I was already aware that Project Shadowglass was at least partly inspired by Looking Glass’ stealth masterpiece Thief: The Dark Project. Fellow sneaky bastard Ted Litchfield picked some promising nuggets out of Shadowglass’ purse in January, such as open-ended levels featuring guards and traps and simulated 3D audio inspired by Thief’s pioneering propagation tech.But I had severely underestimated just how much of Garrett’s DNA is in Starhelm Studios’ dark fantasy sneak ’em up. A new trailer for Project Shadowglass debuted at the Future Games Show late last week, and Starhelm’s game is so deeply Thief coded you can almost hear it muttering ‘Taffer’ under its breath.It doesn’t seem that way at first, with the trailer’s initial moments focussing on Shadowglass’ striking art style. According to its Steam page, Shadowglass uses “a new 3D technology approach to deliver nostalgic pixelated graphics in smooth, full 360 degree freedom.” It certainly looks distinctive, almost like a King’s Quest game running in real-time 3D.Project Shadowglass has a daytime component where you plan your missions and can (apparently) explore the game’s medieval city openly. But it’s at night where the Thief inspirations really come to the fore, as the trailer shows. The allusions to Looking Glass’ work are initially broad, like skulking across tiled rooftops, peeking around alley corners, and bonking guards on the head with a blackjack.Then, Shadowglass’ protagonist pulls out a bow and douses a torch with a water arrow. Thief 5 confirmed.While I inevitably appreciate how Shadowglass wears its inspirations on its…
