Tricky Thief Review | TheXboxHub

Have ice-sliding puzzles at all times been this common? I’ve been reviewing Xbox video games for a while now, however I don’t keep in mind a sustained interval of sliding video games like this one. Each week it looks like I’m taking part in a brand new one: from Rytmos to sCATch: The Painter Cat, all the best way to Webgeon, Cronostase, Tremendous Ninja Miner and The Blind Postman. Possibly I’m simply unfortunate. Or the ice-sliding puzzles appear to naturally slide in the direction of me. 

We will toss Tough Thief onto that pile. To its credit score, although, it’s making an attempt one thing totally different. As a result of somewhat than merely slide about on the ice within the cardinal instructions (which it undoubtedly does), Tough Thief throws in some enemies to make issues devious. You’re not simply discovering an exit in Tough Thief; you’re avoiding the po-po as you do it.

Think about the scenario. You’re a crim, and the police are on the hunt for you. You’ll be able to see the exit, however the police are strolling backwards and forwards on the identical patrol routes. Now, right here’s the issue: you’ve received a really explicit hindrance meaning you may’t simply cover in a field and Steel Gear Stable-your-way out of the scenario. You’ll be able to solely transfer north, south, east and west. Plus, everytime you transfer, you retain going till a wall stops you. You’re on rollerskates, successfully. 

That makes thievery troublesome, no? So troublesome, in truth, that you simply wonder if a lifetime of crime was the correct possibility for Mr Tough Thief. Possibly a profession with Deliveroo would have been a greater guess. 

Worse nonetheless, Tough Thief can’t simply skate to the exit. Oh no. For some cause, the exit is barred till ALL of the treasures in a room have been robbed. Which is the reverse of how safety measures ought to work, proper? 

You will have to go away your important colleges at residence with this one. However Tough Thief does create a somewhat compelling state of affairs. You’re sliding from wall to wall, selecting up cash till the door opens, and you then’re skitting by way of the exit as rapidly as you may. In the meantime, cops and bizarre beacon/CCTV issues are on the hunt for you. 

Puzzles begin with some easy cash to choose up. However then the degrees begin to combine within the cops, who stroll on routes which are helpfully painted on the ground (not the perfect crime-prevention thought). Then round, pulsing entities (CCTV? Turrets?) get thrown in too. These throb, with a field-of-view that grows and shrinks over time. Lastly, there are ranges which are in the dead of night, solely permitting you a restricted view, and crates that explode as quickly as you slide into them. As soon as they’re popped, they received’t cease you any extra. Which is a little bit of a mangling of the Pringles catchphrase. 

Tough Thief doesn’t strive something extra sophisticated than that. It’s an very simple sport which makes use of solely the instruments that we’ve described to you. There are fifty ranges to play, and also you’ll cease getting achievements after about twenty-five of them. Which means 1000G after, ooh, forty-five minutes and little or no problem, which could perk up a number of ears.

It’s your quintessential low-cost indie sport from Eastasiasoft, then. A twist on a conventional style, a gimmick thrown in for good luck, and it’s throughout earlier than you may say ‘1000 Gamerscore’. But it surely’s additionally functionally strong and lacking the depth and curiosity that might actually make it a real suggestion. 

Don’t get us improper, we loved our time with Tough Thief. Ice-sliding puzzles have turn into second-nature to us, so we slipped into its sneakers with ease. However by including in enemies, it looks like an excessive amount of will get compromised. 

The maps aren’t actually puzzles any extra. That is smart: if there have been each enemies AND a sophisticated maze to navigate, then it’d get an excessive amount of. But it surely implies that the degrees aren’t a problem within the puzzling sense anymore – which form of rips the guts out of an ice-sliding sport. 

What it turns into as an alternative is a ‘time your run’ sport. You’re ready… and ready… for the correct second to zip throughout the extent, as soon as the patrol routes coincide with one another. That’s superb in idea, however is a bit tedious in apply. Too typically, we had been nestled within the nook of a room just like the Blair Witch had received us, ready for the correct second to maneuver. Which isn’t significantly thrilling. 

There are a number of ranges, significantly in a while, when it feels just like the enemies are secondary to the puzzling, and they’re when issues get fascinating. The destructible crates, specifically, are an indication that issues are getting extra intricate. However we realised that we had been hankering for a primary ice-sliding sport, which erases the explanation why Tough Thief exists within the first place. We might have been taking part in  Rytmos, sCATch: The Painter Cat, Webgeon, Cronostase, Tremendous Ninja Miner or The Blind Postman.

Tough Thief is okay, if a bit unremarkable. We appreciated that it makes the hassle to boost the ice-sliding recipe with some enemies, however we spent so lengthy ready for these enemies, that we received wistful for less complicated, gimmick-free ice-sliding puzzlers – and there’s a good few of these on Xbox.

You should purchase Tough Thief from the Xbox Retailer