14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Eidos Montreal working on Thief says that the power of the new Xbox One console from Microsoft will give it the resources required to make the entire game experience deeper.
Stephanie Roy, a senior producer, tells the Xbox Wire that, "While creating fun and deeply engaging gameplay elements is still at the very core of what we’re designing with 'Thief' – this new, powerful generation of hardware allows us to really dive into building a rich and immersive universe."
The remade City that will be at the heart of Thief can use the improved graphics of the Xbox One to show players more of its character and Garrett himself has more personality than ever.
The developer adds, "Exploration and player choice is really important to us and we’ve designed missions and locations that allow this – there’s a lot more to the City for players looking to take the time to explore and find hidden notes, journals, and lockboxes to really dig into a deeper layer of the world."
The fact that Thief is being launched on the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 means that Eidos Montreal can use bigger and richer sound banks and a better representation of light in order to give Garrett more options when it comes to sneaking and avoiding guards.
Next-gen hardware also gives the team space to improve the intelligence of computer-controlled characters, meaning that they will behave closer to how guards would do in the real world, with solid search patterns and new types of reactions when they spot the main character.
Eidos Montreal also says that Thief will introduce leaderboards even if it lacks a multiplayer mode in order to allow friends to compare their performance.
Thief will be out on next and current-gen devices on February 25 of next year.