Filcher is a first-person, 2.5D, mission-based stealth game. As Sporey the master thief, break into guarded buildings to steal from the wealthy and corrupt, using only your senses, your wits, and a handful of tools and gadgets.
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Filcher is an impressive homage to the gameplay of the classic Thief games that is bursting at the seams with indie charm. It takes some big risks to mixed effect, and the low budget does hold Filcher back from being a true masterpiece in the genre, but this solo-dev labor of love is largely a blast to play through.
Most of the gameplay mechanics from Thief make a return: you will be sneaking through progressively more secure locations to steal as much loot as possible, and loud gameplay is even more disincentivized than Garrett's already-limited options by removing lethal weapons. You still get analogues for several of the classic tools from Thief: moss spores, a noisemaker toy, and dart gun work similarly to moss, noisemaker, and gas arrows, albeit with much more limited range. There's no mantling this time around, but Sporey, the protagonist, can slide quietly across floors as long as she gets enough of a running start. I do miss mantling dearly, but the sliding mechanic is wonderful, and mastering it allows you to confidently breeze through sections by sliding past guards at the right moment. Though it's not exactly the same as its inspirations, the moment-to-moment gameplay in Filcher is rock-solid, with tons of tension added by the most divisive feature.
If you've looked at the store page or reviews for the game, you're certain to have seen the many complaints about Filcher's lack of saving. Personally, I have mixed feelings about this decision. The missions are designed with the lack of saving in mind, all being completable within about 20 minutes — none of them stretch anywhere near as long as missions like Thieves' Guild from Thief: Gold. This limitation makes the levels incredibly tense, which I love, though the novelty wears a bit thin on the final two which are dramatically more difficult and complex than the rest of the levels before them. I still completed the last levels without too much issue, but I got about halfway through replaying the campaign to get the ghost rank achievement before I decided to shelve the game for now. Getting a ghost rank on a level requires you to play it absolutely perfectly: get all the loot and secrets, don't knock anybody out, and naturally, don't get caught. I enjoyed the tension brought on by the lack of saves in an organic first playthrough where I was ok with making mistakes, but on replays, it wasn't terribly fun to completely restart a relatively long mission after any given screwup. Skill issue, optional achievements, yadda yadda yadda, I know, I just think that the lack of saves does hamper successive playthroughs of the game even though I enjoyed the tension the first time through.
Another gameplay mechanic I did miss from classic Thief games is a store to purchase items and information. It doesn't fit in with Filcher as it's currently designed — the levels can be replayed at any time, and as mentioned above, Sporey's arsenal is more limited than Garrett's — but having an actual gameplay incentive to bag as much loot as possible would have been a nice addition.
Filcher's presentation is pretty great, especially for a solo developer. The art style of the levels and the intro cutscenes draws heavily from noir comics, giving the whole experience a distinct style. The music is simple and mostly driven by a plucky bass, but it fits right in with the atmosphere. I don't mind the 2.5D renderings of the enemies, but I will say that the lack of voice acting for the guards is sorely missed and makes the levels feel more lifeless than they would otherwise. If we are ever blessed with a high-budget Filcher 2, that would be my number one request; it doesn't even need to be as goofy or varied as Thief, just a little something to characterize the goons we're robbing blind. The same goes for the comic panel cutscenes: I love the style, but I wish the characters were voice acted even if animated cutscenes are too big of a stretch for an indie project like this.
Overall, Filcher is a great time, and one of the best stealth games released in the past few years. Though it has a few shortcomings related to its budget and some hotly-debated design decisions, you owe it to yourself to play through this game if you're a fan of Thief or stealth games at large. It's a hardcore but rewarding experience with a true appreciation for the titans of the genre while still putting its own spin on the gameplay and presentation.
Most of the gameplay mechanics from Thief make a return: you will be sneaking through progressively more secure locations to steal as much loot as possible, and loud gameplay is even more disincentivized than Garrett's already-limited options by removing lethal weapons. You still get analogues for several of the classic tools from Thief: moss spores, a noisemaker toy, and dart gun work similarly to moss, noisemaker, and gas arrows, albeit with much more limited range. There's no mantling this time around, but Sporey, the protagonist, can slide quietly across floors as long as she gets enough of a running start. I do miss mantling dearly, but the sliding mechanic is wonderful, and mastering it allows you to confidently breeze through sections by sliding past guards at the right moment. Though it's not exactly the same as its inspirations, the moment-to-moment gameplay in Filcher is rock-solid, with tons of tension added by the most divisive feature.
