Thief 4 finally steps into the light, now just called ‘Thief’

Some of us have been waiting a long time for this one. Thief 4 (then called … urg, Thi4f) was first announced way back in 2009, but next to nothing has been said about it since. Until today, that is. Eidos Montreal (of Deus Ex: Human Revolution fame) has revealed that the next installment in the series will now simply be called Thief, and is due in 2014.

Will you play as Garrett? You bet. Will he be voiced by Stephen Russell? We don’t know yet, but I’m certainly going to try to find out.

According to the release details, “Time has moved on. Power has shifted. New greed replaces the old.” This suggests that we’re not in prequel territory, although it’s hard to tell from the images issued so far whether Garrett has his mechanical eye yet. If not, it’s obviously pre-Thief: The Dark Project.

As they did with Human Revolution, Eidos Montreal is making the right noises about handling the series. More from the reveal details: “… a first-person adventure featuring intelligent design that allows players to take full control, with freedom to choose their path through the game’s levels and how they approach and overcome each challenge.”

“We’re handling a precious gemstone with Thief. Fans remember the original games very fondly and we want to preserve that essence,” says Stephane D’Astous, while hiding behind a curtain in the Eidos Montreal offices.

Not much else to tell at present, other than that you’ll be stalking through the series’ main city location (just called The City) and that ‘The Baron’ (mentioned in previous titles) appears to now be the main antagonist.

Now might be a good time to re-visit my article “Ten Things Thief 4 Must Include.” The formatting is a bit out of whack thanks to server moves, but the material is all still in place.

After that, GameInformer is the place with more details.