14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Eidos Montreal working on the new Thief video game says that it had a lot of freedom in the design process for the main character Garrett and aimed to create an action-driven hero that would appeal to a wide audience.
Nicolas Cantin, the game director working on the new title, tells GameInformer that, “we wanted to keep the main DNA of who Garrett was; we didn’t want to change that much because it was working already” but also “wanted to bring in more of the audience of the modern console market.”
The overall design is also a reflection of the kind of gameplay that the rebooted Thief will deliver, with more action sequences than the previous titles in the series.
The costume that Garrett wears is designed to be practical while giving him a unique visual identity in the game world.
Cantin has also revealed how the character evolved during the production process, adding, “In the beginning he was more gothic; we toned down all the things that felt gothic, like black nails and things like that. We wanted to make him a little bit more mainstream. Yes, he’s a dark character, but we don’t want to say he’s a gothic one, even though the Victorian period feels really gothic.”
The references to an action focus will worry long-time fans of the Thief series because it suggests that the game might abandon some of the core stealth elements that made it a cult hit.
The game will see Garrett return to the City and take up shelter in an abandoned clock tower, spreading rumors about his supernatural powers among the citizens while battling the tyrannical Baron and dealing with a mysterious plague.
The new Thief video game will be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 4 and other next-gen consoles at some point during 2014.