If you've looked at the store page or reviews for the game, you're certain to have seen the many complaints about Filcher's lack of saving. Personally, I have mixed feelings about this decision. The missions are designed with the lack of saving in mind, all being completable within about 20 minutes — none of them stretch anywhere near as long as missions like Thieves' Guild from Thief: Gold. This limitation makes the levels incredibly tense, which I love, though the novelty wears a bit thin on the final two which are dramatically more difficult and complex than the rest of the levels before them. I still completed the last levels without too much issue, but I got about halfway through replaying the campaign to get the ghost rank achievement before I decided to shelve the game for now. Getting a ghost rank on a level requires you to play it absolutely perfectly: get all the loot and secrets, don't knock anybody out, and naturally, don't get caught. I enjoyed the tension brought on by the lack of saves in an organic first playthrough where I was ok with making mistakes, but on replays, it wasn't terribly fun to completely restart a relatively long mission after any given screwup. Skill issue, optional achievements, yadda yadda yadda, I know, I just think that the lack of saves does hamper successive playthroughs of the game even though I enjoyed the tension the first time through.
Another gameplay mechanic I did miss from classic Thief games is a store to purchase items and information. It doesn't fit in with Filcher as it's currently designed — the levels can be replayed at any time, and as mentioned above, Sporey's arsenal is more limited than Garrett's — but having an actual gameplay incentive to bag as much loot as possible would have been a nice addition.
Filcher's presentation is pretty great, especially for a solo developer. The art style of the levels and the intro cutscenes draws heavily from noir comics, giving the whole experience a distinct style. The music is simple and mostly driven by a plucky bass, but it fits right in with the atmosphere. I don't mind the 2.5D renderings of the enemies, but I will say that the lack of voice acting for the guards is sorely missed and makes the levels feel more lifeless than they would otherwise. If we are ever blessed with a high-budget Filcher 2, that would be my number one request; it doesn't even need to be as goofy or varied as Thief, just a little something to characterize the goons we're robbing blind. The same goes for the comic panel cutscenes: I love the style, but I wish the characters were voice acted even if animated cutscenes are too big of a stretch for an indie project like this.
Overall, Filcher is a great time, and one of the best stealth games released in the past few years. Though it has a few shortcomings related to its budget and some hotly-debated design decisions, you owe it to yourself to play through this game if you're a fan of Thief or stealth games at large. It's a hardcore but rewarding experience with a true appreciation for the titans of the genre while still putting its own spin on the gameplay and presentation.
Filcher is a solid and honestly underrated Thief-like. Aesthetically it trades in the smog and candlelit masonry of Thief in favour of what I’d describe as “Batman The Animated Series” energy; where the city is a sea of art deco skyscrapers and all mobsters are legally required to wear a fedora.
Visually, the game’s use of fairly chonky 3D rendered sprites for the guards was initially off-putting, but was something I grew to appreciate. There’s something surprisingly tense about hiding under a table while a malevolent cardboard cut-out stands two feet away. I also found that it did help with working out guard line of sight, although it could make bonking them with the blackjack fairly awkward. I also really liked the graphic novel cutscenes between missions and I do wish there’d been more of them.
The game does have one major complaint you will see levelled at it, which is the lack of saving during a mission. Personally, I’m in two minds about this. The missions are shorter affairs than Thiefs, generally lasting half an hour to complete (not including failed attempts). As someone who chronically quicksaved when I played Thief, this took some getting used too. However this forced me to improve at the game and experiment with finding alternative pathways to complete missions. The downside to this however is the repetition of having to repeatedly retrace your steps, especially when you actively can’t proceed due to guard chatter. Please stop talking about Alexi’s number skills, guard at the start of The Swordfish, I wish to acquire sick loot. Maybe a single save per mission or a check point system could have helped with this, but your mileage may vary on how much of an issue this is.
