Thick as Thieves Review – Two Great Maps Aren’t Enough

Thick as Thieves Review

For many gamers, the Thief series represents an engaging approach to stealth. Lots of creative tools and options make each mission both replayable and unique. No matter how well made, games that offer nothing but stealth need to compensate in other areas, like narrative, world building, or ingenious level design. Thick as Thieves has the potential to be an engaging stealth game with interesting gear and mechanics. Unfortunately, the release version is pretty thin. In some ways it feels like a demo.

Stylish Stealth

Thick as Thieves is set in the first decade of the 20th century, in a version of Scotland where steampunk-esque machines co-exist with arcane magic and the supernatural. You play as one of two characters: the Spider or the Chameleon. They’re a bit like classes. The starting character Spider is more acrobatic, with tools like a grapple gun and abilities geared to quick movement around the world. The Chameleon — unlocked later —  is a more magic-focused character, with the ability to shape-shift into forms like guards or other NPCs to remain undetected. Playing in co-op allows for the simultaneous and complementary use of both.

Immediately, it’s clear that, while these two characters are good for starters, the game needs a much wider array of “classes.” Each character has a unique but limited tool set, adding to the feel of restricted options and limited replayability.

That feeling isn’t helped by there being only two maps, The Constables Guildhall and the Elway Manor. On the plus side, they are both stylish and interesting to explore. Great examples of the game’s painterly art, they contain lots of secrets and hidden rooms. On the flip side, those two maps, 16 missions, and four hours of content become familiar fast. Let’s hope there are lots of new missions and maps queued up and ready.

Guild Wars

You play as a new member of the Thieves’ Guild, trying to prove your skills by going on a series of missions. Your first task (and tutorial mission) is to steal the Vistara Diamond. Turns out, the Diamond is really a mystical object. You can use it to see through walls, spot guards, and find hidden secrets. After each mission you return to your Thieves Den, get a little bit of story lore, gear up, and head out. Playing solo or in co-op doesn’t change the objectives for a mission.

As you might imagine, gameplay revolves around the pillars of exploration, discovery, and avoiding the guards or traps – like turrets. Make it through the end of a mission and you’re exfiltrated back to home base. Sneaking quietly, sticking to the shadows, and learning guards’ patrol patterns are the initial priorities. Sometimes you need to employ distractions like smoke bombs, fairy pickpockets, or thrown bottles. Low level guards are pretty dim and easy to evade or confuse, but the elite enemy called the Hauntstable, a ghostly constable that can warp through walls and floors, is a much harder foe. While you can knock out/choke guards, Thick as Thieves has no combat system or weapons.

It isn’t that the maps or stealth mechanics in Thick as Thieves are bad, they just feel undercooked and shallow. Playing in co-op can be a fun, partners-in-crime good time, but the experience isn’t hugely different. I appreciated that moving through the maps and objectives meant engaging with the game’s lore and narrative, at least for the first pass through a mission. That’s not to say I ever came to care very much about the story or characters.

How It Started and Where It Ended

I remember seeing a preview of Thick as Thieves when it was a PvPvE-focused game. It feels like the shift to single player/co-op stripped away some intangible but important elements. What remains is a fun but limited stealth action game, with lots of potential and room to grow but disappointingly stingy at launch. There’s an old joke about how a restaurant’s food sucked, and also, there wasn’t enough of it. Thick as Thieves is a reasonably-priced $5 game with a solid foundation, but needs more playable characters, maps, depth, and encouragement for creativity. I look forward to checking in from time to time.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***