GOOD GAME

The content of the second generation Thief Simulator game is richer than the first generation,and the playability is still very high. However, the plot is slightly short, and many jewelry cases are well done but not included in the plot. Overall, it is still worth buying

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Thief Simulator 2:
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The nine-to-five daily job routine hasn't been for you. From a young age, you realised that being told what to do and how to do it for a small amount of money per hour is ridiculous. Oh, and that hourly rate is the gross wage - the tax department is going to take a good chunk of that! "If you’re paying taxes, it means that you’re making money." No kidding! What you did discover, however, is that you enjoy working at night, being your own boss and making up to six months' income in one night, tax-free! You even get extended holidays with all expenses paid if you are unlucky and caught by the police. You'll experience it all in Thief Simulator 2.

Thief Simulator 2 is a first-person simulation game developed by Cookie Dev and published by PlayWay S.A. on the Steam platform on the 3rd of October, 2023. The game is also available on PS5, and the Xbox Series X|S will be released around September 2024. There is also a Nintendo Switch version currently in the works.

Thief Simulator 2 consists of a Story and a Free mode with three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal and Hardcore. If, like me, this is your first experience with a game in this series, I strongly suggest playing the Story mode - not only will the missions become progressively more challenging, but you'll also have new tutorials to show you how to use new gadgets and techniques as you progress through the game.

In the Story mode, you have infuriated some big guys in town. A friend of yours hands you a lifeline - he is willing to settle the issue with the gang in exchange for your doing some jobs for him and paying him back. Most of these jobs will take place on Maddison Street, where there are 16 houses to break into. There is apparently another street, but I haven't managed to get to it in my 15 hours of gameplay. There are also heists to complete, which can only be activated from your hideout.

Your first couple of jobs will be a walk in the park, but from there onwards, you'll need to elevate your skills and ensure you have a plan of action to complete your missions. It is essential to identify how many people and pets live in each house, along with their daily movements. There are a few ways to find out. The first one is to watch them from a safe distance, marking them using the middle button on your mouse and then clicking the right button to activate the Planning mode. That can take some time as the Planning mode will only record the individual you marked for five to six hours, and with 24 hours in a day you'll be watching the individual all day long. And if the house has four tenants, including pets, you'll be watching that house for a few days. The second option is to head up to your hideout and use the dark browser on your computer to find break-in tips for each house, including information on the tenants' routines, the security system and loot. But it will cost you money to access that information. Alternatively, you can plant a micro camera in the house letterbox for a day, but you'll only be able to discover the tenant's movements this way.

To get access to new tools so you can break into houses that have better locks and security, you’ll need to gain experience to unlock new skills. How do you do that? By stealing goods! Also by completing missions on the Hell Neighbour website, which vary from planting evidence, to stealing or breaking a specific object, to photographing rooms in a house. Accessing the dark browser from your hideout, you can choose Thief Contracts and Claim Rewards, and receive money for your trouble. Go to Joe's Pawnshop to sell any items that you’ve stolen, or check the Black Bay app on your computer first to see if you can get a better price.

Every time you level up, you'll gain a skill point that you can use to unlock a new skill. However, most new skills also require a level of experience. So, if the next skill to unlock requires you to be level five and you are only at level three, you must level up twice before you can unlock that skill. There are 31 skills to unlock, including eight special ones.

Regarding the gameplay, I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. The camera movements and the animations are smooth. I like the fact that you have to plan your break-in, not necessarily meticulously, but you’ll need a specific plan for each different break-in. For instance, if you have to destroy an item, such as a washing machine, and the tenants are at home most of the time, a daytime break-in is out of the question - it must be at night, with all the exit points open and your car close by. There is a lot of stealth and suspense all the way. It’s fun to have to move super slowly around individuals sleeping in their beds, and open drawers, cabinets, and wardrobes really gently so as not to wake them. But what if they do wake up and spot you? Well, if the tenants are not armed and your car is nearby to facilitate your escape, even if the cops are called in, you'll probably be ok. But if your vehicle is parked a bit further down the street, you might need to hide somewhere, such as in a dumpster, under a bed or inside a wardrobe until the cops leave. It also depends on whether you’ve already been spotted that day, in which case the cops will be on higher alert and it will take a good while before they drop the search. I like the various actions, such as pickpocketing, unlocking doors with different tools, hacking locked stolen phones and laptops, opening containers with a torch and safecracking. Make sure you read any notes you find lying around, as they might contain hints about where to find a stash, such as a parcel code. And if you stroll in the park and the public phone rings, maybe take the call for a speedy mission. All these aspects work together to make Thief Simulator 2 a good game.

The graphics and the soundtrack are great. I haven't experienced any issues so far, although I understand the game was released a while back on PC. It has been translated into 14 languages and has achievements and trading cards.

Positives:
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+ Great graphics and soundtrack
+ Two modes of play with three difficulty settings
+ The skills tree is small but relevant
+ The developers have thought the concept through and offered a high level of realism
+ It's fun, addictive, full of stealth and suspense
+ Achievements and trading cards

Negatives:
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- Large items such as televisions and printers that you throw out the windows don't break when hitting the floor.

They nailed this concept! Watch, plan and execute the perfect robberies and then sell the proceeds to the local pawnshop. Be super silent, don't be seen, and live through tense moments in Thief Simulator 2.

8/10

Key provided by the developer/publisher for review purposes. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own!

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