The lack of verticality with regards to movement was also a surprising choice. While the levels are obviously designed without climbing in mind, playing games like Thief has given me an ingrained love of clambering up things. Our protagonist also isn’t that great at jumping large distances, although thankfully most situations that could require jumping in-game can be traversed by sliding. Still had a few awkward initial incidents of jumping towards a rug and landing on a tiled floor in front of a surprised (and trigger happy) guard.
I think what really impressed me though is that there wasn’t a single misfire over the nine mission campaign, with my favourites being Club Misterioso and Blackburn House. When the game plays well you’ll be sliding from shadow to shadow, picking pockets and shiny things as you go.
Overall I really enjoyed Filcher and it does feel like a shame that the game appears to have slipped under the radar. The lack of in mission saving definitely seems to be divisive for some, but if you can look past it I’d heartedly recommend.
Visually, the game’s use of fairly chonky 3D rendered sprites for the guards was initially off-putting, but was something I grew to appreciate. There’s something surprisingly tense about hiding under a table while a malevolent cardboard cut-out stands two feet away. I also found that it did help with working out guard line of sight, although it could make bonking them with the blackjack fairly awkward. I also really liked the graphic novel cutscenes between missions and I do wish there’d been more of them.
The game does have one major complaint you will see levelled at it, which is the lack of saving during a mission. Personally, I’m in two minds about this. The missions are shorter affairs than Thiefs, generally lasting half an hour to complete (not including failed attempts). As someone who chronically quicksaved when I played Thief, this took some getting used too. However this forced me to improve at the game and experiment with finding alternative pathways to complete missions. The downside to this however is the repetition of having to repeatedly retrace your steps, especially when you actively can’t proceed due to guard chatter. Please stop talking about Alexi’s number skills, guard at the start of The Swordfish, I wish to acquire sick loot. Maybe a single save per mission or a check point system could have helped with this, but your mileage may vary on how much of an issue this is.
The lack of verticality with regards to movement was also a surprising choice. While the levels are obviously designed without climbing in mind, playing games like Thief has given me an ingrained love of clambering up things. Our protagonist also isn’t that great at jumping large distances, although thankfully most situations that could require jumping in-game can be traversed by sliding. Still had a few awkward initial incidents of jumping towards a rug and landing on a tiled floor in front of a surprised (and trigger happy) guard.
I think what really impressed me though is that there wasn’t a single misfire over the nine mission campaign, with my favourites being Club Misterioso and Blackburn House. When the game plays well you’ll be sliding from shadow to shadow, picking pockets and shiny things as you go.
Overall I really enjoyed Filcher and it does feel like a shame that the game appears to have slipped under the radar. The lack of in mission saving definitely seems to be divisive for some, but if you can look past it I’d heartedly recommend.
Lack of mission saves be damned, this is bar non the best succesor to Thief that exists. The story, gameplay and vibe manages to hit so close to the looking glass classics and still it find its on pace. If you love Thief 1 and 2, than I can not recommend this enough.
Filcher's a decent Thief clone, that plays well, but has some hiccups one must consider.
There are some great positives here, such as the art style, movement, and the satisfaction of playing well. The game doesn't hold your hand, nor does it punish you unnecessarily. There's a great mix of surfaces, meaning you'll never feel stuck in a situation where you cannot possibly stay quiet or unseen. Of course, that comes with a catch. The levels are short, ranging from 5-30 minutes, depending on your familiarity and method of going through them. This shortness is fine, but you're not allowed to save throughout. This means you could lose up to half an hour of progress because you're lacking a resource, or simply get unlucky. That means going through the exact same routine repeatedly for no reason at all. At times this increases the tension and forces you to play more safely, at other times it leaves you dead in the water.
The guard's AI is simple and easy to read. Make a sound or get spotted? They'll come running. However, an unfortunate choice was to make the guards know your exact position when you hit them with a sleeping dart. This means that you'll have to bugger off for a little bit and hide. Not even staying in the dark will help you, as they will be able to spot you regardless. Once you know of this mechanic it's not too bad to deal with, but annoying regardless. There's already heavy bullet drop, combined with a slow projectile speed on the darts. Adding in that additional element feels like a poor choice. Another mechanic is knocking the guards out with a blackjack. This mostly works, so long as you're doing it from behind, but the game's otherwise excellent artstyle is a hinderance here. It can be difficult to judge precisely when you're able to blackjack the guard, due to the billboard sprites used to represent them. This is especially true while they're flashbanged, as they will randomly swap directions. If you go for a hit while their back is turned, they might suddenly swap to a forwards-facing sprite and get knocked out of the stun, allowing them to attack you.
