Hey frumious Reg gamers: BANG-or-SNATCH? We look at Second Son and Thief

Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/03/27/game_theory_second_son_and_thief_reviews/

Lawless abiding citizens

Posted in Personal Tech, 27th March 2014 10:01 GMT

Game Theory This month we tackle to games at polar opposites of the ends of the subtlety spectrum. First up is Infamous: Second Son, a game that pitches a super-charged hero (or villain) into the midst of Seattle and begs him to explode things. Then there’s the shadowy stealth of Thief, as Garrett once more gets to grips with robbing from the rich.

Second Son

Infamous (or inFAMOUS to pay it proper lip service) has always felt like one of those nearly franchises. Full of potential, no doubt, but without ever quite becoming a must.

Light touch

Cole MacGrath was an interesting enough lead, spending his time scaling buildings, beating-up thugs and shooting lightning from his (presumably singed) fingertips. But there were two major points of criticism I could level at it.

First a dependence on way too many similar mission types. Second, a cardboard cutout city that never quite felt like it was truly accommodating of your growing superpowers.

Having superpowers was always going to come in handy one day

Now developer, Sucker Punch, is back again and while not quite everything has been fixed, the outrageously gorgeous playground of Seattle goes a long way towards papering over any cracks. In short, for sheer wow factor, this is the best reason yet to add a PS4 to your console collection.

Central to proceedings is the all-new protagonist, Delsin Rowe, who channels Marvel's Peter Parker in terms of wise-cracks and the ability to catapult himself around a city. The latter point is all down to his unique 'conduit' power – and for 'conduit' read 'mutant' – that has him stealing the abilities of other super powered souls.

Mutant ninja?

So begins a power-grabbing quest that will eventually lead to the unleashing of all sorts of hell through smoke, light and, ironically enough, angels. With the ultimate goal to overthrow a totalitarian dictatorship (no surprises there) that rules through a combination of super-soldiers and, erm, concrete powers.

And by that I mean, quite literally, the power to encase poor saps in slabs of concrete. Or else torture suspects by growing huge concrete spikes through their skin, from the inside out – ouch.

Sleepless in Seattle

Now for something of a confession, even though Second Son commits a huge no-no in my book by resorting to repetitive missions, it does so with such aplomb that it barely matters. You might assault base-after-base of soldiers within its Seattle sandbox. But each encounter not only ratchets up the powers you have at your disposal, but so too the strength and intelligence of your aggressors.

Power games

Therefore large-scale encounters are not only genuinely tough, but also ever evolving in terms of available approaches. Think of it as something similar to completing the same task over and over, but being actively challenged to change your method each time.

Zap! Pow!

As Delsin is in essence a power sponge, it means you'll spend the fruits of such battles levelling-up his abilities too. By focusing on underhand or heroic mission types, you can unlock either light side or dark side powers, so giving the game enough content for a second run-through.

Missions do vary more than I'm giving the game credit for, however, as the campaign has you investigating crime scenes, chasing down fugitives or even battling the odd boss. The city serves up ad hoc missions too, which eventually lead to chunks of Seattle becoming fast travel zones.

Purple nasties

If you're a PS4 owner then you really should treat yourself to Second Son. There's nothing quite like casting a temporal grenade into the midst of your enemy, seeing them all blasted away in slow motion, before carefully picking them off from a distance. Or else flying to the top of the nearest skyscraper, before plummeting down to cause a Hulk-sized shockwave.

And though a little more variety would have been nice, the fact I've yet to put down Second Son for over a week speaks volumes. My advice would be to buy it, gaze admiringly at those stunning visuals, fly up buildings, blow up concrete wielding bad guys and try not to overthink it.

Thief

Square Enix are the masters of the reboot these days, having already tackled Deus Ex and Tomb Raider to great effect. Next up on the hit list is Thief. A sneak-em-up that first saw the light of day back in 1998.

Oh darn it, the safe is guarded, might as well go back home...

If you remember that game, and its successors, then you'll find a lot of familiar ground in Thief, circa 2014. The return of master thief, Garrett, his same old stomping grounds, a surplus of shadows and the handy water arrow – perfect for extinguishing pesky torches.

You'll also find all kinds of new trappings too. Not content with simply updating the old 'sneak, steal, get away' formula, the studio has bolted on extras, with fair-to-middling success. On the good side, is the character's new 'swoop' move that sees him elegantly dash from cover to cover at the press of a button.

Crooked customiser

Less great is Garrett's new 'focus' power, which makes loot and interactive objects shimmer in blue light, while boosting his blackjack arm during close encounters. Thankfully, if any grizzled Thief veterans out there are thinking that's a bit much though, you can turn it off.

...on second thoughts

Indeed, one of this Thief's grandest achievements is its customisability. Don't want focus, or a compass arrow directing you where to go? Then simply switch them off in the settings menu.

Mission parameters can be adjusted in exactly the same way so that progress in your current chapter will be deemed a failure if Garrett is spotted, or fails to stealth KO all of a given chapter's guards. And, if you do set such custom parameters, you can then compare your scores to that of your friends.

Criminal aim?

So far so good, but all those options are for nothing if it's a dog to play. Pleasingly, though, I rather enjoyed it. Even if it can't hold a recently extinguished candle to Dishonoured's unsurpassed levels of sneakability.

For you see, as Dishonoured owed much to Thief and Thief the reboot owes as much to Dishonoured. Garrett's new grapple is on hand to let him gain elevation quickly (though only at pre-marked walls), branching levels inject multiple entry points and opportunities for exploration, while NPC's whine away as they go about their daily routines (though with a fair amount of dialogue repetition).

Shadow play

Where Thief could have done with still more Dishonoured is in its disappointing combat. With Garrett now inexplicably sword-shy, your only option in combat is to flee or cosh any assailant three times. It's hardly elegant and makes for some ludicrous scenarios as you bludgeon pursuer after pursuer.

Still, the game's primarily about sneaking, and as far as that element is concerned Thief is a success. Eavesdropping for clues, peering through keyholes, rifling through locked cabinets and whipping the earrings from the lobes of wealthy dowagers (yes, really) are all the order of the day. Herewith Garrett using an assortment of arrows – water, fire, gas, moss, rope – that even Hawkeye would be proud of.

Looting the lounge lizards

Then we get to the City itself, which is once more fully explorable and as full of hidden treasures - from loot to side-tasks as the main campaign missions. There are a few too many load screens as you navigate it, and it's here you'll notice more than a few bland textures. But sneaking, climbing and free-running your way about can, nevertheless, prove a more than enjoyable aside.

At its best Thief delivers the thrill of the chase and the pleasure derived from a job well planned and executed. A lick of paint here, and a more nuanced mission there would have been nice, but there's still plenty here for fans of the series and the stealth genre to whisper huskily about in shadow-filled corners. ®