There was once a very different Thief 4 in the works, from developer Ion Storm Austin.
Pitched to Eidos by the developer of Thief: Deadly Shadows was a modern day reboot titled Thief 4: Dagger of Ways. Discovered by Eurogamer, Thief 4: Dagger of Ways was to be set on a “modern Earth, at night, with some stylised elements – a blend of New York, Los Angeles, Boston and other American cities. Game environments will feature recognisable elements from modern day society…derelict convenience stores and dark back-alleys,” according to uncovered design documents.
Ion Storm wrote, “We want to present a darkly colourful world of shadow, neon and moonlight wherein Garrett will explore rooftops and street corners in one mission and a corrupt senator’s mansion in another.”
An anonymous source speaking to Eurogamer revealed much about the development of the game, including Eidos reluctance to allow the team to add new features or attempt to grow the franchise in interesting ways. The source claims, “There was a big exec team who didn’t know games and were driven more by sales and market trends. We knew that Eidos didn’t like us that much as a studio and didn’t ‘get’ our games, [so] we wanted to push back against the idea that we couldn’t produce a high quality, polished game.”
The most notable feature that was vetoed by the publisher was the titular dagger. Described by the design document as “Initially only an exotic weapon, [The Dagger] reveals other powers which have a direct effect on the game world. The player will be able to use the dagger to shift into a wraith realm, bypassing human guards. This wraith world is filled with shadowy monstrosities…whenever Garrett kills someone, the wraith world gets deadlier as the shadows multiply.”
However, it wasn’t just the dagger that was cut. Eidos feedback was that the title should not include anything supernatural so Eurogamer’s source calls the design document “misrepresentative on some topics.” Within a few months of development the title was 100% focused on reality, claims the source, before it was eventually cancelled.
What do you think of the cancelled project?
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