Returning to the movement for a moment, there is one key element that feels missing. That is mantling. Seeing as Filcher wears its inspirations on its sleeve, it should come as no surprise that all the mechanics from Thief 1 and 2 are included. However, this doesn't include mantling. It's hard to feel like a master thief when a small desk is enough to get in your way, much less a chair. The level design, however, does reflect this, and there's never a moment where you feel ripped off by the inability to mantle. The sliding mechanic is a welcome addition as well, allowing you to build up a sprint on more silent surfaces before sliding past the noisy marble and metal. This sliding is also crucial to catching up with guards in order to blackjack them, and it feels great every time.
The artstyle is quite excellent and feels very well-defined. A sort of comic book noir aesthetic, which is allowed to shine through the harsh shadows. This benefits gameplay as well, as you're never in doubt about which areas are in the dark. There were a couple instances where the harsh shadows tricked me into believing there was a space to hide, when it was simply a shadow-cast wall. Besides that, and the issues with knowing when I can attack enemies, the 2.5D aesthetic works well for me. Though, the viewmodels could use a little added polish as they felt quite small and unrefined.
The story is quite simple, but it works out well. It tells you all you need to know about the Fensbrook Filcher, and there's notes strewn around that help to build this world of corruption and greed.
Each map felt like its corridors had a purpose, though the basic textures gave each map less of a unique identity. The designs were simple and intuitive, and even on a first playthrough, so long as I'd survived, I got my bearings. This was quite pleasant, as anyone who's read my Thief: Gold review will know that I detest the level design in that game.
Despite my grievances, and the frustrations that I had with the last level, precisely due to the lack of a manual save, I enjoyed my time with Filcher. I do hope that Johan continues developing games, and I look forward to a potential sequel (though hopefully with manual saves and a mantling mechanic). For a single person's efforts, Filcher is a charming run-through that's worth the low price tag. Especially worth it if you're craving a nice thief-like game to spend some hours on.
There are some great positives here, such as the art style, movement, and the satisfaction of playing well. The game doesn't hold your hand, nor does it punish you unnecessarily. There's a great mix of surfaces, meaning you'll never feel stuck in a situation where you cannot possibly stay quiet or unseen. Of course, that comes with a catch. The levels are short, ranging from 5-30 minutes, depending on your familiarity and method of going through them. This shortness is fine, but you're not allowed to save throughout. This means you could lose up to half an hour of progress because you're lacking a resource, or simply get unlucky. That means going through the exact same routine repeatedly for no reason at all. At times this increases the tension and forces you to play more safely, at other times it leaves you dead in the water.
The guard's AI is simple and easy to read. Make a sound or get spotted? They'll come running. However, an unfortunate choice was to make the guards know your exact position when you hit them with a sleeping dart. This means that you'll have to bugger off for a little bit and hide. Not even staying in the dark will help you, as they will be able to spot you regardless. Once you know of this mechanic it's not too bad to deal with, but annoying regardless. There's already heavy bullet drop, combined with a slow projectile speed on the darts. Adding in that additional element feels like a poor choice. Another mechanic is knocking the guards out with a blackjack. This mostly works, so long as you're doing it from behind, but the game's otherwise excellent artstyle is a hinderance here. It can be difficult to judge precisely when you're able to blackjack the guard, due to the billboard sprites used to represent them. This is especially true while they're flashbanged, as they will randomly swap directions. If you go for a hit while their back is turned, they might suddenly swap to a forwards-facing sprite and get knocked out of the stun, allowing them to attack you.
Returning to the movement for a moment, there is one key element that feels missing. That is mantling. Seeing as Filcher wears its inspirations on its sleeve, it should come as no surprise that all the mechanics from Thief 1 and 2 are included. However, this doesn't include mantling. It's hard to feel like a master thief when a small desk is enough to get in your way, much less a chair. The level design, however, does reflect this, and there's never a moment where you feel ripped off by the inability to mantle. The sliding mechanic is a welcome addition as well, allowing you to build up a sprint on more silent surfaces before sliding past the noisy marble and metal. This sliding is also crucial to catching up with guards in order to blackjack them, and it feels great every time.
