Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow [REVIEW] – A Turbulent Return to the Shadows

As someone who grew up skulking through the shadows in the original Thief games, I genuinely wanted Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow to bring that magic back in a new and immersive way. And, in its best moments, it really does, with it clear that the game has the foundations in place to offer that authentic Thief experience that players (myself included) loved back in the day. Unfortunately, those moments also sit alongside a collection of gameplay and technical issues.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow sees players stepping into the shoes of Magpie, a nimble street thief whose nightly routine gets a lot more complicated after she’s accidentally fused with a mysterious piece of Keeper tech… hate it when that happens. That little mishap leaves her with series stalwart Garrett’s dry commentary echoing around in her head, which is handy since she’ll now be tasked with dealing with a greater threat within the city. It’s a straightforward setup that feels familiar of the series, but hey, it gives you all of the right reasons to creep through mansions, taverns, and back alleys in proper Thief fashion. It’s good to be back.

At first, the game absolutely nails the atmosphere – especially within the city, with its cramped and darkened alleys, lantern-lit balconies to sneak across, creaky passageways, and secret entrances all brought to life wonderfully. Vertical paths and branching routes give each mission a sense of openness without overwhelming you, and whether you’re climbing pipes, slipping through windows, or rooting around in hidden alcoves, levels feel alive and full of possibilities. It’s all very gloomy in design too, which helps it capture the tone of earlier titles in the series perfectly, and whilst it’s clear that the Meta Quest 3 version of the game doesn’t quite match the visual fidelity of PC VR or the PlayStation VR 2, everything looks slick and feels atmospheric in-game.

It also embraces the immersion of virtual reality in all of the right ways, with players physically having to pick locks, search through drawers, use their bow, or simply lean around corners with their whole body to see what’s ahead of them – sure, it’s things we’ve already seen a lot of in virtual reality, but its use here feels especially fitting. The tracking and motion feel responsive and authentic in-game, and with plenty of cool tools to play around with, it’s easy to find the experience wholly engaging and fun. Comfort-wise, the slower pace and solid locomotion options make the game surprisingly easy to play for long stretches too, both for virtual reality newbies and long-time players.

“Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow has the heart and soul of the series, and when its systems click, it delivers moments that genuinely feel fantastic.“

It gets a lot of the core aspects of the experience right then, but unfortunately, Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow falters in other ways. The biggest issue is the guard AI, which swings between ridiculously oblivious and hyper-aware in ways that feel frustratingly inconsistent rather than challenging. Some enemies practically bump into you before reacting, whilst others spot a tiny twitch from across the room – it’d be a bit more forgivable if it was a bit more consistent, but you never really know where you stand in the game. When combined with their limited ability to coordinate or chase effectively, stealth encounters often feel shallow and dull, and because they seem to immediately forget you exist after a brief shuffle around, the tension of the experience quells quite quickly. The Thief series has always thrived with its balance of suspense and excitement when sneaking past guards, and whilst Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow certainly has its moments, the inconsistency hurts the joy of the experience.

Then you have the technical problems. Items clipping into floors, bodies sticking halfway into walls, tools failing to register, your height suddenly shrinking to child-size, the audio overlapping in strange ways… these bugs break flow and sometimes make progression impossible. Since I’ve been playing, a patch has been released that has added more automatic save points in to help alleviate some of these issues, but it doesn’t completely fix all of the problems and it’s still possible to find your progress blocked. When you spend more time worrying about a glitch blocking progress than a guard chasing after you, you know things aren’t quite right.

Despite these issues, I don’t want to undersell what Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow does get right. Exploration is rewarding and the levels are well designed, whilst sneaking through creaking locales and slipping past patrolling guards to reach your objective certainly scratches that Thief itch in a fresh and engaging way. The tactile nature of virtual reality fits the series perfectly too, and crouching, peeking, climbing, and manually picking locks feel like a natural and immersive evolution of everything that has come before it in the series. The tone is there, the world is there, and the game clearly understands the fantasy that players want… it just struggles to hold it all together.

Check out some screenshots down below:

With steadier AI, fewer bugs, and a bit more polish, this could have been a real special virtual reality release. Instead? It’s a flawed but often satisfying return to a world many of us have missed. If you love stealth and can tolerate technical hiccups and messy AI, you’ll find stretches of Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow that feel fantastic. It’s just missing that sense of consistency to make it a must-play title right now.

Developer: Maze Theory
Publisher: Vertigo Games
Platform(s): Meta Quest 3 (Reviewed), PlayStation VR 2, PC VR
Website: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/thief-vr-legacy-of-shadow/6429437293824115/