Thief: the Digital Foundry verdict
If you've just bought a next-gen console, this Thief reboot is likely not your best choice for showing off its strengths. Visually, the PS4 should be the front-runner given its 1080p presentation, but through the virtues of effective anti-aliasing, the 900p frame-buffer used on Xbox One holds its own in practice. However, the PS4's weaker texture filtering does factor into the comparison more visibly, with assets appearing blurrier than they should at a distance, and asset pop-in proving slightly more evident. Given that all other settings are a match between next-gen platforms, the Xbox One release - surprisingly - stacks up favourable against a maxed-out PC playthrough.
Performance on PS4 and Xbox One counts as a bigger concern, and neither deserves any sort of recommendation here. Frankly, it feels unpleasant to control Garrett when moving with any haste - not due to frame-rate dips alone, but because of the pacing of these frames, leading to stuttering. We'd encourage buying the well-optimised PC version, as handled by port veterans Nixxes, over either of these next-gen releases as there are far fewer issues in this regard.
Of course, attempts have been made to tailor to these consoles' new control features, but none can truly compensate for their problems in motion. On PS4 the touchpad is used to navigate a 2x6 inventory grid, where sliding a finger over the right spot shifts the cursor, and clicking down selects. It takes some approximation, but it's intuitive, and feels like a worthy alternative to the traditional selection wheel used on Xbox One. Compared to gimmicks such as using the Kinect's microphone to alert guards, this stands out as a more practical use of a console's new control features.
All in all, it's hard not to be disappointed on a technical level with Thief. It's often our refrain, but in this case we'd strongly urge opting for the PC release if it's an option. If you're committed to buying for one next-gen platform or another, the superior texture filtering on Xbox One means it carries itself slightly better in the visual stakes - but frame-pacing aside, for the most part all three versions match up very closely indeed.
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