The artstyle is quite excellent and feels very well-defined. A sort of comic book noir aesthetic, which is allowed to shine through the harsh shadows. This benefits gameplay as well, as you're never in doubt about which areas are in the dark. There were a couple instances where the harsh shadows tricked me into believing there was a space to hide, when it was simply a shadow-cast wall. Besides that, and the issues with knowing when I can attack enemies, the 2.5D aesthetic works well for me. Though, the viewmodels could use a little added polish as they felt quite small and unrefined.
The story is quite simple, but it works out well. It tells you all you need to know about the Fensbrook Filcher, and there's notes strewn around that help to build this world of corruption and greed.
Each map felt like its corridors had a purpose, though the basic textures gave each map less of a unique identity. The designs were simple and intuitive, and even on a first playthrough, so long as I'd survived, I got my bearings. This was quite pleasant, as anyone who's read my Thief: Gold review will know that I detest the level design in that game.
Despite my grievances, and the frustrations that I had with the last level, precisely due to the lack of a manual save, I enjoyed my time with Filcher. I do hope that Johan continues developing games, and I look forward to a potential sequel (though hopefully with manual saves and a mantling mechanic). For a single person's efforts, Filcher is a charming run-through that's worth the low price tag. Especially worth it if you're craving a nice thief-like game to spend some hours on.
Before we go any further this is a review of the demo. I don't own the base game but will probably get it now after finishing said demo.
If you're at all familiar with classic looking glass/ion storm games you should be able to tell that Flicher is a game clearly inspired by and building upon thief 1 and 2. A first person stealth game based on hiding in shadows and being careful to avoid floor textures that cause too much noise as you collect loot while knocking out guards with a blackjack. That stuff is all here and done fairly well.
Flicher just takes place in an art deco city rather then a medieval/steampunk city (the night sky is red like gotham in batman the animated series). And that Aesthetic is used quite well. However I do have a few complaints about filcher as a game that might be sorted out in the full release.
First off unlike thief there's no quicksaving. Now this on paper is a good change since it means it's harder to cheese stuff. However since there also aren't checkpoints it means that levels are shorter and smaller then the average thief level. Still the core levels themselves are good and well designed. That said I don't think that also excuses not having a map.
The second thing is that in the original thief games after you beat a level you go to a screen allowing you to buy items for the next level with all of the money you stole. This gave you incentive to look through levels thoroughly in order to have an easier time looking through the next level thoroughly. And filcher not having that makes exploration a bit more hollow.
Still it's worth noting that these are minor problems filcher is a very solid thief like that does stand out and is worth 10 dollars even in a world where thief 1 and 2 still have very active modding scenes (or where gloomwood hasn't even hit early access yet let alone a full release) and I will definitely be picking up the full game at some point
If you're at all familiar with classic looking glass/ion storm games you should be able to tell that Flicher is a game clearly inspired by and building upon thief 1 and 2. A first person stealth game based on hiding in shadows and being careful to avoid floor textures that cause too much noise as you collect loot while knocking out guards with a blackjack. That stuff is all here and done fairly well.
Flicher just takes place in an art deco city rather then a medieval/steampunk city (the night sky is red like gotham in batman the animated series). And that Aesthetic is used quite well. However I do have a few complaints about filcher as a game that might be sorted out in the full release.
First off unlike thief there's no quicksaving. Now this on paper is a good change since it means it's harder to cheese stuff. However since there also aren't checkpoints it means that levels are shorter and smaller then the average thief level. Still the core levels themselves are good and well designed. That said I don't think that also excuses not having a map.
The second thing is that in the original thief games after you beat a level you go to a screen allowing you to buy items for the next level with all of the money you stole. This gave you incentive to look through levels thoroughly in order to have an easier time looking through the next level thoroughly. And filcher not having that makes exploration a bit more hollow.
Still it's worth noting that these are minor problems filcher is a very solid thief like that does stand out and is worth 10 dollars even in a world where thief 1 and 2 still have very active modding scenes (or where gloomwood hasn't even hit early access yet let alone a full release) and I will definitely be picking up the full game at some point