Garrett is back, making his stealthy debut on next-gen consoles. When the first gameplay was shown last year, many called it a Dishonored clone which meant that they had never played the original Thief which Dishonored borrowed heavily from.

Now Thief is back to claim its spot as the premier stealth title on the market. What do the first reviews say about Garrett’s return?

It seems he may have gotten caught with his hands in people’s pockets.

IGN– 6.8/10

“Some of the campaign missions that follow the bland, supernatural-driven story take you to distinctive locations, like a colorful brothel and a genuinely creepy asylum. But too often the level design is claustrophobic and doesn’t leave much room to maneuver. They do have branching paths, and a handful of interesting puzzles, at least.”

Kotaku– NO

“The City has more dead-ends than it has escape routes. It’s constantly patrolled by dangerous guards, but if they spot you, whatever chase ensues will likely be brief, ending either with Garrett cornered or with the player taking advantage of one of several ridiculous ways to exploit enemies’ shonky artificial intelligence. For example, you can begin to jimmy open a window and guards will immediately stop chasing you, even if they were right on your heels. Curses, he got away!”

Polygon– 6/10

“Too many enemies, too-small corridors and too finicky response from Garrett stifles the sense of exploration that Eidos Montreal pays lip service to early on. Gear teases the potential for experimentation and variability in approach, but is depressingly underutilized. Example: rope arrows can only be fired at a few specific points throughout the game, and other tools often feel superfluous or wasted.”

Game Informer– 8/10

“None of Garrett’s capers feel like retreads of other missions. In one moment, I was sneaking through a mansion’s courtyard, diving for cover before bursts of lightning illuminated the shadows, and in the next I was barreling through a burning section of the city, dodging flames and falling girders. One heart-pounding mission had me exploring a haunted asylum in a sequence that reminded me more of survival horror games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent than a traditional stealth mission.”

Destructoid– 7.5/10

“One of the best parts of the game is the ability to completely customize the difficulty. You can do things like disable manual saves, disabling Focus powers entirely, allow stealth takedowns only, or eliminate the ability to takeout enemies at all. There’s also extended options like an Iron Man mode, where you’re required to beat the game in one life without saves. It’s insane how many options there are, and gamers who are looking for a challenge will find it with Thief.”

Eurogamer– 6/10

“Indeed, Thief is a frustrating game as much as it is a disappointing one. There are glimmers of what could have been: the exquisite concept art used in the loading screens shows the care and attention that’s gone into conceptualising this dim-lit world; the cloying density of the city – a higgledy-piggledy mess of housing built on housing – has a marvellous sense of place, and many of the optional missions in this hub area, in which you have to briefly break into lofts and cellars, are interesting.”