Having watched a few similar VR games, I was intrigued when “Thief Simulator 2” by CookieDev popped up in my inbox for the Xbox Series X/S. The idea of using stealth to sneak around, evade people, and outsmart security systems while hunting for valuable items in a realistic simulation style immediately grabbed my attention. I haven’t played the first edition of the franchise so I cannot compare the two but still, I eagerly dived into this sequel and explored what the developers have created.

The initial scene starts with a security camera you must interact with showing a gang of thugs searching for you as you owe a crime family a significant amount of money. The scene quickly raises your heart rate as you have to sneak out the window, turn the lights out and grab some of your nifty tools of the trade.

This is essentially showing you the basics and controls of the gameplay ahead, giving you instructions along the way you will use throughout your career as a criminal. After a cutscene, I am thrown into an open-world-style city full of POIs, houses, parks, a pawn store to sell my stolen goods and eventually a hideout. Sounds amazing but the city is still quite basic compared to genuine open-world games. Essentially, during the day, this isn’t much you can do except set tasks and scope out prospective houses. It’s when the sun starts to go down you come into your element, hence you have an option to sleep throughout the day thankfully.

The levelling system is quite slow initially and has you working your way up to the larger higher paying heist which is where the real fun begins. You learn different skills along the way as you progress such as lockpicking, flying drones, and gassing people to sleep; a lot of them will test your patience but that is part of the fun. Most items you see in the building can be interacted with such as opening kitchen cupboards, toilet draws and have good little lived-in details.

The NPCs walk around the houses and yards but are very static and don’t deviate from their set paths, so can be easily navigated as you learn their patterns. That’s where Thief Simulator 2 excels though, in its stealth gameplay and really is good fun even when you learn to master your way through. You have two gameplay loops as well, Career mode where you follow the storyline and Arcade mode where you can complete heists, which is handy for when you want to replay a mission you completed in story mode or just want to jump in for a quick game to hone your skills.

The graphics are on par with most top-tier games and have some great detail around them especially cutscenes for picking locks, explosions, and even the drones. The developer has done an excellent job and appears to have learned lessons from their original title and improved on the visuals exponentially. The slumbering houses, the unsuspecting citizens of the city, the blow torch flame even the heat signature cameras all add to the immersion of the game and make it the complete package.

The sound effects also match the graphics with excellent voiceovers from the protagonists and your noise signature as you are rummaging through a house or completing a heist. it is a near package all around, don’t expect much music as you go along though for obvious reasons, as your eyes and ears are your greatest skill as a thief.

Overall, this is a great game to sit back and enjoy if you like to put yourself in the characters’ footsteps. I haven’t played the first title from CookieDev but this latest offering feels very polished and reminiscent of a big gaming studio. There is something to be said for games such as Thief Simulator 2 that are just good old-fashioned fun. the “Simulator” word is thrown around a lot in game titles these days but this title really helps to immerse you in the criminal world.

The title has now been released on Xbox, PS and Steam so if you have been sitting on the fence thinking about buying the game, trust me you won’t be disappointed.

Written by: Mikey B