I must admit, I had never played a Thief title before but after watching a few gameplay videos online, the game left me intrigued and wanting more.
Thief is by no means a perfect game but for what it aims to achieve – the true feeling of a master thief, it arguably does very well. You are placed in the role of Garret, a master thief who loots and sneaks his way through the City and hidden dungeons to free a fellow thief, Erin who is trapped by a mysterious power. The gameplay itself is exceptional with Garrett's sneaking abilities – particularly his swoop and the ability to throw bottles to cause distractions and various arrow types (water, fire, blunt and 2 different razor) add a different dimension to every new area of enemies. This makes each chapter an interesting challenge because it really offers the ability to attack at will or literally sneak your way through the level in pure darkness as fires and guards can be put out leaving you nearly invisible. The overall length of the game varies depending on the difficulty you play on and your style but on easy mode, the 8 chapters can be completed in 10 hours. It seems easy and quick but the game offers a stronger challenge on a master custom playthrough which allows the player to not only raise the difficulty of the enemies but also gives the option to make restrictions on what you can and can't do e.g. No kills in the entire playthrough and no suspicions raised etc…it is quite easy to play this game a few times just for simply completing the story in different playstyles as well as completing all the side missions. As you'd expect, there are a LOT of lootable items, secret areas to visit and collectables scattered not only in every chapter but also in the main City which will keep you busy but it is rewarding as you can view all of Garrett's items in the Safehouse where everything is displayed.
My only real gripes with Thief were the really confusing map at the beginning, frequent loading screens (the game needs an open world landscape akin to Assassin's Creed or a similar series) which stop the fluidity of the game and the lack of replayability after completing the story. Overall, Thief is a great title but it needs patience and some perseverance from the player with its minor flaws because the game does get better and is certainly more than a rental. 7.5/10.