If you yearn for the comforts of a dank cobbled street and the allure of a shadowy, smog-swathed corner; if memories of a youth spent surveying the city from soot-stained rooftops have you all misty eyed, then you’re either a 19th century street urchin or grew up in the company of Looking Glass Technology’s seminal stealth classic Thief – or perhaps even Arkane Studios’ spiritual successor Dishonored. In all cases, Thick of Thieves, from Warren Spector’s OtherSide Entertainment, might be exactly what you’re looking for.
To get right to it, Thick of Thieves is, essentially, multiplayer Dishonored that’s been streamlined to accommodate relatively brisk bouts of competitive infiltration. It all unfolds in an alternate-history metropolis loosely evocative of Dishonored’s Dunwall, where technology and magic combine, where portly guards patrol regular beats, and where rooftops and sewer tunnels are as viable thoroughfares as its rain-soaked streets and squalid alleyways.
In this “deeply simulated world” of stealthy opportunities, as OtherSide puts it, players adopt one of three roles – The Hood, The Spider, and The Chameleon – as they begin their career as a thief for hire. Each character has a core set of distinctive abilities that can upgraded, expanded, and augmented with gear as players progress through their own “personal storyline”. And that’s done by taking missions in which multiple players – operating as lone agents – enter the city in order to reach their designated target, swipe the loot, and get out alive.
While Thick of Thieves is undoubtedly multiplayer focused, OtherSide talks about it more as an extension of the classic immersive sim, taken to its “next step” – and, in that regard, the project is in good hands. Spector – who’s overseen genre classics from System Shock to Deus Ex – is onboard as chief creative officer, while Thief: The Dark Project director Greg LoPiccolo is serving as director on Thick of Thieves, and David McDonough (previous of Firaxis) is design lead.