consciously Evoke Classic, Beloved Thief Games of the Early 2000s
- How Dishonored Honors Thief: Arkane's Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio on Dishonored's Debt to the Immersive Stealth Classic
Comments