Morgan Wight

Yea, who would ever have expected that from a AAA outfit that makes a habit of boasting about just how AAA it is?

I wholeheartedly agree, particularly with respect to the exploration levels - Bonehoard is another favorite. Funny thing is, I can remember at the time of Thief 2's release thinking that answering the fans' call for unwavering focus on stealth was a brilliant idea, but in recent years I've found the diversity of mission design in TDP much more engaging . . . and the movies are absolutely spellbinding.

It's interesting that Eidos' "meddling" ended up having a positive effect on TDP by getting ttlg to widen the scope a bit with exploration and supernatural monsters; also a great testament to the team's passion that they were able to turn purely commercial input into beautiful things - burricks, bonehoard, etc!

The moment it got billed as a next-gen AAA title, we knew it was going to be dross. But, I'm betting there will still be at least a few slices of enjoyable gameplay to mine out.

There's way too much silly swagger during the "[Erin died] . . . I'll never forget it." line. And the way the cowl squishes his mouth and facial muscles together, seemingly affecting his voice, strikes me as blatantly (Bale) Batman. I do think the UI-shorn gameplay has at least some semblance of legitimacy, though.