There aren’t many things I’m looking forward to more than Nightdive’s remaster of the original Thief. Is this because I’m old? Yes, but it’s also because Thief is an all-timer videogame and I can’t wait to see Nightdive work its magic on it.
At the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, we got a hefty helping of gameplay in a new trailer for the remaster, showing Garrett stuffing his pockets in all manner of poorly-lit, erm, manors, plus sewers, crypts, tombs, dungeons—you know, Thief places.
Wishlist Thief: The Dark Project Remastered on Steam
Get ready to stuff your pockets because Nightdive’s Thief remaster looks downright glorious in a new, gameplay-heavy trailer. We even got a peek at the controller UI, which looks to be taking its cues from the original game’s mod scene. Good choice. There’s no release date just yet, so make sure you wishlist it on Steam to keep up with the news.
It looks great. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Nightdive has gotten ‘making games look how you remember them looking’ down to an art. No ugly uprezzed textures or weirdly 3D models, just a lot of deft touches that keep the game’s original art style intact.
Latest Videos FromPC Gamer
I’m also pretty sure we got a glimpse of the game’s controller support, and it looks like the remaster is taking its cues from the (very good) already-existing controller mods for the un-remastered version of the game.
You can select items using a handy-dandy inventory wheel, which is just how the mods do it. Supposing Nightdive is taking its cues from them, then I imagine we’re going to get something that feels almost weirdly well-suited to a PC game originally released in 1998. The mods make flicking between your various arrow types (remember to stock up on water and moss, hard-mode players) very easy indeed—I imagine Nightdive’s version might make it even easier.
I’ll say this, though: this trailer, with its driving soundtrack and ample blackjacking and arrow-loosing, doesn’t quite match my memories of Thief, which mostly consist of a lot of standing in dark corners and memorising guard patrol routes. Where’s the 10-hour ‘Hanging out with Garrett behind a door’ ASMR YouTube video, Nightdive? You’re missing a trick there.
Check out our Steam page with all the games, updates, and DLC featured in the show. You can also read our roundup article which includes every announcement from the show in the order it aired.