Eidos Montreal took to the official Thief blog to address questions from the forums. On the top of the list, Eidos has confirmed that they have removed QTEs from the game completely.
As the devs explain, they did not even have much QTEs in the demo, but they saw and acknowledged the intense reaction in generated among the press and gamers, so they took it out without batting an eyelash. It is a good thing they did not seem all that invested in it to begin with.
The devs also explained more about the hardcore mode, which was implemented in such a way that it allows you to customize difficulty. You can disable Focus and other abilities, and also remove parts of the UI for less handholding.
The custom options can get really intense. You can set up the game so that you die the moment an enemy detects you. You can even go Ironman, aka, when you die, the game ends. Put those two options together and it’s like you’re playing a game from 1985.
Ghosting is also coming back, although now, it has been added to one of the many custom options. Furthermore, the game has added thieving objectives, which are basically additional optional challenges for you to pull off.
Thief is also getting an upgrade system custom made to ease stealth. Most Focus abilities are stealth related, allowing players to hear better, find loot by eye better, and be faster at picking pockets and locks. Upgrades will also help reduce detectability, minimize footstep and arrow sounds, and so on.
You can check out a newly released gallery of images from the mission Lockdown here. Thief is scheduled to release February 25 on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Playstation 4, and Xbox One.
