Thief Simulator

Thief Simulator allows you to live out the fantasy of being an impulsive money-hungry criminal as you prey upon the humble neighbourhood of Greenview Street, scoring any loot you can for a cash exchange at your local pawn shop. As your efficiency as a thief improves you'll gain access to more sophisticated gadgets such as night vision goggles and hacking laptops, and there are usually multiple options available to pull off a burglary, so it's up to players whether they want to brave it and attempt to lockpick the front door or sneak around the back to try and find an open window.

Stealth is crucial as there's no option to silence tenants or bribe the police if you get caught. Instead, you need to mindful of every action, ensuring that you aren't seen by passers-by during suspicious activity like crouching in the bushes or carrying a crowbar. If you do see red and blue lights swirling in your direction you can choose to hide under a bed or in an outside dumpster, although if you're feeling up for taking a risk you could make a break for your car and try and dash away. Luckily the price for apprehension isn't a steep one, as you will just return back to the last checkpoint and any loot you gathered during your failed stint will be lost.

After a successful heist, you are graded on your performance and receive additional XP depending on how competent you were as a thief. If you broke a window, alerted the cops, or made off with nothing but a toaster and a saucepan then its unlikely you will receive much of a bonus. By earning XP and levelling up you earn skill points which can be invested in the skill tree to unlock new abilities such as being able to climb fences and rig security cameras in mailboxes. There's an impressive list of skills that can be learned, but we found our choice largely dictated by the story as we need certain skills to progress. We found ourselves at a crossroads at one point as we really wanted to upgrade our carry capacity but also didn't want to have to grind and delay our progress.

At your home base, there's a PC where you can purchase tips before robberies, fulfil requests for other shady criminals, and purchase new items such as lockpicks, flashlights, and climbing gloves. On the Rent-a-Thug tab you can take on side missions that usually see you stealing a specific item or destroying someone's prized possessions for a cash reward. These missions can feel a little repetitive but they are a means of levelling up if you haven't performed too well during the main story missions. On Blackbay you can purchase some useful hints about properties such as tenant routines, security tips, and hints about valuable loot locations. This can make things significantly easier as you won't need to spy in the bushes or check every door, but tips come at a cost.

One thing we noticed quite quickly is that the AI lacked intelligence. Another thing, our deeds appeared to have no impact on the neighbourhood that we robbed every night. For example, we targeted 110, 111, and 112 Greenview Street in three consecutive nights and nobody grew suspicious and the pawn shop owner didn't even bat an eye as we shovelled phones, oversized printers, and decorative items at him each day. It would have been great if there were more consequences for being lazy as a thief, like some tenants hiding their valuables out of fear of being robbed or installing new security systems after being hit for the first time.

We have to mention the driving controls as they feel especially clunky and it never truly felt like we had control of our vehicle when moving at high speeds. We found ourselves having to constantly splash out on repairs as we slammed into trees and fences, and since missions failed automatically if you hit a pedestrian, we had to drive painfully slowly, perhaps heightening suspicions even more as we departed from the scene of a heist. Also on the control side of things, its worth highlighting that there is currently no controller support which of course may be a pain for more casual players.

Thief Simulator may not have snagged away our attention as much as we initially hoped, but it's still an entertaining enough distraction filled with plenty of tension and player choice. We enjoyed the rush of sneaking around knowing that we had mere minutes to swipe the goods and escape undetected, and its vast toolbox of unlockable gadgets gave us plenty to play with. Core aspects though such as the AI and driving controls feel like they could have done with a bit more work and we were disappointed by how the skill tree felt largely dictated by story missions. It's worth scoping out the joint if you're looking for a stealth title that doesn't take itself too seriously, but it's not likely to win over new fans to the genre.